Blog
October 28, 2025
Why migrate from Ansible to Puppet — or choose Puppet over Ansible from the beginning? In this blog, we’ll explore some common reasons that organizations say they chose Puppet over Ansible, citing specific use case examples around the functionality of each platform.
Why Make an Ansible > Puppet Migration?
Organizations choose Puppet when they need scalable, secure, and compliant automation that can adapt to diverse environments — from on-prem servers to IoT devices and everything in between. Puppet’s agent-based foundation continues to be the gold standard for continuous compliance, while its agentless task and playbook execution supports flexibility for ad hoc orchestration and remote management of network and edge devices under one solution.
The short answer is that Puppet supports organizations that need to navigate complicated security and compliance requirements, all while ensuring that their code doesn’t run into conflict as it's executed.
Ansible: | Puppet: | |
Security: | Agentless approach requires an open connection each time a change or check is made — a security risk | Agent-based model enforces compliance locally, even without network connectivity. Puppet Edge extends to hybrid and edge environments while supporting on-demand task execution through the same platform. |
Scalability: | You will need to open a server connection for each change, update, patch, or etc., greatly reducing scalability | Distributed agent architecture scales naturally — each system enforces its own configuration and reports back as needed. Puppet Edge extends the reach to distributed and remote environments while maintaining centralized control. |
Harmony: | More playbooks, more chance of conflict and problems with contradictory commands | Unified platform supports both declarative (agent-based) and imperative (task-based) automation, simplifying operations. Puppet Edge and Playbook Runner allow teams to reuse Ansible playbooks while gaining consistency and visibility across environments. |
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Reason One: Security
Security and compliance are still the leading reasons many teams migrate from Ansible to Puppet. Puppet’s agent-based model enforces configuration and policy locally on each system, even when the network is down or disconnected. That makes it possible to maintain compliance continuously — not just when a connection is available or a script is run.
Ansible’s agentless model, by contrast, depends on establishing an open connection to every target node for each task or update. That works well for quick, ad hoc orchestration, but in regulated or locked-down environments, those repeated connections can become both a performance and security concern.
With Puppet Edge, available for both Puppet Core and the Puppet Enterprise platform, teams can take a hybrid approach. You still get the always-on enforcement of agent-based management where compliance and consistency matter most, while also gaining the flexibility to run imperative, on-demand tasks or Ansible-style playbooks across systems when needed, all from the same platform.
This combination gives you the best of both worlds: continuous, policy-driven enforcement for your critical infrastructure and the ability to respond quickly when a one-time command or fix is required, or when an agent is not supported. For organizations in industries like healthcare, finance, and government — where compliance can’t wait for a maintenance window — that balance of control and flexibility is exactly why Puppet continues to be the trusted choice for secure automation at scale.
Agentless Security: More Connections, More Risk
With Ansible, there are no agents installed on the managed systems. Each task, patch, or check requires a new connection from the control node — typically over SSH. That means credentials must be passed and firewalls must allow inbound connections every time automation runs. In environments with strict network segmentation or compliance requirements, that model introduces friction and risk.
If a system is unreachable — whether due to a network outage, security lockdown, or maintenance window — any compliance or configuration updates are skipped until connectivity is restored. That gap can leave systems out of sync or out of compliance for extended periods.
Agent-Based Security: Continuous and Self-Enforcing
Puppet takes a different approach. By running a lightweight agent on each managed node, all configuration logic and policy enforcement happen locally. Systems continue to enforce compliance on schedule, even if the network or central control plane is temporarily unavailable. This model drastically reduces the attack surface and ensures consistent behavior across the environment.
Unified Flexibility with Puppet Edge
Puppet Edge extends this security posture to new environments — including those at the network or physical edge — without giving up flexibility. The same platform that enforces policies continuously through agents can also run imperative tasks and playbooks when a quick, one-time action is required.
The result is a unified automation framework that preserves the reliability and safety of agent-based management while adding the responsiveness of agentless execution. You can maintain compliance everywhere and still move fast when manual intervention or targeted orchestration is needed.
Back to topReason Two: Scalability
Scalability isn’t only about how many systems you can manage — it’s about how efficiently you can manage them. Ansible’s agentless model works well for smaller environments or one-off orchestration, but as the number of managed systems grows, it can quickly hit limits. Every task or update requires a new connection from the control node to each target, which increases latency and resource consumption. For organizations running frequent compliance checks or maintaining large hybrid environments, that model can become a real constraint.
Puppet takes a distributed approach. Its agent-based architecture shifts the workload to each managed node, allowing systems to enforce desired state independently. Whether you’re managing a few hundred servers or tens of thousands, Puppet scales naturally by design. Each node maintains its own configuration logic, checks in on schedule, and keeps itself aligned with defined policies, without depending on constant remote access.
With Puppet Edge, this scalability extends even further. Puppet Edge enables automation to reach remote, distributed, and edge environments while maintaining centralized visibility and control.
When you need to take immediate action, task-based automation provides an efficient way to execute imperative tasks or orchestrate workflows on demand, all from the same interface. This gives teams flexibility for both ongoing state management and quick interventions without introducing additional tools.
For organizations migrating from Ansible, the new Playbook Runner provides a straightforward path forward. It allows you to reuse existing Ansible playbooks inside Puppet workflows, upcycling existing automation investments instead of starting from scratch.
The result is a platform that scales horizontally and geographically — from data center to cloud to edge — with unified management, simplified tooling, and the reliability that comes from decades of proven automation at scale.
Reason Three: Harmony
As automation footprints grow, so does complexity. With Ansible, individual playbooks are simple and easy to execute — until you have dozens or hundreds of them. Each new playbook introduces potential overlap or conflicting logic, and it becomes harder to understand what’s being applied where. Without a consistent enforcement model, drift and inconsistency can creep in over time.
Puppet was built to handle complexity from the start. Its declarative model defines the desired end state of your infrastructure and ensures that every system converges to that state automatically. If something drifts, Puppet detects and corrects it the next time an agent runs without requiring manual triage. This approach provides predictable, conflict-free automation at scale.
That doesn’t mean everything has to be declarative. Many teams need to execute imperative tasks or perform ad hoc orchestration alongside continuous management. Puppet Edge enables Puppet to do both from one environment. You can use agents to enforce compliance continuously, while also running targeted, on-demand operations for quick changes, diagnostics, or lifecycle management.
This unified approach brings order to environments that might otherwise rely on multiple overlapping tools. It simplifies automation by giving teams one control plane that supports both models — declarative for stability, imperative for flexibility — without the overhead of managing separate systems.
For teams coming from Ansible, the Playbook Runner smooths the transition. It allows existing playbooks to be executed within Puppet, helping organizations adopt a more scalable, policy-driven model at their own pace. You can modernize your automation environment incrementally, reusing what already works while gaining the consistency and control of Puppet’s architecture.
In the end, this balance between declarative precision and imperative agility is what keeps complex infrastructures running smoothly. Puppet makes it possible to manage both modes — and all environments, from the data center to the edge — through a single, unified framework.
Get Started with Your Ansible to Puppet Migration
Whether you’re considering a change from Ansible to Puppet or examining each of these platforms for the first time, we can help you make a more informed decision.
We’re confident that Puppet’s security, scalability, and harmony will all be powerful reasons to choose our platform above any other to accomplish your IT infrastructure goals and stay continuously compliant + secure.
Why not see Puppet in action for yourself?