Chef Infra vs OPSI

Chef Infra automates infrastructure configuration and helps keep systems aligned with a defined desired state. Teams express configurations and policies as code, test them, and deliver them through automated pipelines; Chef Infra can correct configuration drift when systems diverge. It supports Windows and Linux systems, cloud ARM systems, and Mac laptops across on-premises, cloud, and edge environments. Chef Infra Client includes more than 150 resources, while the community provides thousands of configuration templates. Chef Workstation bundles the client with Chef InSpec, Chef Habitat, Test Kitchen, Cookstyle, and Chef Upgrade Lab. The policy language is Ruby DSL, and listed capabilities include policy testing, reporting, and CI/CD integration. The free community version is non-commercial. Business costs $59 a year per node, and Enterprise costs $189 a year per node; Enterprise Plus requires a customized quote. Chef Infra Client 19.x is listed as the current LTS release, while 18.x is deprecated and earlier versions are end of life.

OPSI is an open-source client management system for software distribution, operating-system installation, inventory, patch management, and configuration. It can deploy Windows updates, MSI packages, setup programs, and system packages without interactive installation steps. It also automates installations of Windows client and server systems and common Linux distributions, including unattended and image-based setups.

Regular inventory collects hardware and software details, including hardware information from devices without an operating system. Administration can be centralized across multiple sites, each with its own depot servers, configurations, and software packages. Directory integrations support Active Directory, Samba 4, and OpenLDAP; single sign-on extensions support Microsoft Entra ID and Keycloak through SAML 2.0. OPSI-WebGUI runs in a modern browser without client-side installation. Community is free with unlimited devices and one worker process. Basic is free for up to 30 devices and one setup per user. Professional costs €499 a year and requires a minimum purchase of 100 devices; Enterprise costs €899 a year with the same minimum. Enterprise Cloud costs €1,199 a year, starting at 100 devices.