--- layout: default title: Screen Casts toc: false --- [blip]: http://mcollective.blip.tv/ [slideshare]: http://www.slideshare.net/mcollective [ec2demo]: /mcollective/ec2demo.html [Terminology]: /mcollective/terminology.html [SimpleRPCIntroduction]: /mcollective/simplerpc/ [DDL]: /mcollective/reference/plugins/ddl.html We believe screen casts give the best introduction to new concepts, so we've recorded several to complement the documentation. There's a [blip] channel that has all the videos, you can subscribe and follow there. There is also a [slideshare] site where presentations will go that we do at conferences and events. ## Introductions and Guides
  1. Introducing MCollective
  2. EC2 Hosted Demo
  3. Message Flow, Terminology and Components
  4. Writing Agents
  5. Detailed information about the DDL
## Tools built using MCollective
  1. SimpleRPC DDL IRB
  2. Software Deployer used by developers
  3. Managing clusters of Exim Servers
  4. Bootstrapping Puppet on EC2
  ### Introduction [This video](http://youtu.be/0i7VpvC2vMM) introduces the basic concepts behind MCollective. It predates the SimpleRPC framework but is still valid today.   ### EC2 Based Demo Sometimes you just want to know if a tool is right for you by getting hands on experience we've made a EC2 hosted demo where you can fire up as many nodes in a cluster as you want and get some experience. View the [ec2demo] page for more about this.   ### Message Flow, Terminology and Components This video introduces the messaging concepts you need to know about when using MCollective. It shows how the components talk with each other and what software needs to be installed where on your network. Viewing this prior to starting your deployment is recommended. We also have a page detailing the [Terminology] View more webinars from Marionette Collective.   ### How to write an Agent, DDL and Client Writing agents are easy, we have good documentation that can be used as a reference, [this video](http://youtu.be/2Xhq_UqnqRE) should show you how to tie it all together though. See the [SimpleRPC Introduction][SimpleRPCIntroduction] for reference wiki pages after viewing this video.   ### The SimpleRPC DDL The Data Definition Language helps your clients produce more user friendly output, it ensures input gets validated while showing online help, and it enables dynamic generation of user interfaces. After you have watched the video, you can refer to the [DDL] wiki page for more information.   ### SimpleRPC DDL enhanced IRB Based on the SimpleRPC DDL, this custom IRB shell supports command completion. ### Software Deployer using MCollective If you ever do commissioned work based on MCollective, this deployer written using SimpleRPC may be of use. It can be used by developers to deploy applications live into production using a defined API and process.   ### Managing Exim Clusters A command line and dialog-based UI written to manage clusters of Exim Servers. The code for this is [open source](http://github.com/puppetlabs/mcollective-plugins/tree/master/agent/exim/). Unfortunately it predates SimpleRPC; we hope to port it soon.   ### Bootstrapping Puppet on EC2 with MCollective Modern cloud environments present a lot of challenges to automation. However, with MCollective and some existing open source agents and plugins you can completely automate the entire process of provisioning EC2 nodes using Puppet. More detail is available [on this blog post](http://www.devco.net/archives/2010/07/14/bootstrapping_puppet_on_ec2_with_mcollective.php)