Availability of Puppet in upcoming releases of Red Hat Satellite

Updated

Background

Since Satellite 6.0, Red Hat has been delivering Puppet as a feature and since 6.3 has been delivering packages of Puppet to customers. Satellite has been delivering Puppet as a feature for configuration management for our customers. After the Red Hat acquisition of Ansible (and with the release of Satellite 6.4), we began the process of both integrating Ansible as our preferred automation/configuration management capability while also deemphasizing our integrations with Puppet. Since Satellite 6.6, we’ve had parity in the configuration experience for our core Red Hat Enterprise Linux management functions and have been removing various parts of Puppet functionality from Satellite which are no longer strategically aligned with the direction which Red Hat wishes to take Red Hat Satellite.

  • In Satellite 6.9 a number of Puppet-centric functionalities (the ability to manage Puppet content, pulp-puppet-module-builder, etc) were deprecated
  • In Satellite 6.10, we removed the aforementioned functionality.
  • In Satellite 6.11, we made the Puppet node management functionality optional and disabled-by-default.

At the end of 2024, Perforce Content from www.puppet.com is not included.decided to change the way they package and release the Puppet RPMs by putting them behind an Content from www.perforce.com is not included.end user license agreement (EULA). Updates to these RPMs used by Satellite are no longer available to our customers with the security and bug fixes that they expect. In response to Perforce’s licensing change, the community has decided to fork Puppet, creating the OpenVox project. Red Hat Satellite has historically and exclusively shipped software which is available under Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) licenses and having access to enterprise-grade software that is able to be patched/maintained in a reliable and responsive manner is a key part of a Red Hat subscription.

What’s changing

Satellite plays a central role in customer & partner infrastructure, and derives value by integrating with adjacent software. There continues to be value in Satellite supporting customer integration with Puppet/OpenVox even if Red Hat chooses not to ship the packages. With the combination of both the changes to the upstream distribution of Puppet and Red Hat’s direction with regards to automation and configuration management within Red Hat Satellite, we have made changes to how Puppet will be delivered and integrated within both current & future releases.

For Satellite versions up to 6.19

  • Satellite 6.18 announced the deprecation and intent for future removal of Puppet packages, instead enabling integration with OpenVox packages.
  • Satellite 6.16 through 6.19 will provide OpenVox packages.
  • Satellite 6.16 through 6.19 will continue to support OpenVox or "bring your own Puppet" integration.
  • Customers & partners can install OpenVox packages on their Satellite or Capsule or choose to deploy it externally.
  • Satellite versions 6.16, 6.17, 6.18, and 6.19 have switched their distribution of Puppet to OpenVox to provide continuity for users who continue to need Puppet management in Satellite. These versions are supported according to the Satellite Lifecycle until:
    • Satellite 6.19 (2027-Nov)
      • 2027-Nov (estimated) - without the Satellite Extended Update Support (EUS) add-on
      • 2028-Nov (estimated) - with the Satellite Extended Update Support (EUS) add-on
    • Satellite 6.18 (2027-May)
    • Satellite 6.17 (2026-Nov)
    • Satellite 6.16
      • 2026-May - without the Satellite Extended Update Support (EUS) add-on
      • 2027-May - with the Satellite Extended Update Support (EUS) add-on

For Satellite versions up to 6.20 and later

  • Satellite 6.20 Limited Availability will not include
    • Puppet nor OpenVox packages
    • Support for “bring your own Puppet/OpenVox" integration, instead prioritizing containerization and the port to RHEL 10 with PQC readiness.
  • Support for “bring your own Puppet/OpenVox" integration will return as a supported option in the next Generally Available Satellite release in May of 2027.

Red Hat Satellite Product Life Cycle
Red Hat Satellite Extended Update Support (EUS) Offering Overview + FAQ

What are my options as a user:

We are committed to providing continuity for those users who are still invested in Puppet technology. Your options are the following:

For more KB articles/solutions related to Red Hat Satellite 6.x Puppet Issues, please refer to the Red Hat Satellite Consolidated Troubleshooting Article for Red Hat Satellite 6.x Puppet Issues

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