In the previous blog we got started with managing Windows using SaltStack Config, getting familiar with winrepo and installing software in line with our standard server builds. Next we are going to expand upon that and add the correct Windows roles, configuration and settings to our Windows Server builds.
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In the last series with SaltStack Config, we focused more on building out a nginx configuration with beacons and reactors, but that was all done on a ubuntu box. But there is more to life than linux right? Lets see how we can use Salt to manage Windows!
Continue readingThe final blog in this 4 part series is all about creating an automatic self-healing infrastructure, preventing accidental and malicious changes to your infrastructure using SaltStack Config. We’re going to protect nginx, mainly because its pretty common, and also keeps it simple for those of us new to SaltStack (me included!)
Continue readingIn the first and second parts of this series, we got to grips with SaltStack Config, understanding the terminology, how to get the minions talking to the master, and even installing NGINX on a ubuntu server without event logging on to it. But now we need to make it a bit more interesting, and ensure we are deploying OUR web app to the server and keeping it consistent. Here we go….
Continue readingIn the first blog, we focused on ensuring we had SaltStack Config deployed (either in the cloud, or self-hosted), ensuring we had minions within the console and we understood the basics and architecture of SaltStack. This one is all about getting started with state files and actually applying some config to those minions.
Continue readingRoughly 12 months ago VMware completed the purchase of Salt, a configuration management platform, based on open source tech. Since then, VMware have been integrating it into its vRA (vRealize Automation Platform), and you can now manage your infrastructure from the cloud. Lets see how we get on…
Continue readingThis is a very short post, just showing anyone who is vaguely interested on how to use Workspace One sensors to get additional information on your Windows 10 devices into your WS1 environment.
Continue readingIt’s been a while since I’ve done a ‘How To’ post, mainly because I’ve been spending my time talking to customers and less time hands on recently. An area I’ve always been intrigued about but never had chance to play with, is containerisation. Thankfully @VMware came to my, and hopefully a few others, with a great way to get started with Tanzu Community Edition, especially if like me, you don’t come from a developer background.
Continue readingIts the most popular cloud collaboration platform worldwide and most businesses are heavy users of the Microsoft stack. Whether that be Office 365, the collaboration suite, or M365 the end-to-end stack including security tools, etc we’re all familiar. But talking to ex-colleagues, and other IT folk, people use it for Teams, Outlook and the office suite, but rely heavily still on other platforms for document storage and the general feeling is because of the complexity of migrating those documents. This article is to go over the various options to fully utelise the platform that your business is already paying for….
Continue readingIf I had a £1 for every time someone used the dreaded acronym JML during my career then I wouldn’t need to work anymore. Its usually followed by “… is rubbish” or preceded by “We need a better process for….”. The reality is, understanding who is joining your business, who is moving roles or departments or who is sadly leaving your business is a challenge. Here’s my thoughts on how to make this process slick(er)
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