Ever want to get some data into CFEngine? Have you heard about the def.json Augments file?1 Augments are JSON data files that allow you to define classes and variables very early during agent initialization, before policy. Augments are practical in a variety of ways. Perhaps most notably for overriding policy defaults. Let’s look at a simple example.

Robotic process automation (RPA) initiatives often falter because enterprise application leaders choose use cases that involve intricate business logic, extended workflows, and require significant orchestration or additional technologies to deliver business value. In essence, RPA is not well-suited for complex workflows, lengthy processes, and those requiring extensive coordination.

This blog will be the first in a three-part blog series where we explore the benefits of the GitOps practice, how to get the most from GitOps, and how to measure and maintain success. Here is what you can expect from the series: Let’s start at the very beginning — what is GitOps? If you want to start to build a single source of truth for both your code and your infrastructure, if you want to ensure your deployments are automated and reliable, you’ll want to know GitOps.

Let’s talk about tags and how they can be useful for Inventory and Reporting. If you have been following along with the Feature Friday series you already heard about using tags to find currently defined classes, variables and bundles, but they are also very useful for reporting. In CFEngine Enterprise the inventory and attribute_name tags are special. A variable or class tagged with inventory becomes visible in the Inventory subsystem in Mission Portal with the name given in the attribute_name tag.

First released in 2008, Microsoft System Center is a suite of products which simplify the deployment, configuration and management of IT infrastructure for both on-premises and hybrid cloud environments. System Center products assist with infrastructure monitoring, infrastructure provisioning, software deployment and patching, automation, backup and IT service management.