Define configuration policies

In this part, you will learn:

  • How to define new configuration policies, with the example of managing a user on your machines

  • How to use pre-defined configuration policies, with the example of the ssh service configuration

  • How a apply a configuration and check its outcome

Rudder’s goal is to manage the configuration of machines, for example:

  • Package httpd installed in version 2.4.12

  • Service ntpd is currently running

  • SSH connection using passwords are disabled

  • A specific prompt is deployed on production nodes

  • etc.

Configuration is managed through the definition of a desired state for each machine. This means you will not define a list of steps towards the expected state, like in a script, but a set of states for each item you want to manage (which is key to create reliable configuration policies).

A managed machine is called a node in Rudder.

The desired state is applied by a Rudder agent on each node, and the information about its application is continuously updated on the server. In this section, we will see two ways to define the desired state through configuration policies, let’s get started!


← Setup a test environment Create a new policy →