Ben Ford author photo for the Puppet blog.

Ben Ford

Founder, Overlook InfraTech

A longtime advocate for collective community benefit, Ben Ford has deep roots in the Puppet ecosystem — from teaching engineers how to write Puppet code to leading Community and Developer Relations.

A community-first creator, Ben is known for fostering inclusive spaces with a blend of deep technical fluency and empowering thought leadership, including in-person sessions with the Puppet community, contributions to the State of DevOps Report, and more.

Latest Content from Ben Ford

Blog

Reduce Tech Debt + Prevent New Tech Debt with These DevOps Tips

Need to reduce tech debt? This blog with examples, strategies, and tools for tech debt reduction will help you kick your current tech debt and lay the groundwork for better DevOps in your software development organization.
DevOps, How to & Use Cases
Blog

How to Use Dropsonde to Get Rid of Unused Modules

Clean up dead weight in your Puppet codebase (and save time) by getting rid of modules you no longer use. We’ll show you how.
How to & Use Cases
Blog

How Puppet Is Securing Against Command Injection Vulnerabilities and More

Puppet is making platform engineering more secure with the release of two new CVEs for command injection vulnerabilities.
Security & Compliance, Platform Engineering
Blog

Puppet Functions: An Overview + Key Updates

Puppet 6 introduced Deferred functions, a new feature that allows you to run code on the agent side during enforcement. And Puppet 7.17 included updated modules for deferred functions. Get an overview of both in this blog.
How to & Use Cases, Products & Services
Blog

How to Mitigate the Apache 0-Day Vulnerability With Puppet or Bolt

The Apache 0-Day vulnerability could be a major security risk for servers running it. Get an overview of the Apache 0-Day vulnerability and how to mitigate it using Puppet or Bolt.
Security & Compliance, How to & Use Cases
Blog

How to Stay Secure with Malware Scanning

Add an additional layer of security with malware scanning for newly published modules on the Forge.
Products & Services, Security & Compliance
Blog

How to Use Modules from the PowerShell Gallery with Puppet

Want to use PowerShell Gallery with Puppet? Start here and learn how you can "puppet module install" any PowerShell Module with DSC Resources from the PowerShell Gallery.
Infrastructure Automation, Windows
Blog

Getting Started with Automation: A Beginner's Guide

Getting started with automation? Start small and iterate from there. That and more in Puppet's step-by-step starter guide!
Infrastructure Automation, How to & Use Cases
Blog

How to Refactor Legacy Ruby Functions

The modern Puppet function API is safer and more efficient than the original. And it's easier to write and use! Learn how to port your legacy Ruby functions here.
How to & Use Cases