Ansible and Puppet compared for configuration management

Ansible and Puppet offer distinct approaches to configuration management and automation. Ansible utilizes a YAML-based, agentless model that pushes playbooks over SSH, making it suitable for teams seeking rapid automation without installing software on managed machines. It is supported commercially through the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform.

In contrast, Puppet employs a declarative, agent-based system. It requires a central server and an agent on each node to maintain a desired state. Puppet's commercial offerings, including Puppet Core and Puppet Enterprise, are managed by Perforce. While the open-source foundation remains, Perforce provides hardened, vendor-tested builds with guaranteed SLAs.

In the networking sector, Ansible has become a prominent platform for automation. For Cisco Nexus switches, automation can be achieved through CLI-driven models, which use modules compatible across various operating systems like NX-OS and Junos, or through abstraction-driven models.