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Difficulty: HardCapabilities of Configuration Management Mechanisms (Puppet, Chef, Ansible)

A network security team is establishing firewall rules to allow a newly selected configuration management tool to operate between a centralized master server and enterprise network devices. The security policy permits target nodes to periodically initiate encrypted outbound connections over TCP port 8140 to pull declarative configuration manifests written in a native domain-specific language (.pp). Which configuration management mechanism and operational model match these technical requirements?

  1. Puppet, using an agent-based pull model where target devices initiate communication to fetch manifests from the master server.Answer
  2. B
    Ansible, using an agent-based pull model that connects over TCP port 8140 to retrieve playbooks from the control node.
  3. C
    Chef, using an agentless push model over TCP port 8140 to transmit Ruby cookbooks to managed nodes.
  4. D
    Puppet, using an agentless push model over SSH to execute declarative playbooks on network devices.

Answer

Puppet, using an agent-based pull model where target devices initiate communication to fetch manifests from the master server.
Puppet utilizes an agent-based pull model where managed devices (or proxy agents) periodically connect to the Puppet Master over TCP port 8140 to pull compiled configuration catalogs derived from Puppet DSL manifest files (.pp).

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the network traffic pattern and port requirement in the scenario.
The requirement specifies outbound connections initiated by nodes over TCP port 8140.
Puppet Master and agent communications default to TCP port 8140, whereas Chef uses TCP port 443 and Ansible uses SSH (TCP port 22).
2
Evaluate the file type and language described in the scenario.
Declarative manifests using .pp files correspond to Puppet DSL.
Puppet uses Puppet DSL stored in manifests (.pp files), Ansible uses YAML playbooks (.yml), and Chef uses Ruby DSL recipes (.rb).
3
Determine the operational direction (push vs. pull) and agent reliance.
Nodes periodically initiating outbound requests to fetch configurations represents a pull-based agent architecture.
Puppet operates predominantly on an agent-based pull model where the managed node requests its compiled catalog from the master.

Key Concept

Puppet Architecture and Operational Characteristics (Agent-Based, Pull Model, TCP 8140, Manifests)
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Topics

Capabilities of Configuration Management Mechanisms (Puppet, Chef, Ansible)

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