Unix System configuration management Overview
Every Unix system got deployed has a life similar to software source codes. Once the system is built and delivered into production by OS CD or netinstall server, it assume its decentralized life in an IT system.
Changes are done by system administrators and those configuration changes are hardly recorded or documented. It is a costly process to dig out what got changed without a SCM solution.
There are many solutions exists to tackle this area of challenge(see references).
This howto is an attempt to use hg and Trac for tackling decentralized system administration.
Model of IT Unix system administration
- DSA (decentralized system administration) :
hg
- hg is a distributed SCM solution that fit very well with current IT DSA model. TBC
Trac
- The use of Trac in this case is not to track source codes changes on a computer system. it is used to track system configuration files like NIS maps,/etc/hosts,/etc/nodes,/etc/mail/aliases etc. files to got changed by system administrator or software program.
Bill of Material
- hg on every system.
- python interpretor.
- Trac server.