Open Source Puppet logo

Open Source Puppet Installation Instructions

Downloading and installing open source Puppet

Step 1: Plan and prepare

Just like Puppet Enterprise, Puppet Open Source is a powerful tool and requires a few key preparations for proper installation. Follow these directions to get started:

  • Determine which node (VM, server, cloud instance, etc.) should act as the Puppet server (one or more central node(s) that compile configurations for any number of Puppet agent nodes, using Puppet code and various other data sources).
  • Follow the directions to set up the server.
    - If you’d like to try our experimental Docker Compose based Puppet Server stack, take a look at the repository and follow the setup instructions there instead.

Installing Puppet Agents

Once Puppet Server is installed and configured, install the Puppet agent package on the nodes you want Puppet to manage:

Start Automating

Now that you’re ready to go, you’ll need to make Puppet actually manage some configuration! If you don’t already have a problem you’re trying to automate, a good starting place is with common system services like NTP and sudoers. We have helpful quick start guides for these services to get you up and running quickly using modules from the Puppet Forge.

To learn more about using Puppet, check out our new training course: Getting Started with Puppet.

Related information

To install Puppet Enterprise, our supported commercial offering, see the Puppet Enterprise User’s Guide.