Without DevOps programs such as Puppet, Chef, and Ansible, the cloud wouldn't be possible. Now Puppet is trying to work in systems management magic on IBM's z Systems and LinuxONE.

Puppet

DevOps works by automating server operations. With it both programmers and administrators can focus on making the most from their hardware's raw computing power instead of wasting time managing server operations by hand. It's found its greatest success in controlling clusters of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) x86 computers. Puppet has reasoned that there's no reason it can't also be used for mainframes.

So, Puppet has announced a new set of modules for managing for IBM z Systems and LinuxONE mainframes and IBM WebSphere programs. This will help make it easier for customers to manage their systems and their applications.

Specifically, Puppet and IBM collaborated to introduce a new agent to manage Linux virtual machines (VM) on IBM z Systems and LinuxONE. This gives customers a common language to manage their platforms and applications, whether they're running on x86 servers or on mainframes. A fully supported agent with packages for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 11 and 12 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6 and 7 will be available later this summer.

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This will help mainframe users to adopt cloud management best practices. It also provides built-in intelligence for orchestrating changes across distributed applications over the entire array of server hardware.

In addition, Puppet helps to simplify the management of IBM WebSphere. It does this with a new module. This provides a repeatable and consistent process for deploying WebSphere instances including deployment managers, application servers, and IBM HTTP Servers (IHS) for IBM WebSphere Application Server traditional (WAS).

In a statement, Mike Dessens, IBM's vice president of offering management for IBM z Systems and LinuxONE, said:

Businesses must develop and deploy new applications faster than ever to keep up with new customer demands and stay ahead of competitors. Puppet Enterprise for IBM z Systems and LinuxONE can help simplify IT management and speed application deployment for systems administrators across their hybrid cloud environments, so they can spend more time enhancing and adding services for customers.

Finally, Puppet released a new version of Puppet Supported Cisco module. This adds support for the 5k, 6k, and 7k line of Cisco Nexus switches. This comes on top of its existing support for the 3k and 9k series of switches.

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