Foreman Community Newsletter (May/June 2021)


We had our fun, now it’s survey time ;-)

It’s survey time!

Please take the time to complete the Foreman Community Survey. We don’t collect Foreman usage data past what is outlined in our privacy. The only way for us to learn how Foreman is being used is from users reporting to us, either via the survey or through conversations in our community.

By completing the survey, you help us make better-informed decisions when we contemplate changes or new directions. In telling us how you use Foreman, you shape the future of the Foreman project.

Celebrating twelve years of Foreman

@Dirk and his colleagues at Netways sure know how to throw a party! We are very grateful to them for the amazing party they threw to celebrate Foreman’s 12th birthday.

This event was livestreamed on the Foreman YouTube channel and available to rewatch. The talks were as follows:

Throughout and after the event, we hung out in the Foreman Birthday Workadventure space and had lots of fun!

What did you think of Netways-provided Workadventure instance? Would you like to attend Foreman social meetups in this format in the future?

As much as we enjoyed the party, we sincerely hope that this is the last major online event for the community! Here’s to seeing one another and discussing all-things Foreman in person in 2022!

Foreman UX Interest Group Updates

Foreman has an active UX Interest Group that is always open to new members and community feedback. Many of the efforts of the UX group look to simplify or standardize how things are done in Foreman. Let’s take a look at what the group have been working on over the last while.

Index page template

@laviro posted an RFC proposing that Foreman’s web UI index pages that share similar attributes and functions are built from a template. You can view a preview here

He also came along to talk about this change on the community demo, which you can rewatch here:

This work is ongoing, with a draft PR currently in the works. If you’ve any opinions or suggestions, or simply like what you see, reply to the thread or comment on the PR!

Confirmation Modal

@laviro also shared the idea of adding a common confirmation modal. Have a look at the design, read the motivations, and let us know what you think!

Remote execution job wizard

@mariaaga is looking for feedback and insights to help guide her work on the new remote execution job invocation wizard. You can take a look at the work that’s ongoing on the REX job wizard here:

If you use Remote Execution and have feedback about the new wizard, let us know.

Attend a UX Interest Group Meetup

UX Interest group meetups are listed on the Foreman Events calendar. You’re welcome to come along to upcoming meetups on July 12 and July 21.

inuits.eu in the Foreman community

A few months ago, we added a Professional Services page to the Foreman website. This month, inuits.eu were added to the list of professionals who have Foreman consulting experience and shared a blog about their history and experience with the Foreman community.

New Puppet Configuration Community docs!

Thanks to the efforts of @maximilian, we now have a comprehensive Puppet configuration chapter. PRs and docs submissions are always welcome!

Community Demos

We have added a new page to our website where you can find a time-stamped link to every demo that has happened this year so far. We have an upcoming demo this Thursday, July 8.

Automating the discovery of an Intel NUC machines cluster with Foreman

When it comes to Foreman’s provisioning capabilities, to quote @lzap, “the sky is the limit”. Paul Armstrong uses system facts discovered by Facter when the Foreman Discovery Image boots provide us with important information needed to determine how a system should be provisioned. Where he needs to, he also takes advantage of custom facts. Read all about it in Paul’s blog.

Foreman’s growing reporting capabilities

Over the last few years, the reporting capabilities in Foreman have gone from strength to strength. You can now use a wide range of report templates, and also customize or write your own templates to suit your needs. Read more about the latest developments in the auditing Foreman with job invocation reports blog post.

Thank you!

Thank you to everyone who asked and answered questions, opened issues, and made the Foreman community a vibrant place to be over the last month!


Comments from the community:


Foreman 3.10.0 has been released! Follow the quick start to install it.

Foreman 3.9.1 has been released! Follow the quick start to install it.