[wplug] Administration of Lots of Machines

[Dane Miller]

Jonathan Billings wrote:
> I recently had to start managing a large number of unix and linux  
> systems, and I used a really cool tool called cfengine (http:// 
> www.cfengine.org/).  It's an amazing tool for a sysadmin, and it  
> helped me start managing a largely unmanaged network.  I'm also  
> working on using GNU Stow to push out software packages.

Seconded.  I use cfengine to manage all (50) of our Linux desktops, and
have seen a huge improvement in workstations' consistency and
manageability.  Combine this with a "smart install" process using
Redhat's Kickstart or Debian's Preseed, and the result is a full
lifecycle automation.  No more HD imaging!  No more manually-applied
updates!

I wrote a case study about this on
http://briteideas.blogspot.com/2006/03/fully-automated-install-and-management.html

-- 
Dane Miller
Technology Coordinator
Olney Friends School
Barnesville, Ohio
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