Why is Configuration Management Software Written in Ruby?

Talks

Richard Crowley

1 talk

#configuration-management

#domain-specific-language-dsl

Why is Configuration Management Software Written in Ruby?

by Richard Crowley

In the video titled "Why is Configuration Management Software Written in Ruby?", Richard Crowley discusses the reasons behind the use of Ruby as the implementation language for various configuration management tools such as Puppet, Chef, Capistrano, Rake, and MCollective. The presentation highlights the historical context and the specific features of Ruby that cater to the needs of system administrators.

Key points discussed include:

Puppet’s Design: Puppet emerged from a dissatisfaction with CFEngine and focuses on a data-driven approach to configuration management. Ruby was chosen due to its advanced auto-loading capabilities compared to Python and Perl.
Internal DSL in Puppet: Puppet employs an internal Domain Specific Language (DSL), allowing users to define resources like packages through an elegant syntax. However, this might obscure the context, complicating method definitions.
Logging and Error Handling: Puppet's extensive logging system provides different verbosity levels, aiding sysadmins in troubleshooting and debugging by offering stack traces while maintaining execution flow.
Comparison with Chef: Chef contrasts with Puppet by utilizing an external Ruby DSL, allowing for clearer resource definitions but lacking Puppet's auto-loading features. Both tools aim to streamline systems administration via codification.
Importance of Ruby Features: Ruby’s superior regular expressions, flexible syntax, and robust gem ecosystem contribute significantly to its role in configuration management, supported by dependency management tools like Rake and Capistrano.
MCollective’s Scalability: MCollective represents an evolutionary step in systems administration, enhancing communication and task assignments over multiple servers, which supports scalability.
Key Programming Principles: Themes of idempotence, proper naming conventions, and the clear definition of dependencies are emphasized as crucial for maintainability and robustness in software solutions.
Conclusion: Effective coding practices should ensure operable, maintainable code. The interoperability and modularity of Ruby—along with its DSL capabilities—showcase its strength as a primary language for modern configuration management tools.

Overall, Crowley's analysis reveals critical patterns in Ruby's design that align well with the principles of successful system administration software, demonstrating Ruby's enduring relevance in the field.

00:00:11.840 Thank you.

00:00:21.439 I'm still here to talk about configuration management software.

00:00:25.199 Hello, my name is Richard Crowley. I work for a company called Dev Structure.

00:00:27.660 We focus on configuration management software, primarily with a package called Puppet.

00:00:29.279 We built a tool called Blueprint that figures out what you did to your server so that we can generate Puppet code for you.

00:00:33.899 I'm here to conduct a survey over many sysadmin tools and try to understand why they are written in Ruby and what patterns we can extract from that.

00:00:46.980 We will start with Puppet, the subject I know most about, and tell a little story about Luke.

00:00:51.660 Luke was a sysadmin who was very dissatisfied with writing CFEngine installations all day every day. So, he set out to write a new configuration management system that was data-driven, relying less on diffing of files and applying patches, and more on managing whole resources.

00:01:03.480 Ruby ended up being chosen as the implementation language because Perl was already considered outdated, and Luke struggled to achieve the auto-loading behavior he wanted with Python.

00:01:24.420 The auto-loading behavior in Puppet is pervasive and works as follows: when you request a type or something that isn’t loaded, it gathers source files and figures out their location.

00:01:35.460 Each of those source files, as they are executed, uses an internal DSL to register code blocks, classes, or other constructs it creates.

00:01:58.320 So, this is how the package type is introduced to Puppet: without stating the obvious, you call a new type and provide it with a block that is evaluated in class scope, allowing it to define methods needed to perform its work.

00:02:08.160 The internal DSL exists because using constant missing wasn’t a viable option back in Ruby 1.8, especially for ensuring that if a type hadn’t been seen yet, it would find it. However, by using this DSL, we miss the context about what scope we're executing in.

00:02:31.020 It isn't very clear that a block with nothing else in it is where you can define methods, which is one of the drawbacks. It makes dealing with Puppet's internals difficult since one shouldn't need to consult documentation to see if you can define a method.

00:02:50.460 Also, because blocks are often defined at the top level, you can't always return from them, which can be frustrating for a programmer who enjoys short-circuiting out of methods.

00:03:03.900 Here are a couple of Puppet resources in Puppet syntax. Puppet is not just a Ruby-implemented DSL; it’s an actual language with grammar and a parser. For example, here are two resources: one for ensuring Ruby is installed and another for setting up 'etc/ctl.com'. These are orthogonal resources, meaning they have no relationship to each other.

00:03:40.440 When Puppet executes them, it autoloads the appropriate types and providers, determining the current state of the system versus the desired state. This best-effort nature means Puppet can manage the failures effectively when dealing with unrelated resources.

00:04:05.640 Puppet uses an extensive logging system accessed via various command-line options. If you encounter issues, verbose mode can provide stack traces in line with output without interrupting execution.

00:05:05.840 The logging system employs syslog terminology, allowing you to filter output from info-only warnings to debug messages or reduce it to just errors. This level of detail makes it relatively easy to identify and debug problems.

00:05:30.720 Now, I’d like to switch topics and discuss Chef, which many of you might be more familiar with. Chef is a system very similar to Puppet, and it has its own loyal followers; however, I'm not here to ignite that debate.

00:06:10.920 I am here to make a few comparisons: both of these packages focus on system administration tasks and express these tasks in code.

00:06:38.760 Chef, in contrast to Puppet, uses an external Ruby DSL. The Puppet resources I previously showed are implemented within the structure of Puppet instead of an external DSL.

00:06:56.520 Thus, when writing resources in Chef, you deal with actual Ruby code using real classes and methods, allowing clear definition of methods, constants, and namespaces.

00:07:11.100 This distinction has pros and cons; while the external DSL offers clarity in coding, it misses out on the auto-loading behavior seen in Puppet, leaving users to deal with potential issues when managing dependencies.

00:07:50.640 That said, there is merit in considering what is best for your project, whether you choose an external DSL or pure Ruby implementation. The internal DSL can often create complications that require one to understand someone else's design, making it less appealing.

00:08:30.240 Despite my preference for Puppet, I recognize that both tools have unique advantages and disadvantages. Despite the differences, both Chef and Puppet's goal is to codify systems administration, which is a task long tackled with Perl and shell scripts.

00:09:12.420 Everyone has heard that Ruby is a better Perl. Ruby's first-class regular expressions, backtick operators, and flexible syntax make for a language capable of almost any solution.

00:10:00.360 With Ruby gems acting much like CPAN, we also face challenges with release management, making it crucial for maintainers to be diligent about regression testing and clear versioning practices.

00:10:24.480 Slow and steady release cycles are beneficial, as hasty releases can lead to critical errors after deployment. It's essential that maintainers reflect on their testing processes and adjust their expectations for reliability.

00:10:58.500 Rake plays a crucial role in building Ruby gems, coupling an external DSL with an internal implementation, much like Chef. It exemplifies dependency management, working on Convention, ensuring that all tasks execute in proper order.

00:12:02.340 This programming model helps maintain the integrity of complex systems by defining goals and addressing failures effectively.

00:12:50.760 Capistrano adopts a similar dependency model but extends it to multiple hosts simultaneously while managing more intricate failure cases. In parallel execution, it provides clarity when diagnosing anomalous host behavior.

00:13:48.960 This functionality eases troubleshooting, especially in interactive systems administration tasks.

00:14:29.460 The MCollective package represents a significant evolution in systems administration tooling by enabling communication and job assignments across several servers, enhancing the scalability and maintainability of administrative tasks.

00:15:02.760 The framework is not a monolithic tool; rather, it consists of numerous smaller utilities like MC Ping and MC Find that handle specific tasks effectively.

00:15:53.280 The design encourages collaboration across different systems and allows the easy composition of tools to create more complex workflows that rely on previously established smaller, functional components.

00:16:32.880 Transitioning from simple scripts to scalable programs requires careful consideration of concerns like idempotence, ensuring commands can be reapplied without adverse effects.

00:17:16.080 This principle reflects good API design by favoring operations that can be safely repeated, which in terms of web application development, corresponds to using PUT methods instead of POST, focusing on a file's entire management.

00:18:04.800 Proper namespacing should also be a priority, as evident from MCollective using concise prefixed naming conventions to enhance clarity.

00:18:54.960 Moreover, Ruby offers ample facilities for managing file input/output, user permissions, and process management, enhancing capabilities for creating robust Unix applications.

00:19:38.640 The dynamic nature of Ruby allows constructing both data structures and system manipulation applications optimizing its effectiveness across diverse program scopes.

00:20:30.720 In working with Ruby, I advocate for declaring all file dependencies to facilitate ease of pull requests and maintenance, ensuring that components function independently without relying on complex imports.

00:21:21.600 This dedication to explicit dependency declaration makes code more maintainable and accessible, likening it to Python’s philosophy of clear naming and modular organization.

00:22:02.640 I encourage everyone to assess their gems and ensure that they are designed for easy usability, even if they are nested within a larger framework.

00:22:54.840 In conclusion, operable, maintainable code should remain accessible, clean, and straightforward, enabling developers to understand its workings.

00:23:37.680 It’s acceptable for code to look like code, demanding clear dependency declarations to minimize hidden complexities that may lead to issues of maintainability.

00:24:31.080 The prevalent patterns across the frameworks discussed emphasize the importance of external DSLs for clarity, while minimizing the downside of internal DSLs for maintainability.

00:25:33.300 Dependency programming encourages error handling with clear patterns that facilitate easy return to previous states in case of failures through effective logging and elevated item potency.

00:26:10.800 This focus on maintainability accounts for generic approaches that contribute stability, promoting tools that avoid special cases to ensure longevity and usability.

00:27:00.000 I'm here to listen to your questions.

00:27:27.720 I appreciate you sharing your thoughts regarding reusable libraries, noting the importance of modularizing large codebases into manageable, independent components.

00:28:28.560 If you have a large gem reliant on a massive loader, it’s prudent to separate unrelated functionalities into their own gems, fostering better management as these pieces evolve.

00:28:55.440 Thank you for your input.

00:29:00.840 Thank you!

Ruby on Ales 2011