Pulling the Strings

Platform engineering is all about giving devs the tools they need to work independently. Work-from-home policies give people flexibility in where and how they work. It should be a match made in heaven, right? Well... it’s more complicated than that.

Research, feedback, and evangelizing are critical to building an internal developer platform (IDP). But WFH can make that communication tough. And that's before you’ve even considered compliance and security (ugh, the 2FA). A human-focused IT strategy was crucial in supporting a shift to remote work during the pandemic, and it's going to be equally as important as we shift to a platform paradigm.

In this roundtable discussion, Ben leads a roundtable discussion of how return-to-office plans can impact platform engineering, joined by Margaret Lee and David Sandilands, authors of Puppet's 2024 State of DevOps Report: Platform Engineering Edition.

Speakers:

• Ben Ford, Community Lead at Puppet by Perforce
• Margaret Lee, Manager of Product Management at Puppet by Perforce
• David Sandilands, Senior Solutions Architect at Puppet by Perforce

Highlights:

• The remote/in-office flexibility your platform needs to consider
• Hardening measures essential to a secure IDP in the hybrid era
• What we learned about accommodating a workforce during the pandemic
• Evangelizing a platform without the in-person connection

Links:

• Email Margaret at Margaret.Lee@perforce.com
• Find Ben on Mastodon, Twitter, and in the Puppet Community Slack as binford2k
• David Sandilands on Twitter
• Get the 2023 Platform Engineering Report and sign up to receive 2024’s when it releases
• Read the episode transcript

Find Us Online:

• puppet.com
• Apple Podcasts
• Twitter
• LinkedIn 

Politics is everywhere in your organization. No, not THAT kind of politics – the kind that happens when you need something and can’t get it, or when you get good at something and people start noticing. Actually, politics happens just about whenever decisions get made. Joshua Zimmerman says that kind of politics is rooted in people, and with the right mindset, you can use politics to make things better in your organization – for you and your entire team.

Joshua is a DevOps manager and organizer who thinks you could benefit from understanding and navigating the political landscape of your organization so you can help shape it. In fact, his presentation at DevOpsDays Chicago 2023 was all about that, and we were so impressed, we invited him on the podcast.

After listening to this episode, we hope you’ll be able to figure out how decisions get made where you work, define your political structure, and leave with a few tools you can use to gain leverage with your team to make better decisions together.

Highlights:

• Helping unpack the term “politics” in the context of your job
• Why org charts aren’t great for determining the real structure of your org
• Why trust matters more than authority (and how to sniff out both in your org)
• How to build lasting trust in your team and org
• How to subvert hierarchy to get what you need (without making anyone mad)

Speakers:

• Ben Ford, Developer Relations Director at Puppet
• Joshua Zimmerman, SRE/DevOps Manager

Links:

• Find Josh on LinkedIn, Mastodon, and Twitter
• Watch Joshua’s talk at DevOpsDays Chicago 2023 (2:26:00 – 2:54:30)
• Find Ben in the Puppet Community Slack as binford2k and on Mastodon

Find Us Online:

• puppet.com
• Pulling the Strings on Apple Podcasts
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Read the episode transcript

Great things – tools, spaces, companies, brands – are supported by great communities. The Vox Pupuli are perhaps the most prominent, active group in the Puppet community. Here’s what they're up to lately, what it’s like being one of them, and what Puppet (the community) means to Puppet (the company).

The Vox Pupuli are 200+ strong; they maintain dozens of modules on the Forge; even executive leadership knows their name. On this episode of Pulling the Strings, join Puppet community members Gene Liverman, Tim Meusel, and Ben Ford for a casual discussion on what what Vox Pupuli actually do, the role of community in shaping a company like Puppet, what Vox Pupuli is focused on now, and what drives the highly engaged group. As Tim puts it, “There is no excuse to not participate.”

Highlights:

• How Vox Pupuli works
• The relationship of Puppet (the company) to the Vox Pupuli
• The power of independence
• The time Vox Pupuli helped Puppet avoid disaster in a new release
• What Vox Pupuli is working on now

Speakers:

• Gene Liverman, SRE at LTN Global and former SRE at Puppet by Perforce
• Tim Meusel, Vox Pupuli PMC Community Member
• Ben Ford, Community Lead at Puppet by Perforce

Links:

• Find out more about the Vox Pupuli at https://voxpupuli.org/
• Find Tim on Twitter at https://twitter.com/BastelsBlog
• Find Gene in the Puppet Community Slack as genebean https://puppetcommunity.slack.com/team/U3DCRQQKA
• Find Ben in the Puppet Community Slack as binford2k and on Mastodon at https://hachyderm.io/@binford2k
• Follow the Puppet Community Team on Mastodon https://fosstodon.org/@puppet
• Listen to Tim’s previous episode discussing how to build an awesome open source community https://www.puppet.com/resources/podcasts/awesome-open-source-community

Find Us Online:

• puppet.com
• Pulling the Strings on Apple Podcasts
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Read the episode transcript

Open source has always moved fast. Today, it moves faster than ever, driven by both community demand and corporate interest. On this episode, Perforce’s Javier Perez and OSI’s Stefano Maffulli discuss the impact of recent license changes and the historical push-and-pull between consumers and providers in the world of open source.

Highlights:

• Reflecting on 25 years of OSI and its widening scope
• The historical changes that set the stage for open source
• What’s shaping Linux distributions today (CentOS, RHEL restrictions, HashiCorp’s switch to BSL, and more)
• The “social contract” between companies and communities
• The pros and cons of single companies driving open-source communities
• The commercialized future of open source

Speakers:

• Javier Perez, Chief Open Source Evangelist and Senior Director of Product Management at Perforce
• Stefano Maffulli, Executive Director at the Open Source Initiative (OSI)

Links:

• Learn about Puppet’s commitment to open source projects like Bolt and Open Source Puppet (OSP): https://www.puppet.com/community/open-source
• Find Stefano at https://www.maffulli.net/
• Follow Javier on Twitter at https://twitter.com/jperezp_bos
• OSI’s programs (including a new Advocacy and Outreach program) https://opensource.org/programs/
• “Defining an open source AI for the greater good”: How OSI is approaching AI https://opensource.com/article/22/10/defining-open-source-ai
• “Friend or Foe? ChatGPT’s Impact on Open Source Software” by Javier Perez for DevOps.com https://devops.com/friend-or-foe-chatgpts-impact-on-open-source-software/
• Read the episode transcript

Find Us Online:

• puppet.com
• Pulling the Strings on Apple Podcasts
• Twitter
• LinkedIn

In the past few years, developer experience has become one of the biggest concerns at the C-level. Gartner found it’s the top value factor for adopting IDPs, performance engineering, CI/CD, and more core aspects of platform engineering. In 2021, McKinsey said it should be “the cornerstone of talent strategy” – and still, it’s a sticking point for a lot of software orgs. Turnover, burnout, skill gaps – symptoms abound that can often be contributed to bad DevX.

Justin Reock is Field CTO at Gradle, makers of Gradle Enterprise and Gradle Build Tool. He’s focused on the developer experience at an intersectional level – where right-brain creativity, left-brain productivity, and ‘joyful activity’ combine to make development better for the people who do it. In conversation with David Sandilands, Senior Solutions Architect at Puppet, Justin shares his perspective on where platform engineering is headed and how the future of platform engineering – up, down, or flat – depends on using tools to engineer the developer experience.

Speakers:

• David Sandilands, Senior Solutions Architect at Puppet by Perforce
• Justin Roeck, Field CTO at Gradle

Highlights:

• Justin’s career to date and starting a year of living out of an RV
• Why the future of platform engineering depends on a developer experience focus
• Instructions for organizations to adopt real practices, not just hype
• The personalities needed to make stuff like platform engineering actually work

Links:

• Download Puppet’s 2023 State of Platform Engineering Report
• Organizational Physics by Lex Sisney
• Find your nearest devopsdays event
• Justin Reock on Twitter
• Justin Reock on LinkedIn
• David Sandilands on LinkedIn
• David Sandilands on Twitter
• Read the episode transcript

Find Us Online:

• puppet.com
• Apple Podcasts
• Twitter
• LinkedIn

The opportunity to write a Puppet 8 book landed in David Sandilands’s lap when he had just started at Puppet and with a child on the way. About a year and a half later in mid-2023, “Puppet 8 for DevOps Engineers” launched via Packt. This is the story of everything that happened in the middle.

Speakers:

• Ben Ford, Community Lead at Puppet by Perforce
• David Sandilands, Senior Solutions Architect at Puppet by Perforce

Learn More About Puppet + DevOps

[10+ YEARS OF DEVOPS REPORTS]

Highlights:

• What other Puppet books didn’t have
• The joy of creating a book that doesn’t have to cater to one audience or another
• What it's like to work with a publisher
• Learning to lean on your community for support
• Hard-learned tips for writing your own book

Links:

• Check out David's book, “Puppet 8 for DevOps Engineers,” via Packt
• “Puppet Best Practices” by Chris Barbour and Jo Rhett
• Ben Ford on Twitter
• David Sandilands on Twitter

So your organization failed a compliance audit and got slapped with fines and penalties. Bummer! You pay the fine, spend a few days fixing your configurations, run a scan, and get ready to do it again come the next audit. But that approach doesn’t work anymore: The risks are too high, and fixing months of configuration drift at the drop of a hat (let alone hunting down all the paperwork for auditors) certainly isn’t your team’s favorite thing to do.

Demo Puppet Comply + CEM for cross-department visibility and automated compliance

The broad scope of today’s compliance management requires a coordinated effort from more than just the security team. In this episode of Pulling the Strings, two Puppet compliance experts make the case for cooperation among security, compliance, ops, and just about everyone else in your organization. They discuss the crumbling walls between security, compliance, and ops, as well as tools organizations use to ensure continuous compliance.

Highlights:

• Why organizations always wait until something goes wrong to pay attention to compliance + security
• The simple micro-adjustments that prevent massive corrections come audit time
• Working toward better alignment between teams so that they’re making compliance easier
• The point and benefits of continuous compliance – and why ‘cowboy compliance’ isn’t enough
• Why compliance frameworks matter across security, compliance, and ops

Speakers:

• Ben Ford, Community Lead at Puppet by Perforce
• Claire McDyre, Senior Product Manager at Puppet by Perforce
• Robin Tatam, Senior Director of Product Marketing, Puppet by Perforce

Links:

• Try Puppet Comply + CEM to give your whole team the power to tackle compliance
• Read Claire’s content on the Puppet blog
• Read Robin’s content on the Puppet blog
• Read the episode transcript

Find Us Online:

• puppet.com
• Apple Podcasts
• Twitter
• LinkedIn

Modules are the basic building blocks of Puppet. They're made to solve common challenges, extend functionality, and optimize your use of Puppet. They're also reusable and shareable – you can find thousands on the Puppet Forge – and best of all, anyone can make them. But what does that really mean?

On this episode of Pulling the Strings, Ben Ford sits down with Yeshua Hall to talk about Yeshua’s experience building the Puppet module known as zend_common, initially released in December 2022.

Highlights:

• How to build a Puppet module
• What zend_common does
• What to know before you start building

Highlights:

• How to build a Puppet module
• What zend_common does
• What to know before you start building

Speakers:

• Ben Ford, Community Lead at Puppet by Perforce
• Yeshua Hall, Senior Solutions Architect at Perforce

Links:

• Download the free guide, “How to Start Automating in a Few Steps with Bolt”
• Download zend_common on the Puppet Forge
• Follow Yeshua Hall on Twitter
• Follow Ben Ford on Twitter
• Read the episode transcript

Find Us Online:

• puppet.com
• Apple Podcasts
• Twitter
• LinkedIn

Supposedly, Albert Einstein once said, “If you can't explain it to a six-year-old, then you don't understand it yourself.” That might be a bit harsh, but it holds true for teaching just about anything: You’ve got to meet learners where they are. That’s why Puppet recently launched new on-demand training courses and more. There’s a new, engaging way to learn how to do things with Puppet without going down too many rabbit holes.

On this episode of Pulling the Strings, Ben Ford interviews Principal Training Solutions Engineers Jain Waldrip and Tom Chisholm about designing training with “highly calibrated visuals,” the exciting new avenues for Puppet learners, and much more.

Highlights:

• What’s led Jain and Tom to their roles in Puppet training
• What you can expect from Puppet’s new on-demand training courses 
• Introducing Puppet Console Overview, an interactive, guided tour of the Puppet Console

Speakers:

• Ben Ford, Community Lead at Puppet by Perforce
• Jain Waldrip, Principal Training Solutions Engineer at Puppet by Perforce
• Tom Chisholm, Principal Training Solutions Engineer at Puppet by Perforce

Links:

• Take new on-demand Puppet training courses
• Check out the PE Console Overview
• Get in touch with the Puppet education team at education@puppet.com
• Join Jain and Tom in the Puppet Community Slack
• Read the episode transcript

Find Us Online:

• puppet.com
• Apple Podcasts
• Twitter
• LinkedIn

“It doesn't matter how small the contribution is – I think everyone benefits from the different environment, the different culture, of open source communities.” From ‘free software’ to the Mars Rover, the scope of open source is expansive, growing, and offering new challenges to organizations and practitioners alike. Now, Perforce Director of Product Management Javier Perez is excited to share the latest findings from the 2023 State of Open Source Report with the context of his 26+ years in the software industry. Look into the past and peer into the future with this exciting discussion between two open source evangelists.

Join Javier and host Ben Ford, Developer Relations Director at Puppet by Perforce, as they discuss the history of open source, examples of open source software dating back to the 1950s, the communities that have formed around open source, where open source software is headed, and highlights from the highly anticipated 2023 State of Open Source Report, which asked ~900 global respondents about their use of open source software.

Highlights:

• AI and machine learning took the number one spot as a technology that most survey respondents were interested in.
• The number-one reason organizations use open source software is access to innovation — not cost savings.
• How initiatives intra-organization methodologies like InnerSource are breaking down silos between companies.
• Why AI and Web3 are trends worth watching in the open source space.

Speakers:

• Ben Ford, Developer Relations Director at Puppet by Perforce
• Javier Perez, Director of Product Management at Perforce

Links:

• Get the 2023 State of Open Source Report
• Follow Javier on Twitter
• Read the episode transcript

Find Us Online:

• puppet.com
• Apple Podcasts
• Twitter
• LinkedIn

In this episode, join special guests Nigel Kersten, KasparvonGrünberg, Fatih Degirmenci, and Ronan Keenan as they discuss the recent surge in popularity of platform engineering and how these teams are fast becoming vital to enterprise success. 

In this panel discussion they explore: 

• The history and advent of platform engineering
• What platform engineering looks like today
• Where to get started in platform teams
• 3 key fallacies to avoid to ensure success

Creating and maintaining community is hard, especially when you don't bump into each other in the hallways on the regular. And community is vital, especially when it advocates for you and helps create a safe space to bring your whole self to work. Todd and Melissa share their experiences with Puppet's Pride ERG and how they're using it to work towards systemic change.

Learn More:

• Join our community at https://slack.puppet.com
• Find Melissa on Twitter as @mcasburn or on LinkedIn
• Find Todd on Twitter as @ShawnTErvin or on LinkedIn

Managing the configuration of an entire ecosystem is not an easy thing to do, and bootstrapping the system that manages that configuration is even more challenging. Edwin from Puppet’s Solutions Architects team shows us a tool they've built that aims to simplify that task.

Learn more:

• Join our community at https://slack.puppet.com and chat with Edwin.
• Try out the module from its Forge page and file any issues on the linked source repository.
• Using Process Mapping to target your automation efforts.
• Find Edwin on Twitter here.

CentOS has become the de facto standard operating system for many organizations since it’s basically the same thing as RHEL, rebranded and without commercial support.

CentOS was originally a community project, but over time Red Hat has become more influential in its direction and has shifted it to a "Stream" model, effectively moving CentOS 8 from being a downstream release (built after RHEL) to an upstream release (built before RHEL). This isn't exactly suitable for production use and thus many users are looking for alternatives.

Paul joins us today to share insights and give some advice on how you can evaluate your options and migrate your infrastructure as painlessly as possible.

Learn more:

• Join our community at https://slack.puppet.com.
• Read the blog post this podcast references.
• Try out Paul's module.

Cortez worked his way up through the ranks as a cloud security and compliance engineer, managing hundreds of production applications. Now he's taking those grueling lessons and teaching the team at Relay how to automate away tedium and toil. Join us as Cortez shares stories from the field and some of the motivation behind Relay's cloud compliance enforcement capabilities.

Learn more: 

• Join our community at https://slack.puppet.com
• Find more about Relay at https://relay.sh
• Let us know about new integration ideas at https://pup.pt/ideas
• Find Cortez on LinkedIn

The recent log4j fiasco reminded us that not only is it important to stay updated and current with security news, but it's also critical to have safe ways to deploy configuration updates or orchestrate reporting/remediation scripts across your infrastructure as quickly as possible. Jeremy and Nick join us today to share best practices and automation suggestions.

Learn more:

• Join our community at https://slack.puppet.com
• Contribute to the module at https://github.com/puppetlabs/log4jscanner
• Download the module from its Forge page: http://forge.puppet.com/puppetlabs/log4jscanner
• Read about Puppet's security response policies https://puppet.com/security/
• Reach Jeremy Mill on Twitter at @living_syn

Update: the GI Joe quote our hapless host massacred was  – "Now you know; and knowing is half the battle."

Puppet has been open source since day one and our success has largely been built on community contributions. One could even say that it's part of our DNA. Now the question is where do we take it from here? Puppet CTO Abby Kearns and Chief Architect Chip Childers have a long and storied history with open source. Join us to hear their thoughts on how Puppet will map out the open source roadmap ahead.

Learn more: 

• Join the Puppet Community Slack, we'd love to hear your ideas.
• Take a look at the Puppet Toy Chest for some projects that we're inviting you to adopt.
• Get involved by contributing written content or to one of our modules.
• Read about open source at Puppet.
• Read as Chip introduces himself to the community.
• Read more of Abby’s ideas on her Medium page
• Follow Abby and Chip on Twitter.

The DSC configuration engine is the standard way to manage Windows systems, and it’s incredibly powerful. Now it's easier to use too, because all the PowerShell Gallery DSC resources are only a `puppet module install` away. Mike and Bill are here to tell you the whole story, from building the integration and the publication pipeline to deploying DSC Resources for customers and debugging them in the field.

Learn more: 

• Using PowerShell DSC Resources with Puppet
• Puppet & DSC: Puppetizing and Debugging
• Picaroons by Michael T Lombardi
• Join our community at https://slack.puppet.com

User research shows that a huge number of our customers were using ServiceNow alongside Puppet Enterprise. It only made sense to teach the tools how to integrate with each other so that users didn't have to switch between them. Molly and Milad join us from Puppet's Integrations team to tell us how they put user experience front and center when building the new extensions.

Learn more: 

• Join our community at https://slack.puppet.com
• Find more about the integration at http://puppet.com/integrations/servicenow/
• Let us know about new integration ideas at https://pup.pt/ideast/ideas

Learning new tools is hard enough on its own. But then you often have to install software, set up a working environment, download a dev kit, or more. Our Education team recently released the new Puppet Practice Labs, which let you learn the Puppet ecosystem at your own pace and remove all these impediments from your progress.

The labs run right in your browser and require no extra downloads. And best of all, they're free and you can access them any time. Many are even short enough that you could run through one over your lunch hour. Join us to chat with the team about how they built the platform and how you can best use it.

Learn more: 

• Boost your skills with Puppet Practice Labs
• Looking for more ways to learn Puppet? Check out Puppet Compass.
• Have more ideas? Take a look at the Puppet Idea Portal.