Configuration Management and the Cloud

Go to Course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/configuration-management-cloud

Introduction

### Course Review: Configuration Management and the Cloud In an age where technology evolves at a breathtaking pace, the demand for skilled IT professionals who can efficiently manage cloud systems and automation techniques has never been greater. Coursera’s course, **Configuration Management and the Cloud**, delivers an extensive exploration of automation protocols ideal for both beginners and those looking to enhance their existing skills in IT infrastructure. #### Overview This course offers a comprehensive foundation in automation techniques, aimed at empowering you to become a versatile IT professional equipped to develop and maintain modern cloud-based applications and systems. The curriculum is designed to guide you through the intricacies of computer deployment and management within a cloud environment, making it an excellent resource for anyone eager to excel in IT. #### Syllabus Breakdown ##### 1. **Automation in the Cloud** The journey kicks off with the foundational principles of automation at scale. Here, you'll learn the crucial distinction between unmanaged and managed configuration management. One of the highlight sections is the introduction to **Puppet**, a powerful tool for applying configuration management. You’ll explore how Puppet agents and masters communicate, while also getting your hands on Puppet resources and classes, which are essential for organizing and managing configurations effectively. This section not only lays the groundwork for understanding configuration management but also introduces vital concepts of domain-specific language, such as Puppet facts and their analysis via Facter. ##### 2. **Docker & Kubernetes** The second module dives into practical applications by deploying Puppet on your local machine. You’ll tackle Puppet rules, resource relationships, and manage node definitions. A standout feature is understanding the **Puppet certificate infrastructure**, combining concepts of public key infrastructure and secure socket layer protocols to foster secure communications. The hands-on nature of this module ensures you can apply what you've learned, from modifying manifests to implementing safe deployment strategies in production environments. ##### 3. **Configuration Management and Monitoring** In this module, you'll navigate the various types of cloud services—Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). The ability to understand and modify the scale of your service while weighing your control over systems based on your chosen service model is invaluable. You'll explore automating cloud deployments, including critical components such as load balancers and autoscaling, solidifying your understanding of how to efficiently manage and maintain cloud systems. ##### 4. **CICD (Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment)** The final module focuses on data storage in the cloud, covering everything from block storage to object storage distinctions. Here, you’ll delve deeper into load balancing techniques and gain insight into various testing methodologies essential for successful CI/CD practices. The practical aspects of monitoring and alerting provide you with tools to continuously gauge system performance and troubleshoot effectively when problems arise. #### Recommendations **Who Should Take This Course?** This course is ideal for those at all levels—whether you’re an IT novice eager to understand the fundamentals of cloud automation or a professional looking to enhance your skill set with practical, hands-on experience in managing cloud systems. **Key Benefits:** - Comprehensive curriculum tackling essential automation and configuration management concepts - Hands-on approach ensures immediate application of learned skills - Insight into real-world tools like Puppet, Docker, and Kubernetes, making you relevant in dynamic job markets - Understanding of CI/CD practices crucial for successful software deployment #### Conclusion **Configuration Management and the Cloud** stands out as a must-take course for anyone serious about a career in IT. With its structured syllabus and practical hands-on learning approach, it effectively equips learners with the skills needed to operate confidently within cloud environments. By the end of the course, you’ll be prepared to implement effective automation strategies and manage cloud systems, establishing a robust foundation for future IT endeavors. On top of that, the course's flexibility allows you to learn at your own pace, making it an ideal option for busy professionals. Enroll today and unlock your potential in the exciting field of IT with this invaluable course!

Syllabus

Automation in the Cloud

In this module, you’ll be introduced to the concept of automation at scale and how it can be successfully achieved. You’ll learn what it means to work at scale and how automation is needed to scale effectively. Next, you’ll be introduced to configuration management. You’ll learn the differences between unmanaged and managed configuration management. Then, you’ll dive into infrastructure as code and learn about the benefits it brings, like making your fleet of nodes more reliable and repeatable. This is a major benefit when managing systems at scale. In the next lesson, you’ll be introduced to Puppet. You’ll learn how to apply basic configuration management and how Puppet agents and masters interact with each other. Next, you’ll do a rundown of Puppet resources and classes. You’ll learn how resources are basic units for modeling your configurations and how classes are a collection of resources used to achieve a single goal. The final lesson will introduce you to the building blocks of domain-specific language. You’ll learn what Puppet facts are and how it uses a program called Facter to analyze, store and gather this information. Your final lesson will cover the driving principles of configuration management. You’ll learn about declarative, procedural, and idempotent principals and how they differ from each other.

In this module, you’ll dive into deploying Puppet on your local machine. Once you’ve completed that task, you’ll start creating and applying Puppet rules, managing resource relationships, and organizing your Puppet modules, which are a collection of manifests and associated data. Next, you’ll learn about Puppet nodes and node definitions and how they’re used to apply rules to your fleet. Then, you’ll dive into the Puppet certificate infrastructure, which explores the logic behind how the server can trust that a client is really who it claims to be. This topic will introduce the concepts of public key infrastructure and secure socket layer, which can ensure the clients can be trusted. Once you’ve understood these concepts, you’ll get to see a Puppet deployment in action! Your final lesson will center on updating, modifying, and testing manifests that you’ve deployed to your fleet. You’ll explore Puppet parser validate commands that will allow you to check the syntax to ensure it's correct. Next, you’ll explore the difference between production and testing environments, and how you can safely roll out changes to the testing environment to catch any errors. You’ll also learn about development environments and how you can siphon part of your fleet to an early-adopters or canary track to roll out changes, modification, or updates to that subset of machines.

In this module, you’ll learn about cloud services and the different types of cloud services, like SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS. Next, you’ll learn about scaling in the cloud and how to modify the capacity of your service. You’ll learn about horizontal and vertical scaling, which then ties into automatic versus manual scaling. Next, you’ll explore how much control you have over your system, depending on whether you choose SaaS, Paas, or IaaS, and assess which one is right for your business. You’ll rundown the options available to migrate your business to the cloud using strategies like lift and shift. In the next lesson, you’ll learn how to manage instances in the cloud by creating one! You’ll explore the different options available, like regions, machine types, and lots more. Then, you’ll look into customizing and templating virtual machines to enable you to deploy them at scale. Our final lesson will explore the concept of automating cloud deployments. You’ll learn about load balancers, which ensure that each node receives a balanced number of requests, as well as autoscaling, which shuts nodes on and off, as needed. Next, you’ll learn about orchestration and how orchestration and automation differ. Last up, you’ll learn about infrastructure as code (IaC), or machine readable configuration files that automate configuration management.

In this module, you’ll learn all about storing data in the cloud. You’ll rundown the different types of storage available, like block storage and object storage, and how they differ. You’ll explore load balancing further and dive into some load balancing techniques, like round-robin DNS and sticky sessions. Next, you’ll dive into change management, including the different ways to test your changes and how to push them. You’ll explore different testing methods, like unit tests and integration tests. You’ll also cover continuous integration, the use of continuous deployment, and how to apply A/B testing. Next up, you’ll look at some errors you might encounter along the way, like quotas or limits, and how best to avoid or prepare for these. In the next lesson, you’ll get an understanding of monitoring and altering, and review some systems that offer it. You’ll then dive into the concept of SLA’s and how to set achievable ones. Next, you’ll look at basic monitoring in GCP, and create altering policies, set up conditions, and choose aggregators to manage the data. The last lesson will explore troubleshooting and debugging our systems. You’ll learn how to troubleshoot and debug remotely, understand. techniques for how to identify where the failure is coming from, and how to recover from a failure when it strikes.