The following guide will expose some of the leading configuration management tools for DevOps to assist make the lives of project managers and developers much easier. More particularly, it will break down the best configuration management tools in terms of their functions, pros, cons and rates.
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Ansible: Best open-source and user-friendly setup management tool with agentless architecture.
Red Hat Ansible is a popular DevOps tool used by over 3,000 companies to automate intricate IT tasks like application deployment, configuration management and more. It is a fantastic setup management tool for software advancement teams seeking an open-source, easy to use and flexible time-saving option with an agentless architecture.
Functions of Ansible
- 140+ material collections.
- Automation execution environments.
- Event-Driven Ansible.
- Red Hat Insights.
- Group partnership.
- Module library.
- Third-party combinations.
Red Hat Ansible makes configuration management simple with machine-parsable and human-readable setups for assisting in jobs like file management, plan setups and more. It provides access to over 140 material collections from more than 60 market partners. This enables software application designers and project supervisors to start automating setup management jobs quickly. The designer tool also has automation execution environments. These are container images where all of Ansible’s automation is run, and they help to ensure constant, smooth automation across several platforms, despite whether they are cloud-based, in your data center, etc.
Event-Driven Ansible is a function that utilizes event-driven automation to conserve time on manual jobs and increase IT operations performance so software application development groups can focus more on development. Red Hat Insights, meanwhile, assists task supervisors keep an eye on automation performance. This analytics feature can be utilized to manage automation tasks, watch on configuration drift and take advantage of Event-Driven Ansible to fix problems before they become significant.
Other Red Hat Ansible includes worth discussing include group collaboration for sharing configuration management content, a huge community-contributed module library for extending functionality and third-party integrations with developer tools like GitHub, Bitbucket, Jenkins, etc.
Pros of Ansible
- Very little onboarding.
- Personalization and flexibility.
- Decreases setups.
- Conserves time.
Given that Ansible has actually such a streamlined setup and is easy to utilize, onboarding is reduced. Its open-source nature makes Ansible highly versatile and adjustable. By using agentless architecture, Ansible also decreases setups. Developers will not need to stress over setting up Ansible on every system they want to automate, which is a huge time saver.
Cons of Ansible
- High cost.
- Minimal documentation.
- Integration intricacy.
Although many users say Ansible is a highly important tool, some might discover it pricey for their spending plans. Minimal paperwork is another typical gripe, as is intricacy when incorporating the setup management software with third-party tools.
Prices of Ansible
Ansible rates depends on the membership you choose and your sizing requirements. The configuration management tool has a complimentary trial, but you will not find actual expenses on the Ansible prices page. To get a customized quote, you will need to talk to a “Red Hatter” or a licensed partner.
While we can not provide you costs here, Ansible’s offered strategies are as follows:
- Standard: Support from 8 am to 5 pm with upkeep, upgrades and full access to the platform.
- Premium: Ongoing support with upkeep, upgrades and complete access to the platform.
Beyond those 2 rates strategies, you can choose in between managed and self-managed implementation alternatives.
TeamCity: Best for developers looking for a user friendly setup management tool with CI/CD features.
JetBrains’TeamCity is an all-in-one constant combination and constant shipment platform with configuration management capabilities that over 30,000 customers utilize to ship high-quality software application much faster.
Features of TeamCity
Some of TeamCity’s leading features in configuration management and other departments consist of:
- Setup as code.
- Job hierarchy.
- Meta-Runner.
- Construct configuration design templates.
- Composite builds.
- Continuous integration.
- Version control.
- Code quality.
- Third-party integrations.
TeamCity lets developers utilize the Kotlin programming language to develop jobs and develop configurations and chains as code that can be kept in a VCS. Any modifications to the code will be immediately used to the build server. TeamCity likewise lets you nest projects inside other jobs to form a tree. Any settings and permissions specified in the parent project get used to the subprojects to streamline big setup upkeep.
TeamCity’s Meta-Runner feature lets designers reuse sets of develop jobs. There are develop setup templates to conserve time too. Other configuration management features consist of build chains and dependencies, construct failure conditions, conditional and agentless build steps and specifications. The latter permit you to generalize design template or construct configuration and version control settings so they can be personalized and recycled with ease.
Beyond configuration management, TeamCity likewise offers constant integration; variation control with Git, Mercurial, and Perforce; numerous features for tracking code quality; and third-party combinations with Jira, Bugzilla, Docker, Maven, Microsoft Azure, and more.
Pros of TeamCity
- Simplicity.
- Tons of built-in functions.
- Combinations with top designer tools.
- Robust reporting.
TeamCity’s instinctive, modern-day user interface and overall user-friendliness make it perfect for those looking for a basic configuration management tool they can begin utilizing right out of package.
The DevOps tool has plenty of internal functionality, too, so job supervisors and designers do not need to rely greatly on plugins to get the job done.
Should you wish to extend its performance, however, TeamCity permits it with plenty of combinations with popular third-party developer tools like Maven, Jira, Docker, and so on. And TeamCity likewise excels in reporting, as it offers on-the-fly analytics to keep designers notified.
Cons of TeamCity
- High price for certain users.
- May sluggish efficiency.
- Minimal support.
Small software application advancement groups and specific programmers may discover TeamCity too costly for their spending plans. The setup management tool may hog a lots of resources, which can slow some makers down. And if you are trying to find substantial assistance from an enormous online community, TeamCity may not be your cup of tea.
Pricing of TeamCity
Developers get a lot of rates versatility from TeamCity as a developer tool. Startups might qualify for a half-off discount on the setup management software application through the Startup Discount Strategy from JetBrains. There is likewise a 30-day assessment license. It uses unrestricted representatives and build configurations, so you can take a test drive and see if the setup management tool is right for you.
TeamCity’s rates is divided into on-premise and cloud plans. The on-premise options consist of:
- Professional: A free forever strategy.
- Business: $2,399 for the first year and $1,199 annually for the second year on.
After picking between the 2 on-premise choices, you need to select your develop representatives to provide you the total expense of the DevOps tool. You get three build agents and 100 configurations at no cost. Each develop representative after that costs $299 for the first year and $149 after.
The on-premises Expert plan offers 100 build configurations, endless construct users and build time, plus problem tracker and online forum assistance. The Business strategy provides unlimited develop setups, develop users and construct time, plus technical assistance when you require it.
TeamCity’s cloud rates choices are as follows:
- Regular monthly: Billed at $54 per month and $18 per committer.
- Annual: Billed at $540 annually and $15 per committer.
Both cloud options feature three committers, unlimited audiences, 24,000 develop credits, 600GB of month-to-month information transfer and 120GB of storage. You can include as lots of committers as required, plus purchase additional build credits at a rate of $20 per 25,000.
Chef: Best for skilled developers seeking a setup management tool capable of managing even the most complicated tasks.
Development Chef reporting. Development Chef( aka Chef)is a versatile setup management tool with several facilities automation features. Because its release in 2009, Chef has actually ended up being a struck with software developers, DevOps teams, system administrators and more looking to automate even the most complex jobs.
Functions of Chef
- Multi-platform support.
- System resource abstraction.
- Facilities as code.
- Dishes and cookbooks.
- Extensibility through combinations.
Development Chef supports multiple operating systems and cloud platforms and provides facilities management that is platform-agnostic thanks to its system resource abstraction.
By counting on infrastructure as code, advancement teams can utilize human-readable formats to explain their wanted system states, which helps with consistency, repeatability and version control. Chef utilizes dishes (particular actions or configurations) and cookbooks (collections of recipes). This unique setup lets developers streamline configuration management, reuse code and delight in modularity.
Chef is also rather extensible through third-party integrations with popular designer tools like Bitbucket, GitLab, GitHub, CircleCI and Jenkins.
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Pros of Chef
- Full control over configurations.
- Advanced setup management.
- Time-saving command-line tool.
- Massive following.
Development Chef uses a code-driven technique that makes it highly flexible and offers developers total control over their configurations. Unlike other programmer tools that can just handle the fundamentals, Chef can take on complex tasks with ease thanks to its sophisticated setup management abilities.
Knife, which is Chef’s command-line tool, is a substantial time saver, especially with setups. And Chef is also noted for having a large community, which helps with supplying modules, cookbooks, resources and support when needed.
Cons of Chef
- Not for newbies.
- Takes time to find out.
- High price for those with restricted spending plans.
Progress Chef was developed for knowledgeable programmers. Before dealing with the setup management tool, you ought to enroll in a Ruby course. But even with experience, users might require time to learn Chef. Lastly, little development groups might find Chef expensive.
Pricing of Chef
Designers can acquire Progress Chef in 2 ways. The very first way is to acquire directly from Progress Chef by selecting either an on-premise or SaaS choice and getting a customized quote. The 2nd is to buy the setup management tool through a marketplace. If you take the 2nd path, these are your alternatives:
Development Chef by means of the Azure Marketplace:
- Two-Hour Test Drive: A two-hour trial on Azure at no charge.
- BYOL: Bring your own license. Spend for Azure calculate time.
- Custom Private Offer: Get a special deal from Azure customized to your software application advancement group’s requirements.
Development Chef via the AWS Marketplace:
- Chef on AWS Marketplace: Chef runs as a subscription on your AWS account. Software and use fees start at 20 cents per hour or $189 per year.
- Chef BYOL: Bring your own license. Spend for AWS compute time.
What to Search for in Configuration Management Software
Preferably, setup management tools in DevOps should have an instinctive interface and be easy to use.
Config management tools should likewise align with your software development team’s spending plan and licensing requirements, plus have robust assistance for infrastructure as code. Scalability is vital for dealing with complicated releases and infrastructure, as is flexibility and ensuring the designer tool can support numerous platforms, cloud service providers and innovations utilized by your group.
Other features to look for in setup management software include functions for group partnership; integration with variation control systems and popular CI/CD tools; compatibility with numerous advancement, staging, and production environments; automation; and abilities for keeping an eye on compliance. You must likewise seek strong community and vendor support in the kind of forums, online assistance, documents and tutorials.
Are the configuration management tools we talked about in this guide the only ones readily available? No, however considering that they are some of the most popular and extremely related to alternatives in the configuration management space, take a closer take a look at their prices and features before moving on to others. Chances are, among the above will fit your configuration management needs, and you will not have to shop around for alternatives.
