cdist-tutorial(7)
=================
Nico Schottelius <nico-cdist--@--schottelius.org>


NAME
----
cdist-tutorial - a guided introduction into cdist


INTRODUCTION
------------
This tutorial is aimed at people learning cdist and shows
typical approaches as well as gives an easy start into
the world of configuration management.

This tutorial assumes you are configuring **localhost**, because
it is always available. Just repace **localhost** with your target
host for real life usage.



QUICK START
-----------
For those who just want to configure a system with the
cdist configuration management and do not need (or want)
to understand everything.

Cdist uses **ssh** for communication and transportation
and usually logs into the **target host** as the
**root** user. So you need to configure the **ssh server**
of the target host to allow root logins: Edit
the file **/etc/ssh/sshd_config** and add one of the following
lines:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Allow login only via public key
PermitRootLogin without-password

# Allow login via password and public key
PermitRootLogin yes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As cdist uses ssh intensively, it is recommended to setup authentication
with public keys:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Generate pubkey pair as a normal user
ssh-keygen

# Copy pubkey over to target host
ssh-copy-id root@localhost
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As soon as you are able to login without passwort to the target host,
we can use cdist, to configure it. You can copy and paste the following
code into your shell to get started and configure localhost:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Get cdist
git clone git://git.schottelius.org/cdist

# Create manifest (maps configuration to host(s)
cd cdist
echo '__file /etc/cdist-configured' > conf/manifest/init
chmod 0700 conf/manifest/init

# Configure localhost
./bin/cdist config localhost

# Find out that cdist created /etc/cdist-configured
ls -l /etc/cdist-configured
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The file 'conf/manifest/init' is usually the entry point for cdist,
to find out what to configure on which host. All manifests are
essentially shell scripts. Every manifest can use the types known to
cdist, which are usually underline prefixed (__).


SEE ALSO
--------
cdist(1), cdist-type(7), cdist-stages(7)
