Questions[cfengine](server)

I want to list a directory content and use the result somewhere else:

bundle agent test
{

   commands:
      "ls /tmp/test/";

    reports:
    ubuntu::
       "print output here for example";  
# or add it to a variable which is how I really want to use it.
 }

I have 2-3 node clusters for our load balancers and various web applications. I'm having to make the change in QA first, then in staging (on 2-3 servers), then in production (on 2-3) servers. Is a configuration management tool like chef or puppet appropriate here? Or is it overkill? If it's overkill are there any tips to making this easier.

My servers exist in an environment without outside network connectivity (this is a requirement), so when I deploy updates all packages, binaries, config files, etc. must be included on the delivered media. And of course I want some sort of configuration management so I can tell what has and hasn't been installed.

So I was wondering if people had experience with chef, puppet, or another configuration management type tool for dealing with this type of environment. Worst case I deploy my updates as an RPM.

EDIT:

My setup has both Linux servers and Windows servers.

I've heard a lot about using Cobbler together with Puppet/Cfengine for rapid deployment & configuration.

Can you point me to some tutorials or share you experience of how you do it?

Would also love to hear about any other systems you use for rapid provisioning & deployment. Thanks.

Does anyone have experience with Puppet or cfengine like setups for a Windows server environment? Is there such a thing?

I am looking to track configuration file and file security changes over a period of time. I would also like to store configuration information to rapidly deploy servers and applications in a DR situation.

Tripwire is nice, but only provides a snapshot and doesn't store changes over time, as a source-control system would.