353 lines
10 KiB
Text
353 lines
10 KiB
Text
[[!meta title="cdist - usable configuration management"]]
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[[!toc levels=3]]
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## Introduction
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cdist is a usable configuration management system. It adheres to
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the KISS principle and is being used in small up to enterprise grade
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environments.
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cdist is an alternative to other configuration management systems like
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[cfengine](http://www.cfengine.org/),
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[bcfg2](http://trac.mcs.anl.gov/projects/bcfg2),
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[chef](http://wiki.opscode.com/display/chef/)
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and [puppet](http://www.puppetlabs.com/).
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But cdist ticks differently, here is the feature set that makes it unique:
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[[!table data="""
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Keywords | Description
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Simplicity | There is only one type to extend cdist called ***type***
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Design | Type and core cleanly seperated
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Design | Sticks completly to the KISS (keep it simple and stupid) paradigma
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Design | Meaningful error messages - do not lose time debugging error messages
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Design | Consistency in behaviour, naming and documentation
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Design | No surprise factor: Only do what is obviously clear, no magic
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Design | Define target state, do not focus on methods or scripts
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Design | Push architecture: Instantly apply your changes
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Small core | cdist's core is very small - less code, less bugs
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Fast development | Focus on straightforwardness of type creation is a main development objective
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Fast development | Batteries included: A lot of requirements can be solved using standard types
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Modern Programming Language | cdist is written in Python
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Requirements, Scalability | No central server needed, cdist operates in push mode and can be run from any computer
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Requirements, Scalability, Upgrade | cdist only needs to be updated on the master, not on the target hosts
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Requirements, Security | Uses well-know [SSH](http://www.openssh.com/) as transport protocol
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Requirements, Simplicity | Requires only shell and SSH server on the target
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UNIX | Reuse of existing tools like cat, find, mv, ...
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UNIX, familar environment, documentation | Is available as manpages and HTML
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UNIX, simplicity, familar environment | cdist is configured in POSIX shell
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"""]]
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### Documentation
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The cdist documentation is included as manpages in the distribution.
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You can browse the documentation online as well:
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* [latest version](man/latest)
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* [all versions (>= 2.0.4)](man)
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### OS support
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cdist was tested or is know to run on at least
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* [Archlinux](http://www.archlinux.org/)
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* [Debian](http://www.debian.org/)
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* [CentOS](http://www.centos.org/)
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* [Fedora](http://fedoraproject.org/)
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* [Gentoo](http://www.gentoo.org/)
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* [Mac OS X](http://www.apple.com/macosx/)
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* [OpenBSD](http://www.openbsd.org)
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* [Redhat](http://www.redhat.com/)
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* [Ubuntu](http://www.ubuntu.com/)
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* [XenServer](http://www.citrix.com/xenserver/)
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## Requirements
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### Server
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* A posix like shell
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* Python (>= 3.2 required)
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* SSH client
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* Asciidoc (for building the manpages)
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### Client ("target host")
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* A posix like shell
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* SSH server
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## Installation
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### Preparation
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Ensure you have Python 3.2 installed on the machine you use to **deploy to the targets**
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(the ***source host***).
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#### Archlinux
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Archlinux already has python >= 3.2, so you only need to do:
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pacman -S python
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#### CentOS
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See the "From source" section
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#### Debian
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For Debian >= wheezy:
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aptitude install python3
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On squeeze you can add following line in **/etc/apt/sources.list**
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deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian wheezy main
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And add pinning entry in **/etc/apt/preferences.d/wheezy**:
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Package: *
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Pin: release n=wheezy
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Pin-Priority: 1
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Please be aware that both **openssh-server** and **openssh-client** might be
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removed on **python3.2** installation. You surely want to reinstall them:
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apt-get install -t wheezy openssh-server openssh-client
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For older Debian versions, installing python 3.2 manually is required.
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#### Fedora
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For Fedora >= 15:
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yum install python3
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#### FreeBSD
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For the port:
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cd /usr/ports/lang/python32/ && make install clean
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For the package:
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pkg_add -r python32
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#### Gentoo
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Gentoo only provides python 3.2 in testing packages (http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-x86.xml?part=3&chap=3).
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If you want to ensure nothing breaks you must set back the python version to what was default before.
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emerge -av =python-3.2.2 --autounmask-write
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emerge -av =python-3.2.2
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eselect python list
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eselect python list set python3.2
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#### Max OS X
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You can choose between Homebrew and Macports, either way works:
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[Homebrew](http://mxcl.github.com/homebrew/) variant:
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brew install python3
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[Macports](http://www.macports.org/install.php) variant:
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port install python32
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ln -s /opt/local/bin/python3.2 /opt/local/bin/python3
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#### From Source
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For those operating systems not yet support Python 3.2:
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pyversion=3.2.3
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wget http://www.python.org/ftp/python/$pyversion/Python-${pyversion}.tar.bz2
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tar xvfj Python-${pyversion}.tar.bz2
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cd Python-${pyversion}
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./configure
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make
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sudo make install
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This installs python 3.2 to /usr/local/bin. Ensure this directory is in
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your PATH environment variable.
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### Get cdist
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You can clone cdist from git, which gives you the advantage of having
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a version control in place for development of your own stuff as well.
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To install cdist, execute the following commands:
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git clone git://git.schottelius.org/cdist
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cd cdist
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export PATH=$PATH:$(pwd -P)/bin
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# If you want the manpages
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./build man
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export MANPATH=$MANPATH:$(pwd -P)/doc/man
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### Available versions
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There are at least the following branches available:
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* Development: master
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* 2.0: Python rewrite of cdist core [stable branch]
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Old versions:
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* 1.7: Bugfixes, cleanups, new type and explorer rename
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* 1.6: New types, cleaned up \_\_package* types, internal cleanup
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* 1.5: Focus on object orientation instead of global stage orientation
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* 1.4: Support for redefiniton of objects (if equal)
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* 1.3: Support for local and remote code execution (current stable)
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* 1.2: Dependencies supported
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* 1.1: \_\_file to \_\_file, \_\_directory, \_\_link migration
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* 1.0: First official release
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Other branches may be available for features or bugfixes, but they
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may vanish at any point. To select a specific branch use
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# Generic code
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git checkout -b <name> origin/<name>
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# Stay on a specific version
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version=2.0
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git checkout -b $version origin/$version
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### Mirrors
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* git://github.com/telmich/cdist.git ([github](https://github.com/telmich/cdist))
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* git://git.code.sf.net/p/cdist/code ([sourceforge](https://sourceforge.net/p/cdist/code))
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## Update
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To upgrade cdist in the current branch use
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git pull
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# Also update the manpages
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./build man
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export MANPATH=$MANPATH:$(pwd -P)/doc/man
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If you stay on a version branche (i.e. 1.0, 1.1., ...), nothing should break.
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The master branch on the other hand is the development branch and may not be
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working, break your setup or eat the tree in your garden.
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### Upgrading from 1.7 to 2.0
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* Ensure python (>= 3.2) is installed on the server
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* Use "cdist config host" instead of "cdist-deploy-to host"
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* Use "cdist config -p host1 host2" instead of "cdist-mass-deploy"
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* Use "cdist banner" for fun
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* Use **\_\_object_fq** instead of **\_\_self** in manifests
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### Upgrading from 1.6 to 1.7
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* If you used the global explorer **hardware_type**, you need to change
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your code to use **machine** instead.
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### Upgrading from 1.5 to 1.6
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* If you used **\_\_package_apt --preseed**, you need to use the new
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type **\_\_debconf_set_selections** instead.
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* The **\_\_package** types accepted either --state deinstalled or
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--state uninstaaled. Starting with 1.6, it was made consistently
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to --state removed.
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### Upgrading from 1.3 to 1.5
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No incompatiblities.
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### Upgrading from 1.2 to 1.3
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Rename **gencode** of every type to **gencode-remote**.
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### Upgrading from 1.1 to 1.2
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No incompatiblities.
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### Upgrading from 1.0 to 1.1
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In 1.1 the type **\_\_file** was split into **\_\_directory**, **\_\_file** and
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**\_\_link**. The parameter **--type** was removed from **\_\_file**. Thus you
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need to replace **\_\_file** calls in your manifests:
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* Remove --type from all \_\_file calls
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* If type was symlink, use \_\_link and --type symbolic
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* If type was directory, use \_\_directory
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## Support
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### IRC
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You can join the development ***IRC channel***
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[#cstar on irc.freenode.net](irc://irc.freenode.org/#cstar).
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### Mailing list
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Bug reports, questions, patches, etc. should be send to the
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[cdist mailing list](http://l.schottelius.org/mailman/listinfo/cdist).
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### Linkedin
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If you have an account
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at [Linked in](http://www.linkedin.com/),
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you can join the
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[cdist group](http://www.linkedin.com/groups/cdist-configuration-management-3952797).
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### Commercial support
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You can request commercial support for cdist from
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[my company](http://firma.schottelius.org/english/).
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## Used by
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If you're using cdist, feel free to send a report to the mailing list.
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Interesting information are for instance
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* Which services do you manage?
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* How many machines do you manage?
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* What are the pros/cons you see in cdist?
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* General comments/critics
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### Nico Schottelius, Systems Group ETH Zurich, local.ch and privately
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Yes, I'm actually eating my own dogfood and currently managing
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* [plone](http://plone.org/) (cms)
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* [moinmoin](http://moinmo.in/) (wiki)
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* [apache](http://httpd.apache.org/) (webserver)
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* [kerberos (mit)](http://web.mit.edu/kerberos/) (authentication)
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* [nss-pam-ldapd](http://arthurdejong.org/nss-pam-ldapd/) (authentication)
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* [ircd-hybrid](http://www.ircd-hybrid.org/) (chat)
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* [stunnel](http://stunnel.mirt.net/) (SSL tunnel)
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* [mercurial-server](http://www.lshift.net/mercurial-server.html) (version control)
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* [xfce](http://www.xfce.org/) (lightweight desktop environment)
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* [slim](http://slim.berlios.de/) (graphical login manager for X11)
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with cdist on more than **60** production machines of the
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[Systems Group](http://www.systems.ethz.ch) at the
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[ETH Zurich](http://www.ethz.ch) as well at home.
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### Steven Armstrong, CBRG ETH Zurich
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The CBRG is managing most of their compute clusters with cdist.
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