Propellor vs Cfengine

Struggling to choose between Propellor and Cfengine? Both products offer unique advantages, making it a tough decision.

Propellor is a Development solution with tags like opensource, haskell, configuration-management, deployment.

It boasts features such as Declarative configuration language, Idempotent system configuration, Manages hosts and services, Written in Haskell and pros including Declarative syntax makes configurations easy to read and maintain, Being purely functional avoids side effects and ensures reproducibility, Type safety prevents many errors.

On the other hand, Cfengine is a Network & Admin product tagged with automation, configuration-management, devops.

Its standout features include Agent-based architecture for distributed configuration management, Declarative policy-based configuration language, File integrity monitoring and intrusion detection, Automated system configuration and maintenance, Built-in promise theory for modeling dependencies, Support for common OS platforms like Linux, Windows, Solaris, and it shines with pros like Powerful policy framework for modeling system state, Agentless and autonomous operation, Efficient at scale for large server deployments, Robust security and access controls, Thorough file integrity monitoring capabilities, Open source with active development community.

To help you make an informed decision, we've compiled a comprehensive comparison of these two products, delving into their features, pros, cons, pricing, and more. Get ready to explore the nuances that set them apart and determine which one is the perfect fit for your requirements.

Propellor

Propellor

Propellor is an open-source configuration management tool written in Haskell. It uses a declarative domain-specific language to define system configurations, allowing developers to manage and deploy hosts and services with a high-level syntax.

Categories:
opensource haskell configuration-management deployment

Propellor Features

  1. Declarative configuration language
  2. Idempotent system configuration
  3. Manages hosts and services
  4. Written in Haskell

Pricing

  • Open Source

Pros

Declarative syntax makes configurations easy to read and maintain

Being purely functional avoids side effects and ensures reproducibility

Type safety prevents many errors

Cons

Steep learning curve for Haskell syntax

Limited adoption outside of Haskell community


Cfengine

Cfengine

Cfengine is an open source configuration management software used to automate tasks like configuring servers, managing files, and deploying applications. It uses a policy-based approach allowing admins to define desired system states.

Categories:
automation configuration-management devops

Cfengine Features

  1. Agent-based architecture for distributed configuration management
  2. Declarative policy-based configuration language
  3. File integrity monitoring and intrusion detection
  4. Automated system configuration and maintenance
  5. Built-in promise theory for modeling dependencies
  6. Support for common OS platforms like Linux, Windows, Solaris

Pricing

  • Open Source
  • Commercial Editions Available

Pros

Powerful policy framework for modeling system state

Agentless and autonomous operation

Efficient at scale for large server deployments

Robust security and access controls

Thorough file integrity monitoring capabilities

Open source with active development community

Cons

Steep learning curve for policy language

Less intuitive than procedural languages like Ansible

Limited built-in modules compared to Ansible/Puppet

Complex dependency modeling requires planning

Not as widely used as other tools like Chef/Puppet