Assignment

Lab 2 - Configuration Management

Instructions

Create two different Puppet Manifest Files that meet the specifications below. Each one will be applied to a newly installed virtual machine of the appropriate operating system configured as described in Task 0. The best way to accomplish this is to treat this assignment like a checklist and check things off as you complete them.

If you have any questions about these items or are unsure what they mean, please contact the instructor. Remember that part of being a system administrator (and a software developer in general) is working within vague specifications to provide what your client is requesting, so eliciting additional information is a very necessary skill.

Note

To be more blunt - this specification may be purposefully designed to be vague, and it is your responsibility to ask questions about any vagaries you find. Once you begin the grading process, you cannot go back and change things, so be sure that your machines meet the expected specification regardless of what is written here. –Russ

Also, to complete many of these items, you may need to refer to additional materials and references not included in this document. System administrators must learn how to make use of available resources, so this is a good first step toward that. Of course, there’s always Google !

Time Expectation

This lab may take anywhere from 1 - 6 hours to complete, depending on your previous experience working with these tools and the speed of the hardware you are using.

Tip

Testing Manifest Files - When testing these manifest files, there is a three step process. First, apply the manifest, then reboot, then apply again. This is because any changes made to group memberships are not applied until after a user logs back in or the system reboots. So, you may get permission issues when creating files or assigning permissions due to incorrect group memberships. Ideally, those permission errors should be eliminated after a reboot. There is no good fix for this in Puppet itself, since it is an operating system issue. Therefore, this is the process that you should use, and it is the process that will be used when your manifest files are graded. Basically, if you get no errors after a reboot, you should be fine!


Task 0: Create New Virtual Machines & Snapshots

Create new Windows 10 and Ubuntu 22.04 virtual machines for this lab. When creating the virtual machines and installing the operating system, use the same information from Lab 1. You should create the cis527 account during installation. DO NOT PERFORM ANY ADDITIONAL CONFIGURATION AFTER THE INSTALLATION IS COMPLETE EXCEPT WHAT IS LISTED BELOW!

After installing the operating system, install ONLY the following software:

  • Puppet Agent 8 (Windows & Ubuntu)
    • See Installing Agents and Enable the Puppet Platform on Apt from Puppet Documentation
    • Recall that Ubuntu 22.04 is codenamed “Jammy Jellyfish”, so use the url https://apt.puppet.com/puppet8-release-jammy.deb to get the correct version on Ubuntu.
  • VMware Tools (Windows) and either open-vm-tools-desktop or VMware Tools (Ubuntu)
  • All System Updates (Windows & Ubuntu)

On the Windows virtual machine only, create a folder at C:\install and download the following installers. Do not change the name of the installers from the default name provided from the website. You may choose to do this step using the download_file Puppet module instead.

  • Firefox (Firefox Setup 116.0.2.exe as of 8/15/2023)
  • Thunderbird (Thunderbird Setup 115.1.0.exe as of 8/15/2023)
  • Notepad++ (npp.8.5.6.Installer.x64.exe as of 8/15/2023)
Note

I have listed sample names of the installers as of this writing, and these will be the ones that I use for testing; however, you may receive newer versions with slightly different names. That is fine. Just be sure that you don’t get the default stub or web-only installers, which is what Firefox typically gives you unless you follow the links above. They will not work properly for this lab. –Russ

Once you have your virtual machines configured, make a snapshot of each called “Puppet Testing” for your use. As you test your Puppet manifest files, you’ll reset to this snapshot to undo any changes made by Puppet so you can test on a clean VM. The VMs used for grading will be configured as described here.

Warning

When you reset back to a snapshot, any new or modified files on the VM will be lost. So, make sure you keep a backup of the latest version of your manifest files on your host machine!


Task 1: Puppet Manifest File for Ubuntu

Create a Puppet Manifest File for Ubuntu 22.04 that defines the following configuration. This configuration is very similar to, but not exactly the same as, Lab 1, so read through it carefully. Assume that the machine you are applying the manifest file on is configured as described above in Task 0.

  • Users (Same as Lab 1)
    • adminuser | AdminPassword123 (Administrator type or sudo group)
    • normaluser | NormalPassword123 (Normal type)
    • guestuser | GuestPassword123 (Normal type)
    • eviluser | EvilPassword123 (Normal type)
    • Create groups as needed below
  • Files & Permissions (Same as Lab 1)
    • Create a folder /docs (at the root of the system, not in a user’s home folder). Any user may read or write to this folder, and it should be owned by root:root (user: root; group: root).
    • Within /docs, create a folder for each user created above except for cis527, with the folder name matching the user’s name.
    • Make sure that each folder is owned by the user of the same name, and that that user has full permissions to its namesake folder.
    • Create a group and set permissions on each folder using that group to allow both cis527 and adminuser to have full access to each folder created in /docs.
    • No other user should be able to access any other user’s folder. For example, eviluser cannot access guestuser’s folder, but adminuser and cis527 can, as well as guestuser, who is also the owner of its own folder.
    • In each subfolder of /docs, create a text file. It should have the same access permissions as the folder it is contained in. The name and contents of the text file are up to you.
    • See this screenshot for what these permissions may look like in Terminal.
  • Software (Same as Lab 1)
    • Mozilla Firefox (firefox)
    • Mozilla Thunderbird (thunderbird)
    • Apache Web Server (apache2)
    • Synaptic Package Manager (synaptic)
    • GUFW Firewall Management Utility (gufw)
    • ClamAV (clamav)
  • Services - Ensure the following services are running:
    • Apache Web Server
    • Clam AntiVirus’ FreshClam Service
      Note

      You will have to find the appropriate name for each service. –Russ


Task 2: Puppet Manifest File for Windows 10

Create a Puppet Manifest File for Windows 10 that defines the following configuration. This configuration is very similar to, but not exactly the same as, Lab 1, so read through it carefully. Assume that the machine you are applying the manifest file on is configured as described above in Task 0.

  • Users (Same as Lab 1)
    • AdminUser | AdminPassword123 (Administrators & Users group)
    • NormalUser | NormalPassword123 (Users group)
    • GuestUser | GuestPassword123 (Guests group only)
    • EvilUser | EvilPassword123 (Users group)
    • Create groups as needed below
  • Files & Permissions (Same as Lab 1)
    • Create the folder C:\docs. It should be owned by the cis527 account, but make sure all other users can read and write to that folder.
    • Within C:\docs, create a folder for each user created above except for cis527, with the folder name matching the user’s name.
    • Make sure that each folder is owned by the user of the same name, and that that user has full permissions to its namesake folder.
    • Create a group containing cis527 and AdminUser, and set permissions on C:\docs for that group to have full access to each folder created in C:\docs.
    • No other user should be able to access any other user’s folder. For example, EvilUser cannot access GuestUser’s folder, but AdminUser and cis527 can, as well as GuestUser, who is also the owner of its own folder.
    • In each subfolder of C:\docs, create a text file. It should have the same access permissions as the folder it is contained in. The name and contents of the text file are up to you.
    • Don’t remove the SYSTEM account or the built-in Administrator account’s access from any of these files. Usually this is as simple as not modifying their permissions from the defaults.
    • See this screenshot and this screenshot for what these permissions may look like in PowerShell.
  • Software - Install the latest version of the following software. The installation should be done SILENTLY without any user interaction required. In addition, Puppet should be able to detect if they are already installed, and not attempt to install them again.
    • Mozilla Firefox
    • Mozilla Thunderbird
    • Notepad++
      Note

      You will need to research the appropriate options to give to the installer through Puppet for them to install silently. For this lab, you should not use any Windows package managers such as Chocolatey or Ninite. The installation files will be already downloaded and stored in C:\install. Also, you’ll need to make sure your resource names exactly match the names of the packages after they are installed, or Puppet will attempt to reinstall them each time the manifest file is applied. –Russ

  • Services - Ensure the following services are running:
    • DHCP Client
    • DNS Client
    • Windows Update
      Note

      You will have to find the appropriate name for each service. –Russ


Task 3: Upload to Canvas & Contact Instructor

Note

Please add comments to your Puppet Manifest Files describing any Puppet Modules that must be installed prior to applying them.

Upload your completed Puppet Manifest Files to Canvas and then contact the instructor for grading. You may continue with the next module once grading has been completed. In general, this lab does not require interactive grading, but you are welcome to request a time if you’d prefer.