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pilcrow
Asked: 2010-07-23 07:43:30 +0800 CST

rpm-based system configuration management

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Scenario:

I've got a network with a few score RPM-based machines, and need to standardize and sometimes en masse update some predictable *NIX configuration files: nsswitch.conf, ntp.conf, ldap.conf, syslog.conf, etc.

(I control what settings I can at boot-time, and veil most network changes with sly A record changes, but sometimes I do need to reach into the machines and turn a knob.)

Now, I can revise existing and introduce new packages into these boxen' RPM repositories, and my thought is to standardize their configuration by introducing "configuration-only" RPMs

Question

The idea of summarily replacing /etc files owned by some other RPM gives me pause, however. Does anyone have practical guidance for this endeavour, particularly recommendations for doing this safely?

rpm configuration-management

2 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    It's not an direct answer, but have you looked at configuration management systems such as cfengine or puppet? They are built for this purpose.

    • 6

  2. Might I suggest checking out Blueprint? It's super-simple configuration management and could help you standardize configs. It can generate re-usable templates from Debian or RPM based systems. Ping me if you have any questions.

    https://github.com/devstructure/blueprint

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