9. cdist(1)

9.1. NAME

cdist - Usable Configuration Management

9.2. SYNOPSIS

cdist [-h] [-V] {banner,config,install,inventory,preos,shell,trigger} ...

cdist banner [-h] [-l LOGLEVEL] [-q] [-v]

cdist config [-h] [-l LOGLEVEL] [-q] [-v] [-b] [-g CONFIG_FILE] [-4]
             [-6] [-C CACHE_PATH_PATTERN] [-c CONF_DIR] [-i MANIFEST]
             [-j [JOBS]] [-n] [-o OUT_PATH] [-P]
             [-R [{tar,tgz,tbz2,txz}]] [-r REMOTE_OUT_PATH]
             [--remote-copy REMOTE_COPY] [--remote-exec REMOTE_EXEC]
             [-S] [-I INVENTORY_DIR] [-A] [-a] [-f HOSTFILE]
             [-p [HOST_MAX]] [-s] [-t]
             [host [host ...]]

cdist install [-h] [-l LOGLEVEL] [-q] [-v] [-b] [-g CONFIG_FILE] [-4]
              [-6] [-C CACHE_PATH_PATTERN] [-c CONF_DIR] [-i MANIFEST]
              [-j [JOBS]] [-n] [-o OUT_PATH] [-P]
              [-R [{tar,tgz,tbz2,txz}]] [-r REMOTE_OUT_PATH]
              [--remote-copy REMOTE_COPY] [--remote-exec REMOTE_EXEC]
              [-S] [-I INVENTORY_DIR] [-A] [-a] [-f HOSTFILE]
              [-p [HOST_MAX]] [-s] [-t]
              [host [host ...]]

cdist inventory [-h] {add-host,add-tag,del-host,del-tag,list} ...

cdist inventory add-host [-h] [-l LOGLEVEL] [-q] [-v] [-b]
                         [-g CONFIG_FILE] [-I INVENTORY_DIR]
                         [-f HOSTFILE]
                         [host [host ...]]

cdist inventory add-tag [-h] [-l LOGLEVEL] [-q] [-v] [-b]
                        [-g CONFIG_FILE] [-I INVENTORY_DIR]
                        [-f HOSTFILE] [-T TAGFILE] [-t TAGLIST]
                        [host [host ...]]

cdist inventory del-host [-h] [-l LOGLEVEL] [-q] [-v] [-b]
                         [-g CONFIG_FILE] [-I INVENTORY_DIR] [-a]
                         [-f HOSTFILE]
                         [host [host ...]]

cdist inventory del-tag [-h] [-l LOGLEVEL] [-q] [-v] [-b]
                        [-g CONFIG_FILE] [-I INVENTORY_DIR] [-a]
                        [-f HOSTFILE] [-T TAGFILE] [-t TAGLIST]
                        [host [host ...]]

cdist inventory list [-h] [-l LOGLEVEL] [-q] [-v] [-b] [-g CONFIG_FILE]
                     [-I INVENTORY_DIR] [-a] [-f HOSTFILE] [-H] [-t]
                     [host [host ...]]

cdist preos [-h] preos

cdist preos debian [-h] [-l LOGLEVEL] [-q] [-v] [-b] [-a ARCH] [-B]
                   [-C] [-c CDIST_PARAMS] [-D DRIVE] [-e REMOTE_EXEC]
                   [-i MANIFEST] [-k KEYFILE ] [-m MIRROR]
                   [-P ROOT_PASSWORD] [-p PXE_BOOT_DIR] [-r]
                   [-S SCRIPT] [-s SUITE] [-t TRIGGER_COMMAND]
                   [-y REMOTE_COPY]
                   target_dir

cdist preos devuan [-h] [-l LOGLEVEL] [-q] [-v] [-b] [-a ARCH] [-B]
                   [-C] [-c CDIST_PARAMS] [-D DRIVE] [-e REMOTE_EXEC]
                   [-i MANIFEST] [-k KEYFILE ] [-m MIRROR]
                   [-P ROOT_PASSWORD] [-p PXE_BOOT_DIR] [-r]
                   [-S SCRIPT] [-s SUITE] [-t TRIGGER_COMMAND]
                   [-y REMOTE_COPY]
                   target_dir

cdist preos ubuntu [-h] [-l LOGLEVEL] [-q] [-v] [-b] [-a ARCH] [-B]
                   [-C] [-c CDIST_PARAMS] [-D DRIVE] [-e REMOTE_EXEC]
                   [-i MANIFEST] [-k KEYFILE ] [-m MIRROR]
                   [-P ROOT_PASSWORD] [-p PXE_BOOT_DIR] [-r]
                   [-S SCRIPT] [-s SUITE] [-t TRIGGER_COMMAND]
                   [-y REMOTE_COPY]
                   target_dir

cdist shell [-h] [-l LOGLEVEL] [-q] [-v] [-s SHELL]

cdist trigger [-h] [-l LOGLEVEL] [-q] [-v] [-b] [-g CONFIG_FILE] [-4]
              [-6] [-C CACHE_PATH_PATTERN] [-c CONF_DIR] [-i MANIFEST]
              [-j [JOBS]] [-n] [-o OUT_PATH] [-P]
              [-R [{tar,tgz,tbz2,txz}]] [-r REMOTE_OUT_PATH]
              [--remote-copy REMOTE_COPY] [--remote-exec REMOTE_EXEC]
              [-S] [-D DIRECTORY] [-H HTTP_PORT] [--ipv6] [-O SOURCE]

9.3. DESCRIPTION

cdist is the frontend executable to the cdist configuration management. It supports different subcommands as explained below.

It is written in Python so it requires python(1) to be installed. It requires a minimal Python version 3.2.

9.4. GENERAL

All commands accept the following options:

-h, --help
Show the help screen.
-l LOGLEVEL, --log-level LOGLEVEL
Set the specified verbosity level. The levels, in order from the lowest to the highest, are: ERROR (-1), WARNING (0), INFO (1), VERBOSE (2), DEBUG (3) TRACE (4 or higher). If used along with -v then -v increases last set value and -l overwrites last set value.
-q, --quiet
Quiet mode: disables logging, including WARNING and ERROR.
-v, --verbose
Increase the verbosity level. Every instance of -v increments the verbosity level by one. Its default value is 0 which includes ERROR and WARNING levels. The levels, in order from the lowest to the highest, are: ERROR (-1), WARNING (0), INFO (1), VERBOSE (2), DEBUG (3) TRACE (4 or higher). If used along with -l then -l overwrites last set value and -v increases last set value.
-V, --version
Show version and exit.

9.6. CONFIG/INSTALL

Configure/install one or more hosts. Install command is currently in beta.

-4, --force-ipv4
Force to use IPv4 addresses only. No influence for custom remote commands.
-6, --force-ipv6
Force to use IPv6 addresses only. No influence for custom remote commands.
-A, --all-tagged
Use all hosts present in tags db. Currently in beta.
-a, --all
List hosts that have all specified tags, if -t/--tag is specified.
-b, --beta
Enable beta functionality.
-C CACHE_PATH_PATTERN, --cache-path-pattern CACHE_PATH_PATTERN
Specify custom cache path pattern. If it is not set then default hostdir is used. For more info on format see CACHE PATH PATTERN FORMAT below.
-c CONF_DIR, --conf-dir CONF_DIR
Add a configuration directory. Can be specified multiple times. If configuration directories contain conflicting types, explorers or manifests, then the last one found is used.
-f HOSTFILE, --file HOSTFILE
Read specified file for a list of additional hosts to operate on or if '-' is given, read stdin (one host per line). If no host or host file is specified then, by default, read hosts from stdin. For the file format see HOSTFILE FORMAT below.
-g CONFIG_FILE, --config-file CONFIG_FILE
Use specified custom configuration file.
-I INVENTORY_DIR, --inventory INVENTORY_DIR
Use specified custom inventory directory. Inventory directory is set up by the following rules: if cdist configuration resolves this value then specified directory is used, if HOME env var is set then ~/.cdit/inventory is used, otherwise distribution inventory directory is used.
-i MANIFEST, --initial-manifest MANIFEST
Path to a cdist manifest or - to read from stdin.
-j [JOBS], --jobs [JOBS]
Operate in parallel in specified maximum number of jobs. Global explorers, object prepare and object run are supported. Without argument CPU count is used by default.
-n, --dry-run
Do not execute code.
-o OUT_PATH, --out-dir OUT_PATH
Directory to save cdist output in.
-P, --timestamp
Timestamp log messages with the current local date and time in the format: YYYYMMDDHHMMSS.us.
-p [HOST_MAX], --parallel [HOST_MAX]
Operate on multiple hosts in parallel for specified maximum hosts at a time. Without argument CPU count is used by default.
-R [{tar,tgz,tbz2,txz}], --use-archiving [{tar,tgz,tbz2,txz}]
Operate by using archiving with compression where appropriate. Supported values are: tar - tar archive, tgz - gzip tar archive (the default), tbz2 - bzip2 tar archive and txz - lzma tar archive. Currently in beta.
-r REMOTE_OUT_PATH, --remote-out-dir REMOTE_OUT_PATH
Directory to save cdist output in on the target host.
-S, --disable-saving-output-streams
Disable saving output streams.
-s, --sequential
Operate on multiple hosts sequentially (default).
--remote-copy REMOTE_COPY
Command to use for remote copy (should behave like scp).
--remote-exec REMOTE_EXEC
Command to use for remote execution (should behave like ssh).
-t, --tag
Host is specified by tag, not hostname/address; list all hosts that contain any of specified tags. Currently in beta.

9.6.1. HOSTFILE FORMAT

The HOSTFILE contains one host per line. A comment is started with '#' and continues to the end of the line. Any leading and trailing whitespace on a line is ignored. Empty lines are ignored/skipped.

The Hostfile lines are processed as follows. First, all comments are removed. Then all leading and trailing whitespace characters are stripped. If such a line results in empty line it is ignored/skipped. Otherwise, host string is used.

9.6.2. CACHE PATH PATTERN FORMAT

Cache path pattern specifies path for a cache directory subdirectory. In the path, '%N' will be substituted by the target host, '%h' will be substituted by the calculated host directory, '%P' will be substituted by the current process id. All format codes that python datetime.strftime() function supports, except '%h', are supported. These date/time directives format cdist config/install start time.

If empty pattern is specified then default calculated host directory is used.

Calculated host directory is a hash of a host cdist operates on.

Resulting path is used to specify cache path subdirectory under which current host cache data are saved.

9.7. INVENTORY

Manage inventory database. Currently in beta with all sub-commands.

9.8. INVENTORY ADD-HOST

Add host(s) to inventory database.

host
Host(s) to add.
-b, --beta
Enable beta functionality.
-f HOSTFILE, --file HOSTFILE
Read additional hosts to add from specified file or from stdin if '-' (each host on separate line). If no host or host file is specified then, by default, read from stdin. Hostfile format is the same as config hostfile format.
-g CONFIG_FILE, --config-file CONFIG_FILE
Use specified custom configuration file.
-I INVENTORY_DIR, --inventory INVENTORY_DIR
Use specified custom inventory directory. Inventory directory is set up by the following rules: if cdist configuration resolves this value then specified directory is used, if HOME env var is set then ~/.cdit/inventory is used, otherwise distribution inventory directory is used.

9.9. INVENTORY ADD-TAG

Add tag(s) to inventory database.

host
List of host(s) for which tags are added.
-b, --beta
Enable beta functionality.
-f HOSTFILE, --file HOSTFILE
Read additional hosts to add tags from specified file or from stdin if '-' (each host on separate line). If no host or host file is specified then, by default, read from stdin. If no tags/tagfile nor hosts/hostfile are specified then tags are read from stdin and are added to all hosts. Hostfile format is the same as config hostfile format.
-g CONFIG_FILE, --config-file CONFIG_FILE
Use specified custom configuration file.
-I INVENTORY_DIR, --inventory INVENTORY_DIR
Use specified custom inventory directory. Inventory directory is set up by the following rules: if cdist configuration resolves this value then specified directory is used, if HOME env var is set then ~/.cdit/inventory is used, otherwise distribution inventory directory is used.
-T TAGFILE, --tag-file TAGFILE
Read additional tags to add from specified file or from stdin if '-' (each tag on separate line). If no tag or tag file is specified then, by default, read from stdin. If no tags/tagfile nor hosts/hostfile are specified then tags are read from stdin and are added to all hosts. Tagfile format is the same as config hostfile format.
-t TAGLIST, --taglist TAGLIST
Tag list to be added for specified host(s), comma separated values.

9.10. INVENTORY DEL-HOST

Delete host(s) from inventory database.

host
Host(s) to delete.
-a, --all
Delete all hosts.
-b, --beta
Enable beta functionality.
-f HOSTFILE, --file HOSTFILE
Read additional hosts to delete from specified file or from stdin if '-' (each host on separate line). If no host or host file is specified then, by default, read from stdin. Hostfile format is the same as config hostfile format.
-g CONFIG_FILE, --config-file CONFIG_FILE
Use specified custom configuration file.
-I INVENTORY_DIR, --inventory INVENTORY_DIR
Use specified custom inventory directory. Inventory directory is set up by the following rules: if cdist configuration resolves this value then specified directory is used, if HOME env var is set then ~/.cdit/inventory is used, otherwise distribution inventory directory is used.

9.11. INVENTORY DEL-TAG

Delete tag(s) from inventory database.

host
List of host(s) for which tags are deleted.
-a, --all
Delete all tags for specified host(s).
-b, --beta
Enable beta functionality.
-f HOSTFILE, --file HOSTFILE
Read additional hosts to delete tags for from specified file or from stdin if '-' (each host on separate line). If no host or host file is specified then, by default, read from stdin. If no tags/tagfile nor hosts/hostfile are specified then tags are read from stdin and are deleted from all hosts. Hostfile format is the same as config hostfile format.
-g CONFIG_FILE, --config-file CONFIG_FILE
Use specified custom configuration file.
-I INVENTORY_DIR, --inventory INVENTORY_DIR
Use specified custom inventory directory. Inventory directory is set up by the following rules: if cdist configuration resolves this value then specified directory is used, if HOME env var is set then ~/.cdit/inventory is used, otherwise distribution inventory directory is used.
-T TAGFILE, --tag-file TAGFILE
Read additional tags from specified file or from stdin if '-' (each tag on separate line). If no tag or tag file is specified then, by default, read from stdin. If no tags/tagfile nor hosts/hostfile are specified then tags are read from stdin and are added to all hosts. Tagfile format is the same as config hostfile format.
-t TAGLIST, --taglist TAGLIST
Tag list to be deleted for specified host(s), comma separated values.

9.12. INVENTORY LIST

List inventory database.

host
Host(s) to list.
-a, --all
List hosts that have all specified tags, if -t/--tag is specified.
-b, --beta
Enable beta functionality.
-f HOSTFILE, --file HOSTFILE
Read additional hosts to list from specified file or from stdin if '-' (each host on separate line). If no host or host file is specified then, by default, list all. Hostfile format is the same as config hostfile format.
-g CONFIG_FILE, --config-file CONFIG_FILE
Use specified custom configuration file.
-H, --host-only
Suppress tags listing.
-I INVENTORY_DIR, --inventory INVENTORY_DIR
Use specified custom inventory directory. Inventory directory is set up by the following rules: if cdist configuration resolves this value then specified directory is used, if HOME env var is set then ~/.cdit/inventory is used, otherwise distribution inventory directory is used.
-t, --tag
Host is specified by tag, not hostname/address; list all hosts that contain any of specified tags.

9.13. PREOS

Create PreOS. Currently, the following PreOS-es are supported:

  • debian
  • ubuntu
  • devuan

9.14. PREOS DEBIAN/DEVUAN

target_dir
target directory where PreOS will be bootstrapped
-a ARCH, --arch ARCH
target debootstrap architecture, by default 'amd64'
-B, --bootstrap
do bootstrap step
-b, --beta
Enable beta functionality.
-C, --configure
do configure step
-c CDIST_PARAMS, --cdist-params CDIST_PARAMS
parameters that will be passed to cdist config, by default '-v' is used
-D DRIVE, --drive-boot DRIVE
create bootable PreOS on specified drive
-e REMOTE_EXEC, --remote-exec REMOTE_EXEC
remote exec that cdist config will use, by default internal script is used
-i MANIFEST, --init-manifest MANIFEST
init manifest that cdist config will use, by default internal init manifest is used
-k KEYFILE, --keyfile KEYFILE
ssh key files that will be added to cdist config; '__ssh_authorized_keys root ...' type is appended to initial manifest
-m MIRROR, --mirror MIRROR
use specified mirror for debootstrap
-P ROOT_PASSWORD, --root-password ROOT_PASSWORD
Set specified password for root, generated by default
-p PXE_BOOT_DIR, --pxe-boot-dir PXE_BOOT_DIR
PXE boot directory
-r, --rm-bootstrap-dir
remove target directory after finishing
-S SCRIPT, --script SCRIPT
use specified script for debootstrap
-s SUITE, --suite SUITE
suite used for debootstrap, by default 'stable'
-t TRIGGER_COMMAND, --trigger-command TRIGGER_COMMAND
trigger command that will be added to cdist config; '__cdist_preos_trigger http ...' type is appended to initial manifest
-y REMOTE_COPY, --remote-copy REMOTE_COPY
remote copy that cdist config will use, by default internal script is used

9.15. PREOS UBUNTU

target_dir
target directory where PreOS will be bootstrapped
-a ARCH, --arch ARCH
target debootstrap architecture, by default 'amd64'
-B, --bootstrap
do bootstrap step
-b, --beta
Enable beta functionality.
-C, --configure
do configure step
-c CDIST_PARAMS, --cdist-params CDIST_PARAMS
parameters that will be passed to cdist config, by default '-v' is used
-D DRIVE, --drive-boot DRIVE
create bootable PreOS on specified drive
-e REMOTE_EXEC, --remote-exec REMOTE_EXEC
remote exec that cdist config will use, by default internal script is used
-i MANIFEST, --init-manifest MANIFEST
init manifest that cdist config will use, by default internal init manifest is used
-k KEYFILE, --keyfile KEYFILE
ssh key files that will be added to cdist config; '__ssh_authorized_keys root ...' type is appended to initial manifest
-m MIRROR, --mirror MIRROR
use specified mirror for debootstrap
-P ROOT_PASSWORD, --root-password ROOT_PASSWORD
Set specified password for root, generated by default
-p PXE_BOOT_DIR, --pxe-boot-dir PXE_BOOT_DIR
PXE boot directory
-r, --rm-bootstrap-dir
remove target directory after finishing
-S SCRIPT, --script SCRIPT
use specified script for debootstrap
-s SUITE, --suite SUITE
suite used for debootstrap, by default 'xenial'
-t TRIGGER_COMMAND, --trigger-command TRIGGER_COMMAND
trigger command that will be added to cdist config; '__cdist_preos_trigger http ...' type is appended to initial manifest
-y REMOTE_COPY, --remote-copy REMOTE_COPY
remote copy that cdist config will use, by default internal script is used

9.16. SHELL

This command allows you to spawn a shell that enables access to the types as commands. It can be thought as an "interactive manifest" environment. See below for example usage. Its primary use is for debugging type parameters.

-s SHELL, --shell SHELL
Select shell to use, defaults to current shell. Used shell should be POSIX compatible shell.

9.17. TRIGGER

Start trigger (simple http server) that waits for connections. When host connects then it triggers config or install command and then cdist config/install is executed which configures/installs host. When triggered cdist will try to reverse DNS lookup for host name and if host name is dervied then it is used for running cdist config. If no host name is resolved then IP address is used. Request path recognizes following requests:

  • /cdist/config/.* for config
  • /cdist/install/.* for install.

This command returns the following response codes to client requests:

  • 200 for success
  • 599 for cdist run errors
  • 500 for cdist/server errors.
-4, -force-ipv4
Force to use IPv4 addresses only. No influence for custom remote commands.
-6, --force-ipv6
Force to use IPv6 addresses only. No influence for custom remote commands.
-C CACHE_PATH_PATTERN, --cache-path-pattern CACHE_PATH_PATTERN
Specify custom cache path pattern. If it is not set then default hostdir is used.
-c CONF_DIR, --conf-dir CONF_DIR
Add configuration directory (can be repeated, last one wins).
-D DIRECTORY, --directory DIRECTORY
Where to create local files
-g CONFIG_FILE, --config-file CONFIG_FILE
Use specified custom configuration file.
-H HTTP_PORT, --http-port HTTP_PORT
Create trigger listener via http on specified port
-i MANIFEST, --initial-manifest MANIFEST
Path to a cdist manifest or '-' to read from stdin.
--ipv6
Listen to both IPv4 and IPv6 (instead of only IPv4)
-j [JOBS], --jobs [JOBS]
Operate in parallel in specified maximum number of jobs. Global explorers, object prepare and object run are supported. Without argument CPU count is used by default. Currently in beta.
-n, --dry-run
Do not execute code.
-O SOURCE, --source SOURCE
Which file to copy for creation
-o OUT_PATH, --out-dir OUT_PATH
Directory to save cdist output in.
-P, --timestamp
Timestamp log messages with the current local date and time in the format: YYYYMMDDHHMMSS.us.
-R [{tar,tgz,tbz2,txz}], --use-archiving [{tar,tgz,tbz2,txz}]
Operate by using archiving with compression where appropriate. Supported values are: tar - tar archive, tgz - gzip tar archive (the default), tbz2 - bzip2 tar archive and txz - lzma tar archive. Currently in beta.
-r REMOTE_OUT_PATH, --remote-out-dir REMOTE_OUT_PATH
Directory to save cdist output in on the target host.
--remote-copy REMOTE_COPY
Command to use for remote copy (should behave like scp).
--remote-exec REMOTE_EXEC
Command to use for remote execution (should behave like ssh).
-S, --disable-saving-output-streams
Disable saving output streams.

9.18. CONFIGURATION

cdist obtains configuration data from the following sources in the following order (from higher to lower precedence):

  1. command-line options
  2. configuration file specified at command-line
  3. configuration file specified in CDIST_CONFIG_FILE environment variable
  4. environment variables
  5. user's configuration file (first one found of ~/.cdist.cfg, $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/cdist/cdist.cfg, in specified order)
  6. system-wide configuration file (/etc/cdist.cfg).

9.18.1. CONFIGURATION FILE FORMAT

cdist configuration file is in the INI file format. Currently it supports only [GLOBAL] section. The possible keywords and their meanings are as follows:

archiving
Use specified archiving. Valid values include: 'none', 'tar', 'tgz', 'tbz2' and 'txz'.
beta
Enable beta functionality. It recognizes boolean values from 'yes'/'no', 'on'/'off', 'true'/'false' and '1'/'0'.
cache_path_pattern
Specify cache path pattern.
conf_dir
List of configuration directories separated with the character conventionally used by the operating system to separate search path components (as in PATH), such as ':' for POSIX or ';' for Windows. If also specified at command line then values from command line are appended to this value.
init_manifest
Specify default initial manifest.
inventory_dir
Specify inventory directory.
jobs
Specify number of jobs for parallel processing. If -1 then the default, number of CPU's in the system is used. If 0 then parallel processing in jobs is disabled. If set to positive number then specified maximum number of processes will be used.
local_shell
Shell command used for local execution.
out_path
Directory to save cdist output in.
parallel
Process hosts in parallel. If -1 then the default, number of CPU's in the system is used. If 0 then parallel processing of hosts is disabled. If set to positive number then specified maximum number of processes will be used.
remote_copy
Command to use for remote copy (should behave like scp).
remote_exec
Command to use for remote execution (should behave like ssh).
remote_out_path
Directory to save cdist output in on the target host.
remote_shell
Shell command at remote host used for remote execution.
save_output_streams
Enable/disable saving output streams (enabled by default). It recognizes boolean values from 'yes'/'no', 'on'/'off', 'true'/'false' and '1'/'0'.
timestamp
Timestamp log messages with the current local date and time in the format: YYYYMMDDHHMMSS.us.
verbosity
Set verbosity level. Valid values are: 'ERROR', 'WARNING', 'INFO', 'VERBOSE', 'DEBUG', 'TRACE' and 'OFF'.

9.19. FILES

~/.cdist
Your personal cdist config directory. If exists it will be automatically used.
~/.cdist/cache
Local cache directory.
~/.cdist/inventory
The home inventory directory. If ~/.cdist exists it will be used as default inventory directory.
~/.cdist/preos
PreOS plugins directory, if existing.
cdist/conf
The distribution configuration directory. It contains official types and explorers. This path is relative to cdist installation directory.
cdist/inventory
The distribution inventory directory. This path is relative to cdist installation directory.
cdist/preos
The distribution PreOS plugins directory.
/etc/cdist.cfg
Global cdist configuration file, if exists.
~/.cdist.cfg or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/cdist/cdist.cfg
Local cdist configuration file, if exists.

9.20. NOTES

cdist detects if host is specified by IPv6 address. If so then remote_copy command is executed with host address enclosed in square brackets (see scp(1)).

9.21. EXAMPLES

# Configure ikq05.ethz.ch with debug enabled
% cdist config -vvv ikq05.ethz.ch

# Configure hosts in parallel and use a different configuration directory
% cdist config -c ~/p/cdist-nutzung \
    -p ikq02.ethz.ch ikq03.ethz.ch ikq04.ethz.ch

# Use custom remote exec / copy commands
% cdist config --remote-exec /path/to/my/remote/exec \
    --remote-copy /path/to/my/remote/copy \
    -p ikq02.ethz.ch ikq03.ethz.ch ikq04.ethz.ch

# Configure hosts read from file loadbalancers
% cdist config -f loadbalancers

# Configure hosts read from file web.hosts using 16 parallel jobs
% cdist config -j 16 -f web.hosts

# Display banner
cdist banner

# Show help
% cdist --help

# Show Version
% cdist --version

# Enter a shell that has access to emulated types
% cdist shell
% __git
usage: __git --source SOURCE [--state STATE] [--branch BRANCH]
             [--group GROUP] [--owner OWNER] [--mode MODE] object_id

# Install ikq05.ethz.ch with debug enabled
% cdist install -vvv ikq05.ethz.ch

# List inventory content
% cdist inventory list -b

# List inventory for specified host localhost
% cdist inventory list -b localhost

# List inventory for specified tag loadbalancer
% cdist inventory list -b -t loadbalancer

# Add hosts to inventory
% cdist inventory add-host -b web1 web2 web3

# Delete hosts from file old-hosts from inventory
% cdist inventory del-host -b -f old-hosts

# Add tags to specified hosts
% cdist inventory add-tag -b -t europe,croatia,web,static web1 web2

# Add tag to all hosts in inventory
% cdist inventory add-tag -b -t vm

# Delete all tags from specified host
% cdist inventory del-tag -b -a localhost

# Delete tags read from stdin from hosts specified by file hosts
% cdist inventory del-tag -b -T - -f hosts

# Configure hosts from inventory with any of specified tags
% cdist config -b -t web dynamic

# Configure hosts from inventory with all specified tags
% cdist config -b -t -a web dynamic

# Configure all hosts from inventory db
$ cdist config -b -A

# Create default debian PreOS in debug mode with config
# trigger command
$ cdist preos debian /preos/preos-debian -vvvv -C \
    -k ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub -p /preos/pxe-debian \
    -t "/usr/bin/curl 192.168.111.5:3000/config/"

# Create ubuntu PreOS with install trigger command
$ cdist preos ubuntu /preos/preos-ubuntu -C \
    -k ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub -p /preos/pxe-ubuntu \
    -t "/usr/bin/curl 192.168.111.5:3000/install/"

# Create ubuntu PreOS on drive /dev/sdb with install trigger command
# and set root password to 'password'.
$ cdist preos ubuntu /mnt -B -C \
    -k ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub -D /dev/sdb \
    -t "/usr/bin/curl 192.168.111.5:3000/install/" \
    -P password

# Start trigger in verbose mode that will configure host using specified
# init manifest
% cdist trigger -v -i ~/.cdist/manifest/init-for-triggered

9.22. ENVIRONMENT

TMPDIR, TEMP, TMP
Setup the base directory for the temporary directory. See http://docs.python.org/py3k/library/tempfile.html for more information. This is rather useful, if the standard directory used does not allow executables.
CDIST_PATH
Colon delimited list of config directories.
CDIST_LOCAL_SHELL
Selects shell for local script execution, defaults to /bin/sh.
CDIST_REMOTE_SHELL
Selects shell for remote script execution, defaults to /bin/sh.
CDIST_OVERRIDE
Allow overwriting type parameters.
CDIST_ORDER_DEPENDENCY
Create dependencies based on the execution order.
CDIST_REMOTE_EXEC
Use this command for remote execution (should behave like ssh).
CDIST_REMOTE_COPY
Use this command for remote copy (should behave like scp).
CDIST_INVENTORY_DIR
Use this directory as inventory directory.
CDIST_BETA
Enable beta functionality.
CDIST_CACHE_PATH_PATTERN
Custom cache path pattern.
CDIST_CONFIG_FILE
Custom configuration file.

9.23. EXIT STATUS

The following exit values shall be returned:

0 Successful completion.

1 One or more host configurations failed.

9.24. AUTHORS

Originally written by Nico Schottelius <nico-cdist--@--schottelius.org> and Steven Armstrong <steven-cdist--@--armstrong.cc>.

9.25. CAVEATS

When operating in parallel, either by operating in parallel for each host (-p/--parallel) or by parallel jobs within a host (-j/--jobs), and depending on target SSH server and its configuration you may encounter connection drops. This is controlled with sshd MaxStartups configuration options. You may also encounter session open refusal. This happens with ssh multiplexing when you reach maximum number of open sessions permitted per network connection. In this case ssh will disable multiplexing. This limit is controlled with sshd MaxSessions configuration options. For more details refer to sshd_config(5).

When requirements for the same object are defined in different manifests (see example below), for example, in init manifest and in some other type manifest and those requirements differ then dependency resolver cannot detect dependencies correctly. This happens because cdist cannot prepare all objects first and run all objects afterwards. Some object can depend on the result of type explorer(s) and explorers are executed during object run. cdist will detect such case and display a warning message. An example of such a case:

init manifest:
    __a a
    require="__e/e" __b b
    require="__f/f" __c c
    __e e
    __f f
    require="__c/c" __d d
    __g g
    __h h

type __g manifest:
    require="__c/c __d/d" __a a

Warning message:
    WARNING: cdisttesthost: Object __a/a already exists with requirements:
    /usr/home/darko/ungleich/cdist/cdist/test/config/fixtures/manifest/init-deps-resolver /tmp/tmp.cdist.test.ozagkg54/local/759547ff4356de6e3d9e08522b0d0807/data/conf/type/__g/manifest: set()
    /tmp/tmp.cdist.test.ozagkg54/local/759547ff4356de6e3d9e08522b0d0807/data/conf/type/__g/manifest: {'__c/c', '__d/d'}
    Dependency resolver could not handle dependencies as expected.

9.26. COPYING

Copyright (C) 2011-2017 Nico Schottelius. Free use of this software is granted under the terms of the GNU General Public License v3 or later (GPLv3+).