How to Install MCollective on Pop!_OS

MCollective is a tool distributed with Puppet, which allows for administration of multiple servers from a central location. In this tutorial, we will go through the steps to install MCollective on a Pop!_OS system.

Prerequisites

Before installing MCollective, we recommend following the steps below to ensure your system is up-to-date.

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

Step 1: Install the MCollective Server

The MCollective server is required to run on at least one machine. Run the following command to install the server:

sudo apt install mcollective-server

After installation, the server will start automatically.

Step 2: Install the MCollective Client

The MCollective client is required on all servers that you want to manage using MCollective. Run the following command to install the client:

sudo apt install mcollective-client

Step 3: Configure MCollective Server and Client

The MCollective configuration file can be found at /etc/mcollective/server.cfg for the server, and /etc/mcollective/client.cfg for the client.

Update the configuration files as needed. Here are some examples of configurations that you can use to get started:

plugin.activemq.pool.size = 1
plugin.activemq.pool.1.host = localhost
plugin.activemq.pool.1.port = 61613

This configuration specifies that we will be using ActiveMQ to communicate between the server and clients.

Step 4: Start the MCollective Service

After configuring MCollective, you can start the service by running the following command:

sudo systemctl start mcollective

Step 5: Test MCollective

With MCollective running, we can now test that everything is working as expected.

To do this, run the following command:

sudo mco ping

This command should return a list of hosts that are currently available on the network.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have gone through the steps to install MCollective on Pop!_OS. With MCollective installed and configured, you now have a powerful tool for managing multiple servers from a central location.