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210 lines
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cdist
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6.9.8-60-g77d9a757
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<li class="toctree-l1 current"><a class="current reference internal" href="#">1. Why should I use cdist?</a><ul>
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<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="#known-language">1.1. Known language</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="#powerful-language">1.2. Powerful language</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="#more-than-shell-scripting">1.3. More than shell scripting</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="#zero-dependency-configuration-management">1.4. Zero dependency configuration management</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="#push-based-distribution">1.5. Push based distribution</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="#highly-scalable">1.6. Highly scalable</a></li>
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</ul>
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</li>
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<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="cdist-features.html">2. Features</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="cdist-os.html">3. Supported operating systems</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="cdist-install.html">4. How to install cdist</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="cdist-upgrade.html">5. How to upgrade cdist</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="cdist-support.html">6. Support</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="cdist-quickstart.html">7. Quickstart</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="cdist-real-world.html">8. Dive into real world cdist</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="man1/cdist.html">9. cdist(1)</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="man1/cdist-dump.html">10. cdist-dump(1)</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="man1/cdist-new-type.html">11. cdist-new-type(1)</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="cdist-bootstrap.html">12. Bootstrap</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="cdist-configuration.html">13. Configuration</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="cdist-manifest.html">14. Manifest</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="cdist-type.html">15. cdist type</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="cdist-types.html">16. cdist types</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="cdist-explorer.html">17. Explorer</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="cdist-messaging.html">18. Messaging</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="cdist-parallelization.html">19. Parallelization</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="cdist-inventory.html">20. Inventory</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="cdist-preos.html">21. PreOS</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="cdist-scan.html">22. Scan</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="cdist-integration.html">23. cdist integration / using cdist as library</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="cdist-reference.html">24. Reference</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="cdist-best-practice.html">25. Best practice</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="cdist-stages.html">26. Execution stages</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="cdist-cache.html">27. Local cache overview</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="cdist-saving-output-streams.html">28. Saving output streams</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="cdist-remote-exec-copy.html">29. Remote exec and copy commands</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="cdist-hacker.html">30. Hacking</a></li>
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<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="cdist-troubleshooting.html">31. Troubleshooting</a></li>
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<li class="breadcrumb-item active"><span class="section-number">1. </span>Why should I use cdist?</li>
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<section id="why-should-i-use-cdist">
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<h1><span class="section-number">1. </span>Why should I use cdist?<a class="headerlink" href="#why-should-i-use-cdist" title="Permalink to this heading">¶</a></h1>
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<p>There are several motivations to use cdist, these
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are probably the most popular ones.</p>
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<section id="known-language">
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<h2><span class="section-number">1.1. </span>Known language<a class="headerlink" href="#known-language" title="Permalink to this heading">¶</a></h2>
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<p>Cdist is being configured in
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<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_script">shell script</a>.
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Shell script is used by UNIX system engineers for decades.
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So when cdist is introduced, your staff does not need to learn a new
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<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain-specific_language">DSL</a>
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or programming language.</p>
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</section>
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<section id="powerful-language">
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<h2><span class="section-number">1.2. </span>Powerful language<a class="headerlink" href="#powerful-language" title="Permalink to this heading">¶</a></h2>
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<p>Not only is shell scripting widely known by system engineers,
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but it is also a very powerful language. Here are some features
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which make daily work easy:</p>
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<blockquote>
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<div><ul class="simple">
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<li><p>Configuration can react dynamically on explored values</p></li>
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<li><p>High level string manipulation (using sed, awk, grep)</p></li>
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<li><p>Conditional support (<strong>if, case</strong>)</p></li>
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<li><p>Loop support (<strong>for, while</strong>)</p></li>
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<li><p>Support for dependencies between cdist types</p></li>
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</ul>
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</div></blockquote>
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</section>
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<section id="more-than-shell-scripting">
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<h2><span class="section-number">1.3. </span>More than shell scripting<a class="headerlink" href="#more-than-shell-scripting" title="Permalink to this heading">¶</a></h2>
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<p>If you compare regular shell scripting with cdist, there is one major
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difference: When using cdist types,
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the results are
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<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idempotence">idempotent</a>.
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In practise that means it does not matter in which order you
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call cdist types, the result is always the same.</p>
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</section>
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<section id="zero-dependency-configuration-management">
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<h2><span class="section-number">1.4. </span>Zero dependency configuration management<a class="headerlink" href="#zero-dependency-configuration-management" title="Permalink to this heading">¶</a></h2>
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<p>Cdist requires very little on a target system. Even better,
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in almost all cases all dependencies are usually fulfilled.
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Cdist does not require an agent or high level programming
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languages on the target host: it will run on any host that
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has a <strong>ssh server running</strong> and a POSIX compatible shell
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(<strong>/bin/sh</strong>). Compared to other configuration management systems,
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it does not require to open up an additional port.</p>
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</section>
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<section id="push-based-distribution">
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<h2><span class="section-number">1.5. </span>Push based distribution<a class="headerlink" href="#push-based-distribution" title="Permalink to this heading">¶</a></h2>
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<p>Cdist uses the push based model for configuration. In this
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scenario, one (or more) computers connect to the target hosts
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and apply the configuration. That way the source host has
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very little requirements: Cdist can even run on a sysadmin
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notebook that is loosely connected to the network and has
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limited amount of resources.</p>
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<p>Furthermore, from a security point of view, only one machine
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needs access to the target hosts. No target hosts will ever
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need to connect back to the source host, which contains the
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full configuration.</p>
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</section>
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<section id="highly-scalable">
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<h2><span class="section-number">1.6. </span>Highly scalable<a class="headerlink" href="#highly-scalable" title="Permalink to this heading">¶</a></h2>
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<p>If at some point you manage more hosts than can be handled from
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a single source host, you can simply add more resources: Either
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add more cores to one host or add hosts.
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Cdist will utilise the given resources in parallel.</p>
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</section>
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</section>
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<hr/>
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<p>© Copyright ungleich GmbH 2021.</p>
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