Ad hoc and imperative deployment workflows using Bolt tasks and plans📍

Sometimes you only need to complete a task quarterly, annually, or as requested. You don’t need to fully model a task or event in Puppet code. You can use Bolt tasks and plans to complete a task or event now, schedule it, or do it conditionally.

Solution

Bolt is an open-source orchestration tool that automates the manual work it takes to maintain your infrastructure. You can use Bolt to automate the tasks that you’d do on an as-needed basis or as part of a greater orchestration workflow. Bolt’s agentless multi-platform solution allows you to get started without the prerequisites of an agent or prior Puppet knowledge.

Bolt can run commands and scripts on one server, a list of servers, or by using an inventory file via SSH or WinRM. Create parameterized tasks and use them over and over.

You can orchestrate a series of tasks and perform steps that might vary based on their outcomes by using plans. For example, in a plan, you could use tasks to stop an application on a list of nodes based on parameterized input, update the application, restart it, and send a notification to update your ticketing system or a Slack channel.

Take a look at the Bolt Hands-on Lab to get started.

Additional reading

Learn more about Bolt

• Learn how to use Bolt
• Links to Bolt information

Bolt and Puppet

• Use Bolt to install Puppet agent on multiple platforms at the same time
• Use tasks to run operating system commands using Bolt for Puppet 5.0 and later
• Use tasks to run Puppet commands using Bolt for Puppet 4.0 and later
• Clean certificates in Puppet 5.0 and 6.0 using a task* Use a task to enable or disable the Puppet daemon for a group of agents in Puppet 5.0 and 6.0
• Use tasks to stop a thundering herd in Puppet

Bolt and PuppetDB

• Check table sizes for PuppetDB in Puppet using a task

Bolt and Windows

• Deploy packages across your Windows estate with Bolt and Chocolatey