Re: Master file generation

[Andrews, Martin]

I generally create all variant configuration files on my master machine.
I use make and perl scripts to generate those files in a somewhat ad-hoc
fashion. Once generated I use cfengine to distribute the files, set
permissions, and update processes as needed. I like this because errors
in configuration generation can be caught before distributing the update
to all my machines. I also prefer having absolute definitions for my
configuration files instead of doing differential editing (absolute is
repeatable). I may run into scaling problems later (I only have a couple
hundred machines now) but then I suppose I could distribute the config
file generation across a hierarchy of master machines.

Martin

Hal Wine wrote:
> 
> I'm just beginning to look into CFEngine for use in a 3-tiered
heterogeneous
> environment.
> 
> It appears that, once I have a set of master files to support a given
> configuration, CFEngine will handle distribution quite well. However, I'm
> unclear about it's ability to help with the generation of the master
files.
> 
> In need to create configuration file sets for a finite (but growing) list
of
> tier/machine combinations. (E.g. all 3 tiers on one box for demo, through
> clusters serving each tier.)
> 
> In my case, I'm primarily concerned with the generation of a correct set
of
> Java .property files for the various possible configurations. The simplest
> example of a problem is that the system is sometimes hosted under Unix,
and
> sometimes under NT, so any file system paths must be rendered in the
correct
> syntax.
> 
> A slight variation on the problem is the web server used may vary, and
each
> vendor has their own config file syntax. Some of the file formats appear
to
> be difficult to generate or modify using the CFEngine tools (though I
> haven't fully groked them yet). For example, Netscape ACL files, which are
> sometimes re-ordered by the GUI interface.
> 
> My ideal world would be if there were a master description file that
> described, in a human readable form, the rules for constructing the
> configuration files for any desired permutation of machines.
> 
> Am I trying to use CFEngine for a task for which it is not well suited?
> 
> Thanks,
> Hal Wine / Sr. Configuration Manager
> eScene Networks, Inc. / Streaming Solutions for Business / www.escene.com
> Ph 415.901.4137
> Fx 415.901.4101
> 
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