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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News
25 May 2023
AI and automation take center stage at AnsibleFest 2023
Amid excitement around the possibilities raised by AI and automation, experts at Red Hat Summit and AnsibleFest 2023 highlighted the importance of trust and responsibility. Continue Reading
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Opinion
25 May 2023
Automating modernization: Takeaways from Red Hat Summit 2023
Get an industry analyst's take on major announcements from this year's Red Hat Summit and AnsibleFest and how the developments fit into today's IT landscape. Continue Reading
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Tip
08 Apr 2020
4 components of a disaster recovery plan to prepare for a crisis
IT teams must take a proactive approach to crisis management and disaster recovery. Use these four guidelines around communication, monitoring and more to build a plan that works. Continue Reading
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News
03 Apr 2020
As Atlassian cloud push ramps up, users assess migration
Atlassian's cloud products offer sought-after enterprise features and extend integrations, but some organizations will still struggle to transition from its on-premises tools. Continue Reading
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News
03 Apr 2020
SysAid announces launch of new workflow tool, Workflow Designer
Workflow Designer uses a drag-and-drop process to make workflows easier to create with less training and can be crucial with the rise of employees working from home. Continue Reading
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News
02 Apr 2020
IT service desks rush to support remote work amid pandemic
IT service desks bore the brunt of the sudden transition from centralized business locations to remote work for most white-collar employees, as COVID-19 forced social distancing. Continue Reading
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Tip
30 Mar 2020
What to expect as AI for DevOps advances in the enterprise
While still an emerging practice, the use of artificial intelligence in DevOps shops will have major implications on monitoring, cost optimization and more. Continue Reading
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News
25 Mar 2020
HashiCorp Nomad vs. Kubernetes matchup intensifies with 0.11
HashiCorp Nomad may not overtake Kubernetes but could capture broader enterprise attention with container-like orchestration features for legacy apps in VMs. Continue Reading
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News
20 Mar 2020
Las Vegas shores up SecOps with multi-factor authentication
AI-driven SecOps tools spared Las Vegas from a major data breach in January. The city now bets that two-factor authentication can stop future attempts. Continue Reading
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News
18 Mar 2020
IBM officially supports Red Hat Ansible for mainframe DevOps
IBM will support mainframe DevOps through mainstream distributed systems tools such as Red Hat Ansible and Jenkins, even when it has equivalent mainframe-specific products. Continue Reading
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Tip
13 Mar 2020
3 ways IT teams can use PowerShell in AI initiatives
As they embark on AIOps strategies, IT admins -- particularly those in Windows shops -- can lean on a familiar tool for data gathering and issue remediation: PowerShell. Continue Reading
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News
11 Mar 2020
Continuous delivery pipeline transforms hotel chain's IT ops
As Choice Hotels moved away from homegrown scripting tools for continuous delivery, it fundamentally shifted the daily duties of its IT ops teams. Continue Reading
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Video
11 Mar 2020
Follow this Ansible Vault example for encryption best practices
IT admins can choose between two types of encryption methods when they use Ansible Vault: file-level and variable-level. Walk through each model with this brief video. Continue Reading
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News
06 Mar 2020
Istio service mesh revamp may ease use, or sow confusion
Istio 1.5 reworks a microservices-based control plane into a monolith as the service mesh project seeks to simplify management and improve performance. Continue Reading
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Tip
03 Mar 2020
Build a SaaS disaster recovery plan for IT automation tools
While cloud-based IT automation software offers speed and flexibility, it poses the same potential risk of other hosted tools: a loss of availability during an outage. Continue Reading
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Tip
26 Feb 2020
Why to use staging environments for IT infrastructure testing
A well-built and efficient staging environment pays off in a more stable production deployment. For this reason, IT ops teams should perform isolated infrastructure tests in staging. Continue Reading
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News
26 Feb 2020
JFrog touts DevSecOps edge in CI/CD tools
JFrog hops aboard a crowded CI/CD bandwagon, but its expertise in artifact and package management could appeal to security-conscious DevOps shops. Continue Reading
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Feature
25 Feb 2020
Put these Terraform best practices into action
Terraform enables IT teams to complete a range of tasks, from deployment to multi-cloud management. Apply this collection of best practices to get started with, or optimize your use of, the IaC tool. Continue Reading
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Tip
24 Feb 2020
IT tool selection criteria to guide emerging tech navigation
The IT industry is almost always in flux. For organizations to keep up, they must invest in the right tools, which takes asking the right questions. Continue Reading
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News
21 Feb 2020
Massive DoD DevSecOps standards push may aid enterprise IT
The CNCF, defense contractors and IT vendors have joined forces with the Department of Defense to establish NIST security standards and best practices for DevSecOps. Continue Reading
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News
21 Feb 2020
GKE Application Manager does GitOps for Kubernetes config
GKE Application Manager, rolled out in beta this week, bakes in an open source Kubernetes configuration management tool to simplify application deployments to GKE. Continue Reading
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News
14 Feb 2020
Chef IT automation invigorates legacy apps amid cloud surge
Chef Software's Habitat tool carved out a niche as it matured, among enterprise IT pros tasked with modernizing legacy data center apps. Continue Reading
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Tutorial
07 Feb 2020
Visual Studio Code vs. the native console for PowerShell debugging
Unsure whether to debug a PowerShell script in Visual Studio Code or the PowerShell console? Follow this tutorial to make the decision a little easier. Continue Reading
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News
06 Feb 2020
Enterprise service management blurs business, IT operations
IT-style automated workflows are expanding to non-IT departments, even as business initiatives fuse with software projects. IT ops will support both, often with the same toolset. Continue Reading
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Tip
29 Jan 2020
3 ways to react to an IT system failure avalanche
In complex IT infrastructures, a system or resource failure can spur follow-up issues. Compare three approaches to prevent these dreaded domino effects and reach the root of the problem. Continue Reading
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News
21 Jan 2020
PE firm merges XebiaLabs, CollabNet for new DevOps toolchain
XebiaLabs will join with CollabNet VersionOne to form a new DevOps platform vendor that will compete with Atlassian, GitHub, GitLab and CloudBees. Continue Reading
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News
17 Jan 2020
AIOps exec bets on incident response market shakeup
Resolve Systems, under a newly appointed CEO, will soon roll out a new product based on its FixStream acquisition that combines AIOps and IT automation. Continue Reading
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Tutorial
17 Jan 2020
Walk through common use cases for built-in Terraform functions
Follow along with this Terraform tutorial to learn and apply various types of built-in functions -- including Numeric, String, and Date and Time -- within the IaC tool. Continue Reading
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News
16 Jan 2020
SaltStack infrastructure-as-code tools seek cloud-native niche
SaltStack, like other infrastructure-as-code tools, must reinvent itself as cloud-native IT automation approaches such as containers, serverless and Kubernetes Operators grow. Continue Reading
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Tip
16 Jan 2020
PowerShell 7 features set to address some, not all, functionality gaps
While PowerShell 7 is set to unify the cross-platform and traditional Windows versions of the tool, it might not check all the boxes in terms of features IT admins want to see. Continue Reading
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Tip
08 Jan 2020
Evaluate if serverless cost benefits are worth the upfront price
Before an IT shop adopts serverless, it must fully grasp how the technology operates, and prepare for the upfront -- and potentially costly -- app refactoring efforts it requires. Continue Reading
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Tip
07 Jan 2020
How and why to set up an automation CoE for DevOps
As DevOps automation efforts spread across IT and the business, use a center of excellence to establish standards, secure executive sponsorship and organize staff trainings. Continue Reading
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Opinion
02 Jan 2020
AIOps meaning to expand throughout DevOps chain
AIOps means artificial intelligence to aid in IT operations. But it could mean much more than that, bringing in development, business, security and other application stakeholders. Continue Reading
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Tip
19 Dec 2019
Enable automated failover with a highly available CMDB
A resilient CMDB helps drive automated failover processes. Explore several approaches to prepare your configuration management database for DR scenarios. Continue Reading
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News
18 Dec 2019
Ex-PayPal pros shun AI with SecOps IT automation firm
Machine learning and AI are all the rage in IT automation tools -- except for the one produced by a new startup founded by two former PayPal cybersecurity engineers. Continue Reading
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Feature
16 Dec 2019
Ramp up carefully during AIOps implementation
Sound IT automation and data management practices -- along with a healthy dose of patience -- are prerequisites for a smooth AIOps implementation. Continue Reading
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Opinion
11 Dec 2019
Emphasize app modernization in 2020 IT budget plans
IT budgeting can be stressful and complicated, but it doesn't have to be. Communicate with business leaders and users to identify -- and capitalize on -- the right opportunities. Continue Reading
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Video
09 Dec 2019
A Jenkins video tutorial to set up a build job
Jenkins can help IT operations admins perform a number of IT automation tasks -- but first, they have to be familiar with the tool. Learn how to create a Jenkins project, or job, with this video. Continue Reading
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News
06 Dec 2019
10 DevOps tools vendors to watch in 2020
A vast market for DevOps tools includes every major IT vendor and many up-and-comers. A panel of industry experts say these 10 are most likely to shift the market in 2020. Continue Reading
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Tip
03 Dec 2019
How a rules engine can drive -- or derail -- an IT automation strategy
To benefit fully from a rules engine -- and minimize the risk of chaos -- IT organizations need to carefully define system metrics and be diligent about documentation. Continue Reading
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News
20 Nov 2019
Kubernetes security opens a new frontier: Multi-tenancy
Enterprises have grown used to managing Kubernetes in production for some of their workloads, but broadening those deployments can bring multi-tenant security challenges. Continue Reading
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Tip
12 Nov 2019
A GitOps workflow won't benefit every IT organization
A move to GitOps is a major transition for an IT team and offers a wealth of perks, but it also carries significant challenges and a steep learning curve. Continue Reading
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Tip
04 Nov 2019
When to use Jenkins vs. Jenkins X for pipeline automation
Three primary factors -- flexibility, Kubernetes adoption and the need for a GUI -- should shape an organization's decision between Jenkins and Jenkins X as a pipeline automation tool. Continue Reading
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Feature
21 Oct 2019
Security automation charges IT ops to build the 'paved road'
As IT ops pros evolve into SREs, they play a key role in security automation and create secure paths to production deployment for application developers. Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Oct 2019
Three keys to successful DevOps automation
An effective CI pipeline starts with build automation. But there are other steps needed to produce results. Continue Reading
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Tutorial
09 Oct 2019
How to create PowerShell modules with a Plaster template
Follow along this tutorial to create templates in Plaster, an open source tool, and accelerate the development of PowerShell modules. Continue Reading
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News
02 Oct 2019
Chef outage fuels technology ethics debate
Software companies have been embroiled in high-profile ethical controversies in the past two years, driving industry debate about just how extensively politics should influence tech. Continue Reading
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Feature
30 Sep 2019
6 tips to drive infrastructure-as-code best practices
Evaluating an infrastructure-as-code setup? Use these six tips to grasp IaC benefits, challenges, tool considerations and more before you make the move. Continue Reading
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Answer
30 Sep 2019
Perform a Windows event log search with PowerShell
Event log monitoring is vital to an IT environment's health and success, but finding a specific event in the flood is challenging. PowerShell enables admins to simplify this task. Continue Reading
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News
26 Sep 2019
Turbonomic adds features to Application Resource Management
The new features include continuous service optimization in Kubernetes and accurate container planning to ensure that applications have sufficient resources to perform. Continue Reading
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News
25 Sep 2019
Ansible Tower revamp adds analytics, security automation
Ansible Tower and Ansible Engine are now one product, Ansible Automation Platform, which also includes automation analytics, security automation integrations and certified content. Continue Reading
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Tip
24 Sep 2019
Apply staging environment best practices to an app lifecycle
From the public cloud to blue/green deployment, there are a myriad of ways that IT teams can make the most of their staging environments -- and use resources they already have. Continue Reading
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Answer
19 Sep 2019
How do I manage ACL folder permissions with a PowerShell script?
PowerShell scripts make short work of repetitive Windows tasks, saving admins time, effort and frustration. One simple area admins can manage with scripts is the access control list. Continue Reading
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Answer
19 Sep 2019
What are the main features of Ansible vs. Ansible Tower?
Both Ansible and Ansible Tower offer enterprises a wealth of resources for config management, but they aren't equals. Assess their differences in crucial aspects such as security. Continue Reading
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News
18 Sep 2019
DevSecOps veterans share security strategy, lessons learned
DevSecOps practitioners imparted dos and don'ts for newbies and urged them to think strategically as well as tactically about improving IT security. Continue Reading
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News
17 Sep 2019
New application security risks lead IT teams to DevSecOps
Once a bleeding-edge concept, DevSecOps has gone mainstream following high-profile security breaches that proved simply installing automated security tools doesn't go far enough. Continue Reading
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Tip
13 Sep 2019
Tips and tools to achieve a serverless DevOps workflow
Serverless functions bring the benefits of event-driven computing to a CI/CD pipeline -- but to get there, DevOps teams might need to lean heavily on services and tools from the major cloud computing providers. Continue Reading
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Tip
10 Sep 2019
Secure configuration management tasks with a certificate authority
A CA server is a limited shield for the data that configuration management tools collect, but IT admins can use one for many tasks -- like to create custom certificates -- and boost security. Continue Reading
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News
09 Sep 2019
ServiceNow adds mobile app to 'New York' Now Platform
ServiceNow released the latest version of its Now Platform that features a mobile application giving remote users access to the core capabilities of the platform. Continue Reading
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News
06 Sep 2019
Feature flags emerge as enterprise DevOps must-have
CloudBees and Atlassian have feature flags on their near-term product roadmaps, as enterprise DevOps shops seek to lower the risk of continuous code deployment to production. Continue Reading
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News
05 Sep 2019
Atlassian cloud woos enterprises with SLA, security boost
Large enterprise users of Atlassian's on-premises software say the vendor's cloud tools have piqued their interest with updates to security and support. Continue Reading
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Tip
30 Aug 2019
Maintain CMDB data integrity for automated disaster recovery
For successful disaster recovery, IT admins must keep CMDB data precise. Learn best practices to promote data accuracy for an automated failover and DR plan. Continue Reading
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Tutorial
22 Aug 2019
Follow this Terraform and AWS tutorial to create a VPC
As an infrastructure-as-code tool, Terraform simplifies and streamlines resource deployments. Follow along with this example, which features Amazon VPCs, to get started. Continue Reading
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News
15 Aug 2019
Jenkins X gears up for SaaS version, GitOps standards
With key maturity milestones behind them, the maintainers of Jenkins X prepare a SaaS version, and plan to collaborate with Google's Tekton and Netflix's Spinnaker. Continue Reading
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News
14 Aug 2019
CloudBees CEO reveals plans for CI/CD tools, Google project
CloudBees CEO Sacha Labourey puts his roadmap cards on the table for the next generation of the company's CI/CD tools and an upcoming project to co-develop CI/CD for Anthos with Google. Continue Reading
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Answer
02 Aug 2019
Can I install Ansible for Windows system management?
Even though Ansible has its roots in open source software and Linux, is it possible to use the configuration management tool for Windows environments? Continue Reading
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News
31 Jul 2019
SaaS management tool eases merger transition for IT
When European car-sharing startup Drivy becomes Getaround this fall, a SaaS management tool will integrate the two companies' IT systems, an increasingly common need for businesses. Continue Reading
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Tip
31 Jul 2019
Weigh infrastructure as code risks against the benefits
Infrastructure as code can transform the modern data center, but maintain a healthy dose of caution -- and thorough documentation and testing environments -- to prevent chaos. Continue Reading
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News
30 Jul 2019
GitOps path puts CI/CD ahead of infrastructure automation
Which comes first -- automated app deployment pipelines, or automated infrastructures on which to deploy? At GitOps shop Procore, the answer is emphatically the former. Continue Reading
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Tip
25 Jul 2019
Apply automation for streamlined IT asset management
Without accurate data, IT asset management processes fail. But, with automation and self-service capabilities, admins can efficiently track assets -- from onboarding to end of life. Continue Reading
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News
24 Jul 2019
Compliance-as-code tool hits DevSecOps sweet spot for MSP
There are almost as many tools to assist with DevSecOps as there are definitions for the term – how one managed service provider that serves federal agencies chose a compliance-as-code vendor. Continue Reading
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News
19 Jul 2019
Kubernetes policy project takes enterprise IT by storm
A Kubernetes-friendly compliance as code project hosted by the CNCF has caught on among large enterprises in the first half of 2019, largely through word of mouth. Continue Reading
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Tip
19 Jul 2019
Combine Puppet and Chocolatey to drive Windows DevOps
Through the use of Puppet and Chocolatey side by side, Windows IT professionals can use Linux-like DevOps tools to automate the deployment and configuration of their systems. Continue Reading
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Tip
18 Jul 2019
PKI authentication explained: The basics for IT administrators
Public key infrastructure is part and parcel of modern digital business, from secure communications to data transmission and beyond. Admins must understand PKI to optimize its benefits. Continue Reading
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Feature
18 Jul 2019
Get creative with feature flags in IT operations
Feature flags give IT operations a range of possibility as broad as the imagination -- once you learn this dev-centric technique. Continue Reading
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Answer
17 Jul 2019
What are Ansible roles and when and how should I use them?
Roles are one of several functions in Ansible that simplify and streamline IT automation processes. Dig into this quick overview to learn the basics of roles and potential use cases. Continue Reading
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Tip
03 Jul 2019
Use Puppet Bolt to simplify configuration management
Bolt, Puppet's cross-platform automation tool, is designed to minimize the learning curve for ops teams, but users still need to grasp its primary commands and elements. Continue Reading
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Answer
28 Jun 2019
How do I get started with an Ansible playbook?
An Ansible playbook boosts admin productivity when they manage configurations across machines. Learn how playbooks work and how to avoid live errors. Continue Reading
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Tutorial
27 Jun 2019
Perform this infrastructure as code tutorial with Pulumi and AWS
Learn the basics of an infrastructure as code deployment with this tutorial, which features the open source tool Pulumi, along with Python and AWS. Continue Reading
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News
26 Jun 2019
LogicMonitor wades into AIOps with anomaly detection
Another country heard from in AIOps: LogicMonitor rolls out anomaly detection and alert dependency correlation, but can it rise above the noise? Continue Reading
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News
26 Jun 2019
SysAid launches Automate Joe for ITSM platform automation
Integrating Automate Joe with the SysAid ITSM platform will boost automation, minimize repetitive tasks for service agents and improve productivity, according to the vendor. Continue Reading
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Opinion
20 Jun 2019
Future of PowerShell lies in DevOps, cloud resource management
While PowerShell isn't the only automation and scripting tool that fits in IT pros' cloud and CI/CD toolboxes, it won't fall out of favor any time soon. Continue Reading
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Tip
14 Jun 2019
How to cautiously reap the benefits of DevOps as a service
Outsourcing the operation of DevOps tools has its perks, but be sure to carefully position that move to in-house development and ops teams first. Continue Reading
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News
06 Jun 2019
UPS delivers Agile plan for legacy application modernization
As UPS moved its package-tracking system from mainframe to open systems, it drew on the old adage about how to eat an elephant: one small bite at a time. Continue Reading
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Tutorial
03 Jun 2019
Build a successful Apache Mesos installation on Linux servers
As Apache Mesos gains traction for container orchestration, admins should try it out and evaluate its capabilities. Use this tutorial to set up the necessary software and avoid the pitfalls that plague the process. Continue Reading
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News
22 May 2019
DevSecOps evolution changes the game for IT ops
A DevSecOps shift and a move to public cloud have precipitated a sea change in what's expected of IT ops pros at a mobile video on-demand company. Continue Reading
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Video
22 May 2019
Mitigate IT risks with this vulnerability assessment tutorial
IT professionals can set up a home lab to learn the ins and outs of software vulnerability assessments. Follow this step-by-step video tutorial to install and configure VMs, and perform a security scan. Continue Reading
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News
21 May 2019
Enterprises anticipate IT ops benefits from GitOps
Infrastructure as code, configuration as code, security as code -- enterprise SREs set their sights on everything as code in pursuit of GitOps efficiency. Continue Reading
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News
17 May 2019
Former Chef Software CTO talks IT automation, open source
Chef Software's founder, Adam Jacob, built widely used IT automation software for the enterprise. Now that he's no longer CTO, he's taking a break and pondering what comes next. Continue Reading
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News
17 May 2019
Mainframe DevOps gets fresh integration option in LzLabs
Most mainframe DevOps tools make open source app delivery pipelines speak mainframe's language, but LzLabs brings mainframe apps to a Linux-based platform without recompilation. Continue Reading
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Tip
15 May 2019
Build a patch management process to stay cool in an IT crisis
Time is of the essence during a major IT crisis, but rushing to fix a problem can do more harm than good. Ensure version control, documentation and testing for effective patch deployment. Continue Reading
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News
10 May 2019
OpenShift shops chart a course for advanced IT automation
IT teams tackled containerization, developer self-service platforms and infrastructure provisioning automation in 2018. So, what's next? Continue Reading
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News
09 May 2019
Ansible roadmap offers open source automation with assurances
Ansible users can expect some key updates around the tool's certified content program, along with more options to assess the performance of their automated infrastructure. Continue Reading
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News
08 May 2019
Snow Software SAM expands Microsoft, Oracle and Adobe support
Snow Software's SAM platform has expanded to include new compliance and manageability capabilities for Microsoft Windows, Oracle and Adobe Creative Cloud. Continue Reading
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Tip
02 May 2019
Combine containers and serverless to optimize app environments
Rather than pick a side in the debate around containers vs. serverless computing, DevOps shops would benefit from putting both of these complementary technologies to use. Continue Reading
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News
25 Apr 2019
Experian credits incident management tool for IT efficiency
When Experian deployed xMatters, the IT landscape was very different. But the incident management tool's adaptability kept it useful through shifts in tech trends. Continue Reading
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News
18 Apr 2019
CloudBees' acquisition of Electric Cloud broadens focus
CloudBees folds in Electric Cloud and pledges to broaden its focus beyond Jenkins, while customers wait and see how that might impact long-term roadmap plans. Continue Reading
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News
12 Apr 2019
Opsgenie integrations expand under Atlassian
Opsgenie's induction into the Atlassian fold reflects a trend of incident management tools' absorption into broader DevOps platforms, but not every user prefers a one-stop shop. Continue Reading
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Tutorial
11 Apr 2019
Automate Windows configurations with Boxstarter and Chocolatey
Follow this Boxstarter tutorial to install the open source tool, and use it alongside PowerShell, Chocolatey and GitHub gists for streamlined and repeatable Windows configurations. Continue Reading
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Tip
09 Apr 2019
Build up a DevSecOps pipeline for fast and safe code delivery
It's all well and good to automate the software build process, but without proper security practices in place, the DevOps pipeline can lead developers to deploy compromised code. Continue Reading
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Tip
05 Apr 2019
Implement these 5 ALM best practices from dev to deployment
Enterprise applications are anything but simple. To wrangle the software, resources and code of these critical apps, be smart with IT tooling, management and other aspects of support. Continue Reading
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Tip
03 Apr 2019
How DevOps teams use a CMS for documentation, collaboration
DevOps teams should choose a CMS that enables continuous, integrated content management, and select tools for internal document sharing that build an easily searched and categorized knowledge base. Continue Reading