On Tue, Dec 19, 2006 at 05:58:08PM +1100, atstake atstake wrote: > Not directly OpenBSD related but I thought I'd ask. I'd like to use a > revision control system to manage files on 25-30 servers but I'm not > sure whether I'd use a centralized repository or have a separate > revision control system on each box. It would also be good to know how > much leverage can a revision control system can give over a > "make-backup-before-change" policy in the long run and also what files > and directories should I add to it. Anything else anyone would like to > add from experience would be much appreciated.
Interesting question. Others have given sensible answers about which programs to use; I don't have too much to add to them, other than to mention that rdist works well for a small number of machines. For a bit of background, I maintain a handful of servers dedicated to several different jobs, and the below should be read in this context: I'm sure that very different solutions are called for when maintaining, say, a grid of a couple hundred identical boxes. Also, I am the sole admin on these boxes. I've found that the point of those 'host management' thingies is not so much to keep versioning information on obscure configuration files that are only present on a single host; configuration files are usually simple, change very little, and since you need a good backup system anyway, having version control for them is not all that necessary (though I do try to keep them in a versioning system, and the above shouldn't be taken to mean that it's not a good idea to do so - it's not really necessary, though). However, keeping configuration in sync across multiple machines is *much* more important. For instance, I've been doing quite a bit of work lately to create one single postfix configuration that can work on all my boxes [1]; this is rather useful, as Postfix is somewhat complex and all the different configurations make it difficult to track down problems. Similarly, all newly installed hosts get some key files and configuration that allows AMANDA to make backups, me to log in, and tells SSH not to accept passwords. Also, daily backups are a must. Joachim