Constructing Pipelines in Puppet Enterprise

Build and Manage Pipelines💥

Pipelines can be built and managed using the Continuous Delivery for Puppet Enterprise web UI or a YAML file. The simplest way to create and manage pipelines is by using the web UI, and it is simpler to make iterative modifications when using the web UI controls. 

Using a YAML file to design pipelines as code is more complicated, however it is ideal if:-
💢 You want to keep track of how your pipeline has changed over time.

💢 You don't want to create comparable pipelines for multiple control repos or modules.

💢 You want to simultaneously commit changes to your pipelines-as-code and make modifications to your Puppet code that call for new pipeline definitions.

Note: These methods cannot be mixed within a single control repo or module. Pipelines that are controlled as code don't have access to web UI controls.

Let’s learn how to construct pipelines in web UI and from code.

Constructing Pipelines in the Web UI🏗️

The Continuous Delivery for Puppet Enterprise (PE) web UI includes tools that may be used to build and manage pipelines for your control repository or module. 

Let’s create a pipeline using web UI tools.

Creating a Pipeline

The steps to create a pipeline are given below.

Step 1: You can construct a pipeline for a control repo by clicking Control repos in the Continuous Delivery for PE web UI and then selecting the desired control repo's name.

Step 2: Continuous Delivery for PE automatically constructs a pipeline for the branch chosen when the control repository is set up (the main branch). By clicking Add pipeline, a pipeline for a different branch can be created. If you don't want a pipeline, you can delete it by clicking Delete pipeline.

Step 3: Click Add stage and enter a Stage name.

Step 4: A job can be added to the pipeline by choosing Jobs from the Select item dropdown menu, clicking Add stage, and then clicking Done.

Step 5: The pipeline can be as straightforward as one stage with one task if you only need to perform one test on new code. If you need to add more tests, you may either add them to the same stage or make another stage with more jobs.

Note that all steps (jobs, deployments, etc.) in a stage run concurrently. If you require some steps to happen before others, use stages to separate them.

Step 6: An automatic promotion step is implemented between the stages once you have a pipeline with two stages. Choose Auto promote, then from the dropdown menu, pick a promotion criterion. The promotion condition instructs the pipeline on how to determine whether it can go to the next level. From most restrictive to least restrictive, the promotion conditions are as follows:-

💢 All succeeded: The pipeline proceeds to the next stage only if all jobs in the current stage are marked as "succeeded" or "done" status.

💢 All completed: If every task in the current stage has a status of "succeeded," "done," or "failed," the pipeline moves on to the following step. If any task in the current step is canceled, the pipeline ends.

💢 Any succeeded: If at least one task in the current stage ends with a "succeeded" or "done" status, the pipeline moves on to the following stage.

💢 Any completed: If at least one task in the current stage ends with a "succeeded," "done," or "failed" status, the pipeline moves on to the following stage. If every task in the current stage is canceled, the pipeline ends.

Step 7: The pull request trigger can be enabled by clicking Manage pipelines if you want the pipeline to run on both commits and pull requests.

After following all the above steps, the pipeline will be created and runs on one branch in one control/module repo.

Constructing Pipelines from Code🧑‍💻

You can keep track of pipeline changes over time if you manage your pipelines in code rather than through the web UI. When you decide to manage pipelines with code, your source control system stores a .cd4pe.yaml file along with the Puppet code for the control repo or module in question. This file contains the definitions for the pipelines.

Configure your Pipelines for Management with Code

To manage pipelines-as-code, you'll need a .cd4pe.yaml file with the pipeline definitions. There are two methods to update pipelines-as-code:-

💥 Convert existing pipelines to code.

💥 Or, Create new pipelines for new repositories.

Converting existing pipelines to code

Steps to convert existing pipelines to code are given below.

Step 1: Navigate to the control or module repo that contains the pipelines you want to manage with code in the Continuous Delivery for Puppet Enterprise web UI.

Step 2: Click Manage pipelines > Manage as code at the top of the Pipelines section.

Step 3: Your pipelines are displayed in YAML format by Continuous Delivery for PE. Click Copy to the clipboard at the bottom of the code block to copy the YAML code.

Step 4: Create a new .yaml file named .cd4pe.yaml and paste the YAML code into it.

Step 5: In your source control system, save the .cd4pe.yaml file to the repository's root directory (on any branch).

Step 6: In the Continuous Delivery for PE web UI, navigate to the control or module repository, select Manage pipelines > Manage as code, and then choose the branch where you saved the .cd4pe.yaml file in the Select branch section.

Step 7: Select Save settings.

After following all the above steps, the existing pipeline will be converted into code.

Creating a new pipeline

You can create pipelines-as-code for new control repositories or module repositories that you haven't yet added to Continuous Delivery for Puppet Enterprise. When you initially add a repository to Continuous Delivery for Puppet Enterprise, the software detects the existence of a .cd4pe.yaml file and prompts you to decide whether to use it to create and manage your pipelines.

Steps to create a new pipeline are given below.

Step 1: Create a.cd4pe.yaml file and place it in the root directory of the main branch of your module or control repository. Add the file to your source code management system.

Step 2: Include the module or control repository in Continuous Delivery for Puppet Enterprise.

Go to Add repositories for more information.

Step 3: After adding the repo, Continuous Delivery for Puppet Enterprise detects the .cd4pe.yaml file and asks if you want to use it to build and manage your pipelines. Click Confirm.

After following all the above steps, a new pipeline will be created.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is DevOps?

DevOps is a set of cultural concepts, processes, and tools that improves an organization's capacity to provide applications and services at a high rate.

What is Puppet?

Puppet is a server configuration management program that may be used to configure, deploy, and manage servers.

Is Puppet a CI/CD tool?

Yes, Puppet is a true CI/CD solution for modern development.

Why Puppet is used in DevOps?

Puppet has the ability to manage many servers, specify infrastructure as code, and enforce system configuration. Puppet is one of the best DevOps tools for managing numerous servers.

What is continuous delivery for Puppet Enterprise?

A solution for optimizing and making continuous integration and delivery of your Puppet code is called Continuous Delivery for Puppet Enterprise (PE). A prescribed methodology for testing and deploying Puppet code across environments is provided by Continuous Delivery for PE.

Conclusion

In this article, we have extensively discussed how to construct pipelines in a puppet enterprise. I hope you enjoyed reading this article on Constructing Pipelines in Puppet Enterprise.

If you want to learn more, check out our articles on Implementing DELETE Method to Delete a User Resource, Technological Services in Ready API, What Is Web2Py?, Why To Use Web2py?, Postbacks and Internationalization in web2py, Third Party Modules In Web2py, Tasks In Web2py, and  XML in Web2py.

Also, check out these exciting courses from coding ninjas to expand your knowledge, Coding Course, Code Studio, Interview Experience, Guided Path, Interview Problems, Test Series, Library, and Resources. 

Happy Coding!