Re: Large-scale configuration backup with GIT?

From: Martin Langhoff <martin.langhoff@gmail.com>
Date: Sep 3, 2007, 00:35 UTC
Message-ID: <46a038f90709021735n3d82061eh6d8d35989075022f@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <7vd4x0pwjm.fsf@gitster.siamese.dyndns.org>

On 9/3/07, Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> wrote:

> This is something similar to what I and others in my group did
> long time before git was even invented.  I'd suggest you go in
> the opposite direction.

Agreed. The infrustructures.org crowd has been exploring this space quite a bit, and developing tools like isconf that allow you to manage a huge number of machines across various unixen.

And recently someone's integrated Debian APT with git tracking config files (called IsiSetup http://www.isisetup.ch/ ). I haven't reviewed it in detail, but it'd be first on my list.

> If you have 5 configurations, each of which have 20 machines
> that _should_ share that configuration (modulo obvious
> differences that come from hostname, IP address assignment,
> etc), then

Indeed. I ended up liking the makefile-stanzas approach it is incredibly simple and flexible. Add debian/rpm packages, some of the tools in the cfengine toolchain, git to track your scripts/configuration and you are golden.

For the Windows side of things, see "Real Men Don't Click" <http://isg.ee.ethz.ch/tools/realmen/> -- a bunch of unixy sysadmins with the "infrastructures.org" background took on Windows servers/desktops management -- and succeeded. PG-rated, fun for the whole family. ;-)

HTH,

martin-who-survived-the-sysadmin-wars