Systems automation and orchestration
Get expert guidance and practitioner-written tutorials to improve your organization's automation and orchestration processes, offering advice for beginners and pros alike.
Top Stories
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Tip
12 Dec 2024
See what's new in Desired State Configuration v3
Avoid unexpected surprises, and learn how to bring consistency to your on-premises infrastructure and cloud resources with the overhauled configuration management tool. Continue Reading
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Tip
09 Dec 2024
Comparing Microsoft 365 Copilot vs. GitHub Copilot
There are significant differences between the various Copilots Microsoft has brought to market. Find out details about two of the most significant copilots. Continue Reading
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News
05 Dec 2024
Amazon Q, Bedrock updates make case for cloud in agentic AI
Amazon and its partners rev their engines in anticipation of agentic AI with updates that challenge the cost and quality claims of self-hosted infrastructure competitors. Continue Reading
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Definition
25 Nov 2024
What is a configuration file?
A configuration file, often shortened to config file, defines the parameters, options, settings and preferences applied to operating systems (OSes), infrastructure devices and applications in an IT context. Continue Reading
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News
21 Nov 2024
WasmCloud makes strides with Wasm component model
After a stall in 2023, this year's WASI Preview 2 pushed server-side WebAssembly forward, turning heads at companies such as American Express -- but it's far from mainstream use. Continue Reading
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Conference Coverage
21 Nov 2024
KubeCon + CloudNativeCon 2024 news coverage
This guide to the North American and European KubeCon + CloudNativeCon events covers updates to Kubernetes and other open source cloud-native technologies. Continue Reading
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News
15 Nov 2024
AI gateways, Kubernetes multi-tenancy loop in LLMOps
There are many areas of IT infrastructure affected by the emergence of LLMOps; for each, there were products and projects rolled out this week at KubeCon. Continue Reading
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News
15 Nov 2024
Intel, Nvidia vie for dominance with agentic AI blueprints
Rival sets of tools meant to better support AI apps on developer platforms have hit the market as an even bigger wave of change looms in agentic AI. Continue Reading
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News
14 Nov 2024
Platform engineers call for cloud-native GenAI updates
GenAI apps put unprecedented pressure on IT infrastructure management, which has IT pros in the field looking to the open source community for reinforcements. Continue Reading
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News
12 Nov 2024
OpenShift AI boosts LLMOps chops with Neural Magic deal
The acquisition of a top contributor to an open source library already linked to OpenShift AI comes as LLMOps fundamentally alters the platform engineering scene. Continue Reading
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Tip
12 Nov 2024
How to make the most of Windows Autopatch with Intune
IT administrators can use Intune to manage numerous settings related to Windows OSes and business apps. The Windows Autopatch feature can automate and improve those processes. Continue Reading
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News
07 Nov 2024
Google DORA issues platform engineering caveats
As with generative AI, the same techniques that can boost enterprise developer productivity can also slow and destabilize overall software delivery. Continue Reading
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Feature
29 Oct 2024
Physical vs. virtual memory: How the two types compare
Physical memory wasn't enough for storage systems. Computer architects created virtual memory to ease the performance burden and work alongside the physical form. Continue Reading
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Tutorial
25 Oct 2024
How to use Ansible with Windows for server management
Initially made for Linux, Ansible also manages Windows systems through playbooks that use declarative syntax. Learn how to set up a control node and add roles to Windows Server. Continue Reading
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News
24 Oct 2024
Linkerd stable release paywall worked, Buoyant CEO says
Buoyant's CEO urged other CNCF projects to follow Linkerd's lead in holding back stable releases for paying customers, but analysts don't echo that recommendation. Continue Reading
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Tip
18 Oct 2024
CI/CD pipeline security: Know the risks and best practices
Rapid release cycles need not compromise the security of an application and supporting infrastructure. Follow these guidelines to ensure security throughout the CI/CD pipeline. Continue Reading
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News
17 Oct 2024
HashiCorp Vault scalability updates target big enterprises
HashiCorp Vault 1.18 updates make it more suited to large companies, which the vendor is courting with a lighter cloud migration push than with Terraform. Continue Reading
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News
17 Oct 2024
HashiCorp CTO talks AI strategy, Ansible tie-ins, FedRAMP
In a Q&A to wrap up HashiConf, the company's co-founder and CTO gave his outlook on HashiCorp's approach to AI, configuration management and cloud compliance. Continue Reading
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News
16 Oct 2024
Terraform Stacks, HCP Waypoint prompt migration questions
HashiCorp fends off challengers that sell ease of use with fresh infrastructure-as-code abstraction, while Terraform users grapple with a potential move to cloud-first services. Continue Reading
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News
11 Oct 2024
Buildkite: CI/CD pipelines still a job for app developers
In an era of platform engineering, Buildkite and its high-scale users maintain that CI/CD pipelines and testing should remain the purview of app developer teams. Continue Reading
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Feature
08 Oct 2024
Top 8 configuration management tools in DevOps
Configuration management tools ease the IT burden. Explore the top configuration management tools in DevOps, evaluate their features and consider key aspects that set them apart. Continue Reading
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Feature
07 Oct 2024
Configuration management vs. asset management simplified
Configuration management and asset management are sometimes used interchangeably. While similar in certain ways, they are not the same thing. Discover where the two diverge and where they overlap. Continue Reading
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Feature
07 Oct 2024
Ansible vs. Chef vs. Puppet: A comparison
For teams that oversee ecosystems and software packages, configuration management tools have the power to boost operational consistency. But which products deserve attention? Continue Reading
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Definition
01 Oct 2024
What is configuration management? A comprehensive guide
Configuration management, or CM, is a governance and systems engineering process used to track and control IT resources, services and applications across an enterprise. Continue Reading
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Definition
01 Oct 2024
What are ModelOps (model operations) analytics models?
ModelOps (model operations) is a holistic approach to building analytics models that can quickly progress from the lab to production. Continue Reading
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News
26 Sep 2024
Fresh crop of startups takes on infrastructure-as-code toil
Emerging vendors, including a new venture from the founder of Chef, set out to put a fresh face on IT infrastructure automation for the platform engineering era. Continue Reading
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News
25 Sep 2024
Harness DevOps tools add database, QA automation, AI agents
With a series of updates this week, Harness claims unique support for database DevOps, as well as pipeline generation and UI test automation using AI agents. Continue Reading
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Feature
24 Sep 2024
U.S. Army, Lockheed Martin detail SBOM progress
Despite muddied regulatory waters and industry angst over technical stumbling blocks, enterprises are forging ahead with SBOMs, according to presenters at a recent CISA event. Continue Reading
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Tutorial
23 Sep 2024
Learn to use PowerShell Invoke-RestMethod for API calls
Admins who work with the cloud, from Azure hybrid services to Microsoft 365, should understand how REST APIs work in conjunction with PowerShell for their automation needs. Continue Reading
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News
19 Sep 2024
Platform engineers embrace secrets management tool
Pulumi's ESC, now GA, filled an automation gap in multi-cloud identity and permissions management for platform engineers well-versed in general-purpose programming languages. Continue Reading
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Podcast
19 Sep 2024
SecOps' new frontier in the remote work era: HR
A CISO shares the story of how his SOC staff caught and contained a North Korean agent posing as a software engineer, saying he hopes to raise awareness of a growing threat. Continue Reading
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News
09 Sep 2024
OpenTofu, OpenBao reach milestones post-HashiCorp BSL
OpenTofu capped a year since launch with a new registry UI and API, while OpenBao reached GA, but open source forks didn't keep HashiCorp from beating growth estimates. Continue Reading
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Tip
26 Aug 2024
Building an infrastructure-as-code pipeline in the cloud
There are key stages to manage infrastructure as code, from source control to deployment. Here's how these functions can be accomplished through cloud services. Continue Reading
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Video
23 Aug 2024
An explanation of configuration management
Configuration management has four key benefits -- compliance, consistency, service delivery and security. Continue Reading
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Definition
14 Aug 2024
What is virtual reality? How it's used and how it will evolve
Virtual reality, or VR, is a simulated three-dimensional (3D) environment that lets users explore and interact with a virtual surrounding in a way that approximates reality, as it's perceived through the users' senses. Continue Reading
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Tip
13 Aug 2024
How Puppet works: Using the configuration management tool
With Puppet, organizations can manage configurations and simplify the DevOps process. Learn how it works, and see if it's the right choice for your organization. Continue Reading
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Tip
09 Aug 2024
How AI can automate IT patch management
AI-based patch automation can take pressure off the process of scanning, testing, deploying and producing a report. Is AI the right way to go for your organization? Continue Reading
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Tip
08 Aug 2024
12 CI/CD best practices for DevOps teams
Building and maintaining a CI/CD pipeline requires more than just chains of automation. Adopt these CI/CD approaches to maximize your development and deployment efforts. Continue Reading
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Definition
07 Aug 2024
What is a service mesh?
A service mesh is a dedicated infrastructure layer that controls service-to-service communication within a distributed application. Continue Reading
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Tip
06 Aug 2024
How to use Linux package managers
There are many different package managers for Linux distributions. Linux admins should know what to expect from these distributions and how to tackle software maintenance. Continue Reading
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Tip
05 Aug 2024
How to put CI, CT and CD together in a DevOps pipeline
DevOps pipelines aren't just about CI/CD. Learn why continuous testing is a crucial piece of the puzzle and how it ultimately results in cleaner code with fewer errors. Continue Reading
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Podcast
30 Jul 2024
Is open source a tragedy of the commons? It's complicated
In the season finale of the 'IT Ops Query' podcast, Pantheon's Josh Koenig and David Strauss explain why it's difficult to label open source a tragedy of the commons. Continue Reading
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Tutorial
30 Jul 2024
Deploy Azure landing zones using Terraform
Azure landing zones are well-managed environments that provide a way to run workloads. Deploying them using Terraform lets users build a solid foundation. Continue Reading
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News
26 Jul 2024
CrowdStrike outage underscores software testing dilemmas
Experts say efforts to avoid incidents such as last week's CrowdStrike outage will face time-honored tradeoffs between velocity, stability, access and security. Continue Reading
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News
23 Jul 2024
GitLab users cautiously optimistic on Datadog DevSecOps deal
Datadog is reportedly a suitor for GitLab; existing users understand the rationale for such a deal, but key questions must be answered before they'd adopt deeper integrations. Continue Reading
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Podcast
17 Jul 2024
An unpopular way to fund popular open source software
Tech analyst and consultant Justin Warren has a few thoughts on how to solve the open source maintenance problem. Some might not like his approach. Continue Reading
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News
10 Jul 2024
IT ops pros grapple with glut of AI assistants
After nearly two years of hype, it's still early for enterprise GenAI. That said, skepticism -- and outright pessimism -- have begun to emerge about AI assistants for IT automation. Continue Reading
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Video
09 Jul 2024
Python's GIL removal is a poison pill and benefits Mojo
Developers have pleaded for 30 years for the stewards of the language to remove Python's GIL. If they do it now, it will be the end of Python. Continue Reading
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Tip
02 Jul 2024
Requirements vs. user stories in software development
User stories fulfill the same purpose as software requirements but through different means. Learn how to write user stories and how they relate to software requirements. Continue Reading
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News
26 Jun 2024
Datadog DASH updates push into fresh IT automation turf
A series of product updates at Datadog DASH broke out of the vendor's usual observability domain and into territory held by Atlassian, PagerDuty and others. Continue Reading
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Definition
26 Jun 2024
What is multi-tenancy (multi-tenant architecture)?
Multi-tenancy is an architecture in which a single instance of a software application serves multiple customers. Continue Reading
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Video
20 Jun 2024
No-GIL Python is a mistake
Python's GIL is slated for the chopping block, and while the promise is improved performance, the reality of removing the GIL may be quite different. Continue Reading
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News
19 Jun 2024
OpsRamp embraces automation for GenAI workloads
In this Q&A, Varma Kunaparaju, HPE OpsRamp lead, talks about soon-to-come platform updates, which include GenAI capabilities and building trust for AI-driven automation. Continue Reading
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News
19 Jun 2024
SUSE Rancher gears up amid VMware-Broadcom 'feeding frenzy'
SUSE Rancher bolsters its bid to capture users dissatisfied with Broadcom's changes to VMware with the acquisition of StackState and other updates to its Prime package. Continue Reading
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News
17 Jun 2024
Post-lawsuit, Splunk and Cribl meet again in data pipelines
Weeks after a jury awarded Splunk $1 in its lawsuit against Cribl, the two vendors remain on a collision course, this time in the realm of data pipelines and federated analytics. Continue Reading
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Podcast
17 Jun 2024
Open source security's systemic challenges
In this installment of 'IT Ops Query,' Emily Fox talks about how reevaluating 50-year-old open source security practices could lead the community somewhere new. Continue Reading
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Tutorial
13 Jun 2024
How to successfully debug PowerShell scripts
Got a PowerShell script that isn't working as intended? Debug it using breakpoints and a few simple steps in VS Code, and you'll be on your way to scripting success. Continue Reading
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News
12 Jun 2024
New Cisco-Splunk observability roadmap details emerge
Post-acquisition, Cisco puts Splunk's CEO in charge of its observability strategy and lays out the details of how Splunk Observability Cloud will replace its existing platform. Continue Reading
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Definition
07 Jun 2024
IT incident management
IT incident management is a component of IT service management (ITSM) that aims to rapidly restore services to normal following an incident while minimizing adverse effects on the business. Continue Reading
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Podcast
03 Jun 2024
Be prepared for open source software risks
Companies need to prepare for the risks and responsibilities of using open source software, according to Chainguard's Dan Lorenc. Nothing is ever completely free. Continue Reading
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Podcast
28 May 2024
Magical thinking puts open source maintenance in jeopardy
Open source software maintenance is broken. Tobie Langel has a big picture idea for how to fix it, which he shares in this installment of IT Ops Query. Continue Reading
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Definition
22 May 2024
virtualization sprawl (VM sprawl)
Virtualization sprawl is a phenomenon that occurs when the number of virtual machines (VMs) on a network reaches a point where administrators can no longer manage them effectively. Continue Reading
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News
21 May 2024
IBM gives glimpse of HashiCorp plans with AIOps preview
The idea that IBM's $6.5 billion deal for HashiCorp will change its open source stance has lost steam given plans to unite it with other proprietary tools under IBM Concert. Continue Reading
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Conference Coverage
20 May 2024
Red Hat Summit 2024 news and conference guide
Use this Red Hat Summit conference guide to stay up to date on current trends, emerging technologies and information from keynote speakers and industry experts. Continue Reading
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Opinion
16 May 2024
At Red Hat Summit 2024, generative AI goes open source
Analyst Scott Sinclair unpacks this year's Red Hat Summit, where the company launched new AI integration tools and features as part of its open source generative AI strategy. Continue Reading
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Podcast
16 May 2024
Bruce Perens on software in a Post-Open world
What comes after open source software? Bruce Perens shares his ideas on why open source as he first defined it has failed, and what a new paradigm could look like. Continue Reading
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Podcast
13 May 2024
The shortsightedness of open source business models
Chef Software founder Adam Jacob on the struggle of getting an open source business model right and the licensing approach for his new venture, System Initiative. Continue Reading
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News
10 May 2024
Slow Ansible Lightspeed adoption might reflect AI qualms
Customers with Ansible Lightspeed in pilots or production remain rare, as concerns about the risks of AI and the need to shore up a solid IT automation foundation prompt caution. Continue Reading
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News
09 May 2024
Red Hat CTO, Nvidia AI exec reveal joint LLMOps roadmap
The company leaders discussed deepening integration between OpenShift AI and Nvidia NIMs, how they fit into RHEL AI and what's surprised them about AI growth so far. Continue Reading
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Feature
08 May 2024
Red Hat Summit: What I want to see
I’m looking forward to a couple of Red Hat Conference sessions on observability and sustainability, two areas that are getting increasing attention in the open source community. Continue Reading
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News
07 May 2024
Red Hat OpenShift AI links LLMs into hybrid cloud
An extensively updated OpenShift AI will underpin RHEL AI and, if Red Hat has its way, enterprises' AI infrastructure from the edge to the public cloud. Continue Reading
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News
07 May 2024
IBM throws its Red Hat into open source AI ring with RHEL AI
IBM and Red Hat open source their first LLMs, but IT experts say RHEL AI is more likely to stand out in the ways it links AI to hybrid cloud infrastructure. Continue Reading
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News
03 May 2024
Cloud campaign intensifies for Atlassian software products
Atlassian plans to continue updating Data Center products, but accelerating cloud updates and migrations touted at Team '24 prompt questions about their long-term future. Continue Reading
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Podcast
03 May 2024
Weaveworks' lessons for open source business leaders
Weaveworks CEO Alexis Richardson talks about the company's beginnings and ultimate end, and offers up some ideas on how to help the businesses of open source software succeed. Continue Reading
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News
01 May 2024
Atlassian Jira now a hub for knowledge management, AI tools
Atlassian's raft of product updates at Team '24 spanned long-awaited product integrations and previews of AI automation updates, all of which advanced broader ambitions. Continue Reading
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Podcast
30 Apr 2024
Buoyant CEO on Linkerd's existential question
Buoyant CEO William Morgan said project viability and long-term funding underpinned recent changes to Linkerd, problems other open source projects are likely to face. Continue Reading
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Podcast
26 Apr 2024
Open source software's tragedy of the commons
Will open source software become a tragedy of the commons? Senior news writer Beth Pariseau and Sentry's Chad Whitacre take up the question. Continue Reading
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News
24 Apr 2024
Experts: IBM buy could change HashiCorp open source equation
IBM will buy HashiCorp for $6.5 billion, prompting speculation that being brought under the same roof as Red Hat could alter Hashi's open source trajectory. Continue Reading
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Definition
24 Apr 2024
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is the transfer of data from one computer system to another by standardized message formatting without the need for human intervention. Continue Reading
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News
19 Apr 2024
OpenTofu forges on with beta feature that drew HashiCorp ire
Defying a HashiCorp cease and desist, OpenTofu 1.7 beta ships with the removed blocks feature and client-side state encryption support long sought by the Terraform community. Continue Reading
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News
18 Apr 2024
GitLab Duo plans harness growing interest in platform AI
GitLab's next release will tie its Duo AI tools to the full DevSecOps pipeline in a bid to capitalize on increased interest in AI automation among platform engineers. Continue Reading
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News
09 Apr 2024
New Google Gemini AI tie-ins dig into local codebases
Google ties in its latest Gemini AI model with company-specific data in a new code assistant and Vertex AI updates that also anticipate a coming wave of AI agent development. Continue Reading
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Definition
09 Apr 2024
What is IT/OT convergence? Everything you need to know
IT/OT convergence is the integration of information technology (IT) systems with operational technology (OT) systems. Continue Reading
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Video
08 Apr 2024
Learn Jenkins: Tutorial for beginners
Jenkins is a popular open source CI/CD tool, and it's not hard to learn either. Learn to build your own CI/CD pipelines with this full Jenkins tutorial for beginners. Continue Reading
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Definition
27 Mar 2024
change control
Change control includes the various steps needed to process changes made to a product or system. Completion of change controls in a systematic fashion is part of a change management process. Continue Reading
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News
22 Mar 2024
Sidecarless Istio Ambient Mesh clears cloud interop hurdle
Istio's Ambient Mesh is now compatible with major cloud providers' managed Kubernetes services, available as an Amazon EKS add-on and slated for beta in the next release. Continue Reading
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News
19 Mar 2024
HashiCorp stock rises, users' hearts fall on sale report
HashiCorp could be an enticing asset for a large IT vendor. But a sale wouldn't necessarily be great news for customers who value the neutrality of its cloud-native apps. Continue Reading
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Definition
18 Mar 2024
continuous delivery (CD)
Continuous delivery (CD) is an approach for software delivery in which development teams produce and test code in short but continuous cycles to improve software quality. Continue Reading
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Video
12 Mar 2024
Learn how to use GitLab tutorial for beginners
GitLab is a complete CI/CD platform. But to really understand GitLab, you must also understand its namesake Git. This Git and GitLab tutorial will get you up to speed on both. Continue Reading
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Definition
08 Mar 2024
IT service delivery
IT service delivery is the way a corporation provides users access to IT services, such as applications, data storage and other business resources. IT service delivery covers design, development, deployment, operation and retirement. Continue Reading
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Definition
05 Mar 2024
declarative programming
Declarative programming is a method to abstract the control flow for logic required for software to perform an action. Instead, it involves stating what the task or desired outcome is. Continue Reading
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Tip
04 Mar 2024
How admins can benefit from switching to PowerShell 7.4
This PowerShell release includes PSReadLine enhancements, better integration with Windows Defender Application Control and new features to ease native command use for all platforms. Continue Reading
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Tip
29 Feb 2024
How to use Microsoft 365 DSC to avoid configuration drift
This configuration-as-code technology gives admins a way to automate tasks on the Microsoft 365 tenant to keep settings locked in and avoid errors from manual input. Continue Reading
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News
26 Feb 2024
Octopus Deploy reels in Codefresh for GitOps expertise
By joining forces in CI/CD and GitOps, the combined companies look to even the odds with bigger competitors, but this will be a daunting task, experts predict. Continue Reading
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Video
23 Feb 2024
Top 10 differences between GitHub and Git
Enterprise development teams need to know these major differences between Git and GitHub, but also how they serve different purposes and be used together effectively. Continue Reading
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News
22 Feb 2024
Linkerd paywall prompts online debate, CNCF TOC review
Linkerd's decision to charge for access to stable builds of its service mesh code sparks objections and debate about open source governance, along with an official CNCF response. Continue Reading
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News
21 Feb 2024
Some Linkerd service mesh users will soon have to pay
Companies with more than 50 employees using Linkerd service mesh in production must pay Buoyant for stable releases starting in May. Open source users and analysts weigh in. Continue Reading
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Definition
15 Feb 2024
on-demand computing (ODC)
On-demand computing (ODC) is a delivery model in which computing resources are made available to the user as needed. Continue Reading
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Video
08 Feb 2024
How to set a Git username and password in Git config
There's a way to stop Git from repeatedly asking you for a username and password. Just set your username and password in Git config. Continue Reading
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News
07 Feb 2024
GitOps vendor's close echoes wider funding, open-core woes
Score one for IT orgs that rely solely on upstream code, as Flux CD sails on. But Weaveworks' demise points to larger issues for vendor sustainability, especially in open source. Continue Reading
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Video
07 Feb 2024
Git vs. GitHub: What's the difference?
Git and GitHub involve similar technology but are different in several important ways. Here's what you need to understand to get the most out of these key developer tools. Continue Reading
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News
01 Feb 2024
TD Bank plans AIOps consolidation on Dynatrace SaaS
The dream of zero-touch autoremediation remains alive for the bank as it prepares to go all in on Dynatrace SaaS for observability-driven IT automation. Continue Reading