Top Crowbar Alternative Solutions for Server Provisioning and Deployment
Crowbar is an Open Source platform for server provisioning and deployment from bare metal. It excels at server discovery, firmware upgrades, and operating system installation using PXE Boot, and can deploy applications using your preferred configuration management system. While powerful, many users seek a Crowbar alternative for specific features, broader ecosystem support, or different deployment methodologies. This article explores leading alternatives that offer robust solutions for infrastructure automation and management.
Best Crowbar Alternatives
Looking to streamline your server provisioning, configuration management, or application deployment? These top Crowbar alternatives provide powerful, flexible, and often open-source solutions to fit a wide range of IT infrastructure needs.
Ansible
Ansible is a radically simple IT automation engine that automates cloud provisioning, configuration management, application deployment, and intra-service orchestration. As a Freemium, Open Source solution available on Windows, Linux, BSD, and Python, it stands out with its agentless architecture and emphasis on simplicity. Its features include configuration, configuration management, no-code capabilities, and SSH-based communication, making it a strong Crowbar alternative for those prioritizing ease of use and agentless automation.
Puppet
Puppet Data Center Automation Solution helps you save time, gain visibility into your server environment, and ensure consistency across your IT infrastructure. This Freemium, Open Source platform supports Mac, Windows, Linux, and Web environments. Known for its declarative language and robust reporting, Puppet offers features like Ruby-based configuration and task automation, making it a comprehensive Crowbar alternative for large-scale infrastructure management and compliance.
Salt
Salt is a powerful remote execution manager that can be used to administer and provision servers in a fast and efficient way. This Free, Open Source solution is available on Mac, Windows, and Linux. With strong features in configuration management and task management, Salt's event-driven automation and high-speed communication make it an excellent Crowbar alternative for those needing rapid, scalable infrastructure control and orchestration.
Chef
Chef is an open source systems integration framework built to bring the benefits of configuration management to your entire infrastructure. You define your infrastructure as code, allowing for automated, repeatable deployments. Chef is a Free, Open Source platform supporting Mac, Windows, Linux, and BSD. Its key features include robust configuration management, Ruby-based scripting, and virtualization capabilities, positioning it as a powerful Crowbar alternative for complex infrastructure automation and DevOps practices.
Fabric
Fabric is a Python library and command-line tool for streamlining the use of SSH for application deployment or systems administration tasks. This Free, Open Source tool is available on Linux and BSD. Focused on simplicity and leveraging existing SSH infrastructure, Fabric offers features like Python scripting, configuration management, and server management via SSH, making it a lightweight yet effective Crowbar alternative for those who prefer script-based automation over full-fledged configuration management systems.
Cobbler
Cobbler is a Linux installation server that allows for rapid setup of network installation environments. It glues together and automates many associated Linux tasks, making it a dedicated tool for provisioning. As a Free, Open Source solution available on Linux, Cobbler directly competes with Crowbar's bare-metal provisioning capabilities. Its features include auto-installer functionality, PXE boot support, and server monitoring, making it a strong Crowbar alternative specifically for OS installation and deployment.
RunDeck
RunDeck is an open source automation service with a web console, command line tools, and a WebAPI. It lets you easily run automation tasks across a set of nodes. This Free, Open Source platform is available on Linux. RunDeck distinguishes itself with features like job scheduling, task scheduling, workflow automation, configuration, configuration management, and server management, making it a versatile Crowbar alternative for orchestrating complex runbooks and operational tasks beyond just provisioning.
Cfengine
CFEngine is a configuration management and automation framework that lets you securely manage your mission critical IT infrastructure. This Free, Open Source solution supports Mac, Windows, Linux, and Web platforms. One of the oldest configuration management tools, CFEngine focuses on convergence and provides robust configuration capabilities. It serves as a reliable Crowbar alternative for organizations prioritizing long-term stability and precise configuration control across diverse environments.
cdist
cdist is an alternative to other configuration management systems like cfengine, bcfg2, chef and puppet, but it operates differently. As a Free, Open Source tool available on Mac, Linux, and BSD, cdist focuses on a distributed, agentless, and shell-centric approach. Its primary feature is SSH-based management, making it a unique Crowbar alternative for those who prefer a minimalist, idempotent, and highly flexible configuration management system built on standard Unix tools.
Bcfg2
Bcfg2 helps system administrators produce a consistent, reproducible, and verifiable description of their environment, and offers visualization and reporting tools. This Free, Open Source platform is available on Mac and Linux. With strong features in configuration management and server management, Bcfg2 emphasizes robust reporting and compliance verification, making it a valuable Crowbar alternative for environments where auditing and maintaining a known state are critical.
Choosing the right Crowbar alternative depends on your specific needs, existing infrastructure, and team's expertise. Whether you prioritize agentless automation, detailed reporting, bare-metal provisioning, or general configuration management, the options listed above provide powerful and flexible solutions to help you achieve your IT automation goals. Explore each tool's strengths to find the best fit for your organization.