Start installing *nix agents

A common way to manage nodes in PE is to install an agent on them.

In this guide you install a *nixPuppet agent and how to add agentless nodes to your inventory.

These instructions assume you've installed PE.

Install agents from the console

You can use the console to leverage tasks that install *nix or Windows agents on target nodes.

Before you begin

Add classes to the PE Master node group for each agent platform used in your environment. For example, pe_repo::platform::el_7_x86_64.

Make sure you have permission to run the appropriate task to install agents on all nodes:

  • *nix targets use the task pe_bootstrap::linux

  • Windows targets use the task pe_bootstrap::windows

For Windows targets, this task requires:
  • Windows 2008 SP2 or newer
  • PowerShell version 3 or higher
  • Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 or higher
  1. In the console, click Inventory.
  2. Select the node type Nodes with Puppet agents.
  3. Select a transport method.
    • SSH for *nix targets
    • WinRM for Windows targets
  4. Enter the target host names and the credentials required to access them. If you use an SSH key, include begin and end tags.
  5. Click Add nodes.
    Tip: Click Installation job started to view the job details for the task.
    Agents are installed on the target nodes and then automatically submit certificate signing requests (CSR) to the master. The list of unsigned certificates is updated with new targets.

Add agentless nodes to the inventory

Add nodes that don't have the Puppet agent installed to the inventory so you can run tasks on them.

Before you begin

Add classes to the PE Master node group for each agent platform used in your environment. For example, pe_repo::platform::el_7_x86_64.

Make sure you have the permission Nodes: Add and delete connection information from inventory service.

  1. In the console, click Inventory.
  2. Select the node type Nodes without Puppet agents.
  3. Select a transport method.
    • SSH for *nix targets
    • WinRM for Windows targets
  4. Enter target host names and the credentials required to access them. If you use an SSH key, include begin and end tags.
  5. Optional: Select additional target options. For example, to add a target port number, select Target Port from the drop-down list, enter the number, and click Add. For details, see Transport configuration options, below.
  6. Click Add nodes.
After the nodes have been added to the inventory, they are added to PuppetDB, and you can view them from the Nodes page. Nodes in the inventory can be added to an inventory node list when you set up a job to run tasks. To review each inventory node's connection options, or to remove the node from inventory, go to the Connections tab on the node's details page.