DevOps Automation Tool

Introduction to DevOps Automation Tool

DevOps Automation is the process of automating and collaborating the development and operation team works for a faster delivery lifecycle. There are certain concepts and best practices involved in DevOps Automation. It improves development and delivery quality. DevOps Automation depends upon several tools and technologies that are selected based upon the business requirements. This Automation process associated with continuous development, continuous testing, continuous delivery, and continuous monitoring. DevOps automation helps the business for a better time to market and bridge the gap between multiple teams associated with the software development life cycle. DevOps automation is gaining popularity in the industry.

Best Tools for DevOps Automation

Best 6 DevOps Automation Tool are as follow:

1. Jenkins

Category – CICD (Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery)

Jenkins is an open-source automation DevOps tool which is leading in the area of CICD (Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery). It uses a java based approach and is used to monitor the performance of tasks that are repeating.

Features and Advantages:

• Jenkins is an open-source platform which is supported by its community
• More than 1000 plug-in is available which eases the work
• Offers CICD solution and installation is easy
• We can check for errors on the fly
• Portable to all major platforms since it is written in Java
• Provides good security

Disadvantages:

• The agile framework is lacking
• Proper analytics is not provided.

2. Docker

Category – Containerization Clustering/Orchestration Tools in DevOps Automation Tool

Docker is a software containerization platform where we can run many applications under one server without impacting each other. The containers are made isolated from each other and hence the impact is eliminated. When we say container, we can assume it to be a kind of hardware set up separately for each of the application that is running on docker.

Features and Advantages:

• Rapid development – The docker greatly reduces the deployment time to just seconds.
• More security – Since it has the container that is separated from each other, it provides strong security.
• Assembling applications are easy.
• Simple configuration.
• Optimization of resources and provides high availability.

Disadvantages:

• Not all applications are able to run on Docker.

3. Puppet in DevOps Automation Tool

Category: Configuration Management Tools

Puppet is a configuration management tool that is used for configuring the servers, deploying changes to servers and also for managing them. Puppet is built on Ruby and the architecture is based on agent/master approach.

Features and Advantages:

• Allows quick delivery of changes
• Consistency is maintained in the test, prod and development environment
• It automates the process of configuration.
• A good interface for reporting is available.
• SDLC time reduced.

Disadvantages:

• Wherever scaling of deployment is involved, the puppet doesn’t prove there to be a good configuration management tool.
• Users who are not so familiar with languages such as Ruby, the puppet can be difficult for them to understand.
• If someone wants to execute the commands remotely, it is not possible via a puppet.

4. Ansible

Category: Configuration Management Tools in DevOps Automation Tool

Ansible is an open-source configuration management tool which is used as an IT automation engine and it can be used to automate a number of tasks category such as provisioning (it is like setting up a number of servers in your organizational infrastructure), deployment of application (it can automate the process of application deployment) and configuration management (for changing the settings and configuration of the applications that are deployed). It can also be used to initiate actions over servers such as to start or stop the server, push an update or even for implementing any new security policies to the applications.

Features and Advantages:

• If somebody wants to execute the commands remotely, it is made possible via Ansible.
• Very suitable for scaling environments.
• A number of methodologies are available for push models.
• It can be easy to learn Ansible for new users.
• It can support both the push as well as pull models.
• High security is guaranteed and it is also enabled with SSH.
• Agents are not required to be installed on each of the servers.

Disadvantages:

• As for now, it has not fully grown and it comes with limited features.
• The focus is more on orchestration than configuration.

5. Apache ActiveMQ

Apache ActiveMQ is an open-source web server that was developed and is being maintained by the Apache Software Foundation. It is written in Java.

Features and Advantages:

• Since it is written in Java, it is portable on all major platforms such as Linux, Windows, macOS, etc.
• It supports a number of programming languages such as Python, Perl, C, PHP, C++.
• Many third-party applications/add on can be installed which can use to customize your web server.
• It also provides an administrative control panel.
• The configuration is editable which can be used to better standardize the usage of hardware.
• It allows having customizable error messages.
• Updates are coming regularly.

Disadvantages:

• Not very secure.

6. Jira Software in DevOps Automation Tool

Category: Planning Tools

Jira is a very popular software that is used across the project teams where the Agile process is followed. It provides a great interface for planning and tracking modules for a project. It is developed by Atlassian (An Australian Company). In a nutshell, this software can be used for project management, issue tracking, and closure and also can be used for bug tracking. It is also a platform-independent tool that can be utilized on various platforms such as Windows, Linux, Mac, etc.

Features and Advantages:

• Any agile team can use it for creating issues, for the planning of sprints and for the distribution of tasks.
• It is platform-independent, so it can use on various platforms.
• The overall performance of the team visualized under one screen.
• Real-time data is available along with the visuals and reporting.
• Work can prioritize.
• It is possible to integrate JIRA software with a number of tools such as Team foundation software, GIT, Concurrent version system, etc.
• Jira provides the plug-ins support where you can install a huge number of plug-ins for managing your product.

Recommended Articles

This is a guide to DevOps Automation Tool. Here we discuss the basic concept and best 6 tools of DevOps with their features advantages and disadvantages. You can also go through our other suggested articles to learn more –

1. DevOps lifecycle
2. What is Ansible?
3. What is Software Testing?
4. What is Agile DevOps?
5. DevOps Architecture | Components
6. Top 16 Benefits of DevOps
7. DevOps Automation | Top 10 Advantages
8. ActiveMQ vs Kafka | Top 10 Differences
9. Comparison Between Redis vs Kafka