Kickstart and roles

[Shane Stixrud]

On Wed, 19 Apr 2006, Michael DeHaan wrote:

>
> Seeing I'm the one writing this puppy, I'll chime in briefly.
[snip]
> Advanced configuration of services though things like puppet is something I'm 
> excited about, as it's a step beyond kickstarts.   Ultimately I'd like to see 
> kickstart creation and system setup demystified as much as possible. 
> Handrolling of custom boot/provision solutions is always going to occur, but 
> it needs to be easier.   Minimal kickstarts followed up by "make it so, 
> number 1" orders ultimately make it less work for SA's for automated 
> deployments/rollouts.   Some integration with or evolution of yam is also 
> likely a good add.  In general, I like the minimal install ideas Mike points 
> out as well.

The main problem I see with configuration engines like cfengine (I assume 
puppet has this same issue?) is admins must either make all changes from 
the central server or be forced to remember to go back and write policies 
on the central server after the fact.

Sadly doing the Right Thing (tm) isn't always an option due to real life 
circumstances (cough cough management) and performing a "quick fix" to the 
managed device without taking the time to write centralized policies is 
the result.  Writing these policies after the fact is of course desirable 
but in many cases this would require another change control and testing 
cycle. In short these type of tools really need the ability to detect what 
has changed and let the admin easily integrate/pull these changes and 
sign off on them as part of the devices new recipe/state.

Cheers,
Shane