Puppet open source fork OpenVox arrives

The Vox Pupuli collective group has announced the first release of OpenVox, a community-maintained open source implementation of the Puppet configuration management system.

Introduced January 21, the OpenVox automation framework is designed to be a drop-in replacement for Puppet, but currently comes with a caveat: “Be aware, of course, that even though you can type the same commands, use all the same modules and extensions, and configure the same settings, OpenVox is not yet tested to the same standard that Puppet is,” Ben Ford of Vox Pupuli wrote in a blog post announcing the release.

OpenVox began as a Puppet mirror by Overlook Infratech providing community packages when Perforce discontinued public packaging efforts in late-2024, according to Vox Pupuli, which considers the project a “soft fork” because they intend to maintain downstream compatibility for as long as possible. Vox Pupuli says it has created a Puppet Standards Steering Committee to set the direction of features and language evolutions and has invited Perforce to participate.

Instructions for installing OpenVox and guidance for uninstalling Puppet can be found at voxpupuli.org.