Serverspec vs Test Kitchen

Serverspec is an open-source Ruby gem for writing RSpec tests that verify server configuration. It examines actual machine state by executing commands locally or through SSH, WinRM, and the Docker API, without requiring agent software on target servers. Checks cover packages, services, files, ports, users, Docker containers and images, Windows features, and X.509 certificates and private keys. Both RSpec should and expect syntax are supported. Serverspec can accompany Puppet, Ansible, CFEngine, Itamae, and Chef, with infrastructure-code refactoring stated as its central aim. The tutorial names Linux distributions, macOS, Windows, BSD systems, Solaris, SmartOS, and others, while noting incomplete support for some. Each suite targets one machine or Docker container, so separate RSpec commands are advised for separate targets. Install through Bundler or gem install serverspec. It is MIT licensed and maintained by Gosuke Miyashita.

Test Kitchen is a free test harness for running infrastructure code in isolation on one or more platforms. Its workflow uses create, converge, setup, verify, and destroy commands to provision environments and test infrastructure code. Documented drivers cover Amazon EC2, Apache CloudStack, DigitalOcean, Docker through Dokken, Google Cloud Platform, Hetzner Cloud, Vagrant, Azure, Hyper-V, OpenStack, and VMware products. Which drivers are available depends on the driver gems installed in the Ruby environment. Provisioning options include Chef Infra, Cinc Client, Habitat, PowerShell DSC, and shell scripts; listed verification integrations include Cinc Auditor, Chef InSpec, and Serverspec. Community plugins add Ansible, Puppet, and Salt provisioners. Installation is available through RubyGems, system packages, or Cinc Workstation, but Test Kitchen itself does not bundle Cinc or Chef tooling. Requirements include a 64-bit operating system and enabled CPU virtualization. The project uses Apache License 2.0 and points users to Chef Community Slack for community assistance. The documentation notes known issues and no current maintainer for kitchen-docker, recommending kitchen-dokken instead.