Software Alternatives & Reviews

Cobbler VS FAI

Compare Cobbler VS FAI and see what are their differences

Cobbler logo Cobbler

Cobbler is a Linux installation server that allows for rapid setup of network installation...

FAI logo FAI

FAI is a non-interactive system to install, customize and manage Linux systems
  • Cobbler Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-07-30
  • FAI Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-10

Cobbler videos

Robbie Collin reviews The Cobbler

More videos:

  • Review - Cobbler Union | Shoe Shine & Initial Review
  • Review - The Cobbler Movie Review! // Adam Sandler

FAI videos

Sunday Paper Review - FAI fallout & IRFU Nucifora report

More videos:

  • Review - Seven Knights - REVIEW MYTH AWAKEN FAI (BEST WAIFU EVER) PASSIVE & SKILL SO HOT!!
  • Review - World Famous Jay Fai Review

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Cobbler and FAI)
DevOps Tools
55 55%
45% 45
Product Deployment
74 74%
26% 26
IT Automation
47 47%
53% 53
Monitoring Tools
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

Share your experience with using Cobbler and FAI. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

FAI might be a bit more popular than Cobbler. We know about 11 links to it since March 2021 and only 10 links to Cobbler. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Cobbler mentions (10)

  • WDS equivalent for Linux
    I'm looking for Windows Deployment Services equivalent for my Linux network. At the momment I'm using Cobbler (https://cobbler.github.io/) but I'm are looking for a software where I could place .iso images and PXE boot for any machine. Source: 11 months ago
  • Deploy Linux Workstations
    Take a look at Cobbler. I've used it for quite a few years & love it. It supports both preseed & kickstart. Source: over 1 year ago
  • [HELP] PXE Boot without data loss
    I haven't setup a PXE server in a long time. There are management tools like MaaS, Collins, Cobbler, etc that deal with the provisioning of systems. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Recommendations to help these fit?
    For users and enthusiasts of the Cobbler System http://cobbler.github.io/. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Network Booting 400+ Pi4b's from a Windows 10 Enterprise Workstation
    If you built a Linux Cobbler server you can do this all. Source: over 1 year ago
View more

FAI mentions (11)

  • How to install Debian on a completely headless machine?
    Take a look at Debian's documentation on automatic installation using FAI or the Debian installer - more details on these and other apporoaches in The Debian Administrator's Handbook. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Deploy Linux Workstations
    Fully Automated Installation, which I literally just found. Source: over 1 year ago
  • The most efficient way to install Ubuntu on 40 Macbook Airs?
    For network-based Ubuntu installs in our environment FAI has been a great solution. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Management of Ubuntu/Debian servers?
    Bare metal install with FAI (after getting used to it, it is really quiet fast and adjustable) after initial reboot config management is handed over to salt with a highstate (i.e. Full config run) on boot-up. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Debian 10 preseed semi-automated install
    Not exactly an answer to your question but I’ve used FAI (https://fai-project.org) to just make dynamic images. The scripting is a bitch and the entire process is annoying, but you have control over every step of the install, the final product is an image you can install even over NetBoot and fully automatic. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Cobbler and FAI, you can also consider the following products

Ansible - Radically simple configuration-management, application deployment, task-execution, and multi-node orchestration engine

(R)?ex - (R)?ex - manage all your boxes from a central point - Datacenter Automation and Configuration...

Puppet Enterprise - Get started with Puppet Enterprise, or upgrade or expand.

Python Fabric - Fabric is a Python library and command-line tool for streamlining the use of SSH for application...

Salt - Fast, scalable and flexible software for data center automation

Foreman - Foreman is an open source project that helps system administrators manage servers throughout their...