Location-independent management of vehicle development PCs in the cloud (GER)

In our development project for automated driving, computers are installed in the vehicles for data collection and for function development in the trunk to enable functions such as measurement recording, flashing, data viewing, etc. in the vehicle. Such systems were classically operated in the enterprise network comparable to workstations. With a global fleet and partners who also need to use these systems, a new concept was needed.

Topics:

  • Requirement: Manage and redeploy in-car development machines without on-prem network.
  • VPN to Enterprise Network – was/is this not an option?
  • Architecture Design with AWS and FOSS Tools
  • Where we stand…
  • What were/are the technical challenges.
  • Where else do we want to go.

Patrick Banholzer has been involved with Linux and OpenSource since the early 2000s and has always followed the approach of automating as much as possible. Since then, his enthusiasm for free and open source software has accompanied him on an ongoing basis, both in his private and professional environment.

After completing his studies at the DHBW in 2009, Patrick worked for about two years in the field of networking, security and VoIP at the IT system house badenIT in Freiburg. From there, he moved to the IT-Designers Group in Esslingen in 2011, where he was responsible for IT infrastructure projects at Daimler and for the in-house IT infrastructure as a system engineer, technical project manager and team leader. The focus was on Linux Operations, Puppet, Virtualization and Storage.

Since 2019, Patrick has been working as an architect and DevOps engineer for Mercedes-Benz AG, where he is responsible for the operation and further development of the approximately 2500 Ubuntu developer workstations at Mercedes-Benz RD. During this time, Patrick has driven the transformation from a relatively rigid, monolithic and closed source config management to a modern GitOps and IaC based environment with Foreman and Salt.

Stefan Bogner

Speaker Stefan Bogner has been a Linux Consultant and Trainer since 2016 at B1 Systems GmbH with a focus on system and Configuration management and deployment.