Ansible, Salt, Chef, and Puppet are all configuration management tools and all have a web user interface (UI). Configuration management tools are used to automate the installation, configuration, and maintenance of multiple computer systems, including the software that runs on those systems.
Not all of these configuration management tools are written in the same language. Puppet and Chef are written in Ruby, whereas Salt and Ansible are written in Python.
Not all of these configuration management tools require client installation. Ansible does not use client agent software on managed nodes. By contrast, Puppet and Chef require client agent software on managed nodes. Salt nodes can use client agent software but do not require it.
Of the four major configuration management tools, Puppet is the most mature and the most widely used. Puppet operates on Linux distributions, UNIXlike systems, and Microsoft Windows. Puppet uses a client/ server architecture; managed nodes running the Puppet Agent application can receive configurations from a master server running Puppet Server. Modules are written in Ruby or by using a Rubylike Puppet language.
Like Puppet, Chef operates on Linux distributions, UNIXlike systems, and Microsoft Windows. Chef can use a client/server architecture or a standalone client configuration. Configuration information is contained within cookbooks that are written in Ruby and are stored on a Chef Server. Managed nodes running the Chef Client can pull cookbooks from the server. Standalone clients that do not have access to a server can run chefsolo and pull cookbooks from a local directory or from a tar.gz archive on the Internet.

Salt also operates on Linux distributions, UNIXlike systems, and Microsoft Windows. Salt can use a client/ server architecture by installing Salt master software on the server and Salt minion software on managed nodes. Masters and minions communicate by using ZeroMQ. Salt can also be used without installing Salt minion software by using Salt Secure Shell (SSH). However, Salt SSH is much slower than ZeroMQ.

Configuration information is stored primarily in state modules that are typically written in YAML; however, Python or Python Domain Specific Language (PyDSL) can also be used for complex configuration scripts.

Like the other configuration management software packages, Ansible also operates on Linux distributions, UNIXlike systems, and Microsoft Windows. However, unlike the other configuration management software packages, Ansible does not use agent software on managed nodes. Configurations are stored on the Ansible server in playbooks that are written in YAML. Managed nodes can download scripted modules from an Ansible server by using SSH.