<The CFEngine Blog

Feature Friday #4: cf-remote

Posted by Nick Anderson
April 5, 2024

What’s the easiest way to install cfengine? Have you heard of cf-remote?

cf-remote was born out of a developer’s itch for an easy way to get CFEngine installed on some host for testing. We have featured cf-remote in several posts1 since it was first released in 2019, but today is Friday, so let’s review its features.

Overview

cf-remote (available via the Python Package Index) primarily targets installing CFEngine on a remote host, but it also provides some related conveniences including:

  • showing some basic remote host info
  • listing URLs for CFEngine packages
  • copying files
  • running commands
  • deploying policy
  • spawning and destroying hosts on supported cloud platforms
command
pip3 install cf-remote --user

Listing package URLs

By default, cf-remote list shows URLs for CFEngine Enterprise assets from the most recent LTS, but if you want to know where the 3.21.4 packages for Debian 12 hubs are? It’s a simple thing, but cf-remote really makes it easy:

command
cf-remote --version 3.21.4 list debian12 hub
output
Available releases: master, 3.23.0, 3.21.x, 3.21.4, 3.21.3, 3.21.2, 3.21.1, 3.21.0, 3.18.x, 3.18.7, 3.18.6, 3.18.5, 3.18.4, 3.18.3, 3.18.2, 3.18.1, 3.18.0
Using 3.21.4 LTS:
https://cfengine-package-repos.s3.amazonaws.com/enterprise/Enterprise-3.21.4/hub/debian_12_x86_64/cfengine-nova-hub_3.21.4-1.debian12_amd64.deb
https://cfengine-package-repos.s3.amazonaws.com/enterprise/Enterprise-3.21.4/hub/debian_12_arm_64/cfengine-nova-hub_3.21.4-1.debian12_arm64.deb

In addition to released versions, you can get nightly packages using master or the .x suffixed versions. For example, to get the URL for the latest nightly masterfiles for 3.18:

command
cf-remote --version 3.18.x list masterfiles
output
Available releases: master, 3.23.0, 3.21.x, 3.21.4, 3.21.3, 3.21.2, 3.21.1, 3.21.0, 3.18.x, 3.18.7, 3.18.6, 3.18.5, 3.18.4, 3.18.3, 3.18.2, 3.18.1, 3.18.0
Using 3.18.x LTS:
http://buildcache.cfengine.com/packages/testing-pr/jenkins-3.18.x-nightly-pipeline-685/PACKAGES_x86_64_linux_redhat_7/tarballs/cfengine-masterfiles-3.18.8a.efd0a8cf3-1.pkg.tar.gz

If you are looking for community assets, just specify --edition community for the list command:

command
cf-remote --version 3.18.x list --edition community el7
output
Available releases: master, 3.23.0, 3.21.x, 3.21.4, 3.21.3, 3.21.2, 3.21.1, 3.21.0, 3.18.x, 3.18.7, 3.18.6, 3.18.5, 3.18.4, 3.18.3, 3.18.2, 3.18.1, 3.18.0
Using 3.18.x LTS:
http://buildcache.cfengine.com/packages/testing-pr/jenkins-community-nightly-3.18.x-519/PACKAGES_x86_64_linux_redhat_7/cfengine-community-3.18.8a.759009f84-31534.el7.x86_64.rpm

Spawning hosts

Let’s see what it’s like to bring up a small environment of test hosts. Run cf-remote spawn --list-platforms to see the platforms cf-remote knows how to initialize, then spawn some hosts:

command
cf-remote spawn --platform ubuntu-22-04-x64 --count 1 --size t2.xlarge --name hub --role hub
cf-remote spawn --platform ubuntu-18-04-x64 --count 1 --name ubuntu18 --role client
cf-remote spawn --platform rhel-7-x64 --count 1 --name rhel7 --role client
cf-remote spawn --platform rhel-9-x64 --count 2 --name rhel9 --role client
output
Spawning VMs....DONE
Waiting for VMs to get IP addresses...DONE
Details about the spawned VMs can be found in /home/nickanderson/.cfengine/cf-remote/cloud_state.json
Spawning VMs....DONE
Waiting for VMs to get IP addresses...DONE
Details about the spawned VMs can be found in /home/nickanderson/.cfengine/cf-remote/cloud_state.json
Spawning VMs....DONE
Waiting for VMs to get IP addresses...DONE
Details about the spawned VMs can be found in /home/nickanderson/.cfengine/cf-remote/cloud_state.json
Spawning VMs.....DONE
Details about the spawned VMs can be found in /home/nickanderson/.cfengine/cf-remote/cloud_state.json

Now we can use cf-remote show to see information about spawned hosts:

command
cf-remote show
output
@hub: (1 host in eu-west-1, aws)
  ubuntu@3.250.76.66
    hub, nihub-ubuntu-22-04-x64hub0, ubuntu-22-04-x64, t2.xlarge,
    172.31.40.73, 3.250.76.66, d61ec86a6640302a078da276c89cfb139eafd831,
    nickanderson-cfengine-dev-eu-west-1, cfengine-test


@ubuntu18: (1 host in eu-west-1, aws)
  ubuntu@3.253.129.99
    client, niubuntu18-ubuntu-18-04-x64client0, ubuntu-18-04-x64, m3.xlarge,
    172.31.1.11, 3.253.129.99, 4c9b0dbaa0d2983f44d85ae071179ee6026e266a,
    nickanderson-cfengine-dev-eu-west-1, cfengine-test


@rhel7: (1 host in eu-west-1, aws)
  ec2-user@34.243.111.152
    client, nirhel7-rhel-7-x64client0, rhel-7-x64, t2.large, 172.31.42.214,
    34.243.111.152, 295f5aa1b7f94d60519537bab6e93a916d170bcf,
    nickanderson-cfengine-dev-eu-west-1, cfengine-test


@rhel9: (2 hosts in eu-west-1, aws)
  ec2-user@54.171.254.178
    client, nirhel9-rhel-9-x64client0, rhel-9-x64, m3.xlarge, 172.31.0.193,
    54.171.254.178, 12baa67b2527fbdfb8f77d09ad196e3ff855dd9d,
    nickanderson-cfengine-dev-eu-west-1, cfengine-test
  ec2-user@18.201.38.169
    client, nirhel9-rhel-9-x64client1, rhel-9-x64, m3.xlarge, 172.31.5.170,
    18.201.38.169, 31847baef8fcaf2a1764beeb51458e2e92c393c3,
    nickanderson-cfengine-dev-eu-west-1, cfengine-test


Total: 5 hosts in 4 groups

Host info

With some hosts running, we can use cf-remote to see some basic host info.

We can look at a single host:

command
cf-remote info --hosts ec2-user@54.171.254.178
output

ec2-user@54.171.254.178
OS            : RHEL 9
Architecture  : x86_64
CFEngine      : Not installed
Policy server : None
Binaries      : rpm, yum

Or we can look at a group of hosts:

command
cf-remote info --hosts @rhel9
output

ec2-user@54.171.254.178
OS            : RHEL 9
Architecture  : x86_64
CFEngine      : Not installed
Policy server : None
Binaries      : rpm, yum


ec2-user@18.201.38.169
OS            : RHEL 9
Architecture  : x86_64
CFEngine      : Not installed
Policy server : None
Binaries      : rpm, yum

Installing & bootstrapping CFEngine

Let’s use cf-remote to install and bootstrap our provisioned hosts.

Let’s install an Enterprise hub, we can specify the IP of the host, or we can use the name specified during the spawn, hub.

command
cf-remote --version master install --remote-download --bootstrap hub --hub hub
output

ubuntu@3.250.76.66
OS            : Ubuntu 22
Architecture  : x86_64
CFEngine      : Not installed
Policy server : None
Binaries      : dpkg, apt

Downloading 'http://buildcache.cfengine.com/packages/testing-pr/jenkins-master-nightly-pipeline-1481/PACKAGES_HUB_x86_64_linux_ubuntu_22/cfengine-nova-hub_3.24.0a.8f1bb17ac~31544.ubuntu22_amd64.deb' on 'ubuntu@3.250.76.66' using curl
Installing: 'cfengine-nova-hub_3.24.0a.8f1bb17ac~31544.ubuntu22_amd64.deb' on 'ubuntu@3.250.76.66'
CFEngine 3.24.0a.8f1bb17ac (Enterprise) was successfully installed on 'ubuntu@3.250.76.66'
Bootstrapping: '3.250.76.66' -> '172.31.40.73'
Bootstrap successful: '3.250.76.66' -> '172.31.40.73'

Note the use of --remote-download: By default, cf-remote downloads packages to the machine executing cf-remote and then copies the package to the host. Using --remote-download the package is downloaded directly by the remote host that is being installed.

Now we can install some clients:

command
cf-remote --version master install --remote-download --bootstrap hub --clients ubuntu18
cf-remote --version master install --remote-download --bootstrap hub --clients rhel9
output

ubuntu@3.253.129.99
OS            : Ubuntu 18
Architecture  : x86_64
CFEngine      : Not installed
Policy server : None
Binaries      : dpkg, apt

Downloading 'http://buildcache.cfengine.com/packages/testing-pr/jenkins-master-nightly-pipeline-1481/PACKAGES_x86_64_linux_ubuntu_18/cfengine-nova_3.24.0a.8f1bb17ac~31544.ubuntu18_amd64.deb' on 'ubuntu@3.253.129.99' using curl
Installing: 'cfengine-nova_3.24.0a.8f1bb17ac~31544.ubuntu18_amd64.deb' on 'ubuntu@3.253.129.99'
CFEngine 3.24.0a.8f1bb17ac (Enterprise) was successfully installed on 'ubuntu@3.253.129.99'
Bootstrapping: '3.253.129.99' -> '172.31.40.73'
Bootstrap successful: '3.253.129.99' -> '172.31.40.73'
Downloading 'http://buildcache.cfengine.com/packages/testing-pr/jenkins-master-nightly-pipeline-1481/PACKAGES_x86_64_linux_redhat_9/cfengine-nova-3.24.0a.8f1bb17ac-31544.el9.x86_64.rpm' on 'ec2-user@18.201.38.169' using curl
Downloading 'http://buildcache.cfengine.com/packages/testing-pr/jenkins-master-nightly-pipeline-1481/PACKAGES_x86_64_linux_redhat_9/cfengine-nova-3.24.0a.8f1bb17ac-31544.el9.x86_64.rpm' on 'ec2-user@54.171.254.178' using curl
Installing: 'cfengine-nova-3.24.0a.8f1bb17ac-31544.el9.x86_64.rpm' on 'ec2-user@18.201.38.169'
Installing: 'cfengine-nova-3.24.0a.8f1bb17ac-31544.el9.x86_64.rpm' on 'ec2-user@54.171.254.178'
CFEngine 3.24.0a.8f1bb17ac (Enterprise) was successfully installed on 'ec2-user@54.171.254.178'
Bootstrapping: '54.171.254.178' -> '172.31.40.73'
Bootstrap successful: '54.171.254.178' -> '172.31.40.73'
CFEngine 3.24.0a.8f1bb17ac (Enterprise) was successfully installed on 'ec2-user@18.201.38.169'
Bootstrapping: '18.201.38.169' -> '172.31.40.73'
Bootstrap successful: '18.201.38.169' -> '172.31.40.73'

Note there are other interesting options like --demo and --call-collect that can be useful in development environments. To see all the options for install run cf-remote install --help.

Destroying spawned hosts

Now that we are done with our little test infrastructure, we can clean it up with cf-remote destroy:

command
cf-remote destroy --all
output
Destroying all hosts

Happy Friday! 🎉

  1. Blog posts about cf-remote https://cfengine.com/tags/cf-remote/ ↩︎

Try CFEngine Enterprise for free

Sign up for CFEngine Enterprise and connect up to 25 hosts for free. No credit card required. Get started in minutes.

Try enterprise for free