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Puppet is an open-source, client-server based UNIX system management solution. It uses differential compares to a listing of configurations and applies those changes to client machines if necessary, based on machine´s facts. Companies including Google, Inc. are currently using Puppet to manage their large scaled Mac OS X based computer environment. The book shows and evaluates a test environment to provide software delivery and explains and reviews state-of-the-art technologies how to prepare software for delivery natively under Mac OS X. In addition a proof of concept solution a custom application that changes a machine s fact to request specific software is evaluated. This application triggers the target host to update an extended fact and initiates a new Puppet verification by selecting the requested software on a webpage. This solution achieves self service software delivery and builds on top of Puppets capabilities to use Mac OS X s native .pkg software packages for software distribution.

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Harald Monihart, MSc: PhD student with a Masters degree in Information Management and IT Security from the University of Applied Science Technikum Wien. He worked as a Corporate Operations Engineer at Google in Dublin, Ireland and is currently employed at Axel Springer AG as a Systems Administrator in Berlin, Germany.

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