"I Have No Idea What Terraform Is" - Infrastructure as Code for Mac Admins
Jamf After Dark
Intro
Kat and Josh introduce the show, guest Ryan Legg, and the episode topic: infrastructure as code and Terraform for Jamf.
If you're clicking through Jamf Pro configs manually, you're about to learn why that's becoming a problem. Security teams are starting to ban console access. MSPs are wasting hours rebuilding the same configs for each client. And organizations scaling to hundreds of Macs are drowning in manual changes with zero audit trail.
Ryan Legg, Jamf's Solutions Engineer for Infrastructure as Code, breaks down how Terraform lets you manage your entire Jamf environment through code instead of clicking. Whether you're managing 50 Macs or 5,000, here's why this matters NOW.
CHAPTERS
4:45 What is Infrastructure as Code - Explained for Non-Coders
8:15 What is Terraform and Why It Exists
11:30 How Terraform Talks to the Jamf API (Without You Writing Scripts)
14:45 Jamf Terraform Provider - 2+ Years in Development
18:20 Version Control for Configs - Git, Testing, Rollback
21:40 Why This Matters - Audit Trails, No Manual Errors, Scalability
24:30 MSP Use Case - Deploy to Multiple Clients in Minutes
27:15 Enterprise Use Case - Manage Hundreds of Configs with Code
30:10 Small Team Use Case - Document Everything as You Build
34:00 Why Every Admin Should Learn This NOW - The Future is Code
37:13 Getting Started - Resources and Documentation
39:09 Wrap-Up - Where to Get Help
What You:
4:45 "Treating your Jamf config like a software project" - what that actually means
18:20 Multiple admins can submit changes through pull requests - no more stepping on each other
24:30 MSPs: Stop rebuilding configs manually - use one Terraform module across all clients
30:10 - Small teams: Codify early so the next person doesn't start from zero
34:00 - "Organizations are requiring admins OUT of consoles" - security trend you need to know
RESOURCES:
Jamf Concepts (Start Here): https://concepts.jamf.com
Trusted by Jamf (Tutorials): https://trusted.jamf.com
Jamf Developer Portal: https://developer.jamf.com
MacAdmins Slack: https://macadmins.org
WHO NEEDS TO WATCH:
Mac Admins who manually configure Jamf Pro (you're wasting time)
MSPs managing multiple Jamf instances (you're rebuilding the same thing repeatedly)
IT teams scaling past 500+ devices (manual configs won't scale)
Jamf After Dark: A podcast about managing Apple devices, hosted by Kat Garbis and Josh Thornton.
Guest: Ryan Legg, Solutions Engineer III at Jamf
#JamfAfterDark #Terraform #JamfPro
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