Configuration management with mature, enterprise-proven tooling
Day 1
Chef — Cookbooks, Resources & Testing
- Cookbook structure: recipes, custom resources, attributes, templates (ERB), files, and metadata.rb
- Custom resources: defining resource properties, actions, and notifications — replacing old LWRPs
- Test Kitchen: local cookbook testing with kitchen converge, kitchen verify, Docker and Vagrant drivers
- ChefSpec: unit testing recipes with RSpec matchers — fast feedback without converging a node
- Berkshelf: cookbook dependency management, Berksfile, vendor caching for air-gapped environments
- Chef Infra Server: bootstrapping nodes, run lists, environments, roles, and data bags for shared config data
- knife CLI: node management, cookbook uploads, data bag manipulation, bootstrapping with knife bootstrap
Day 2
Puppet — Manifests, Hiera & Enterprise Features
- Manifest and module structure: init.pp, class declarations, defined types, module layout conventions
- Core resource types: package, file, service, exec — ordering with before, require, notify, subscribe
- Hiera: hierarchical data separation, YAML backends, interpolation, eyaml for encrypted secrets
- Puppet Forge modules: consuming community modules, Puppetfile, r10k for environment management
- r10k and control repos: branch-per-environment workflow, dynamic environments, code deployment pipeline
- Puppet Enterprise Console: node classification, reports, task execution, and role-based access
- Tool comparison: Chef vs Puppet vs Ansible — architecture, learning curve, operational fit, migration paths
What your team walks away with
Participants gain working knowledge of both Chef and Puppet — enough to operate existing deployments, author new automation, and make informed tool selection decisions.
- Write and test Chef cookbooks for repeatable server configuration using Test Kitchen and ChefSpec
- Build Puppet manifests with proper Hiera data separation and encrypted secrets via eyaml
- Manage Puppet environments with r10k and a branch-per-environment control repository workflow
- Understand the trade-offs between Chef, Puppet, and Ansible for different operational contexts
- Operate Chef Infra Server and Puppet Enterprise including RBAC, reporting, and node classification
Book the Chef & Puppet training
Reach out to schedule a session for your team — remote, on-site, or hybrid, in German or English.
Get in touch