9. cdist(1)¶

9.1. NAME¶

cdist - Usable Configuration Management

9.2. SYNOPSIS¶

cdist [-h] [-d] [-v] [-V] {banner,config,shell} ...

cdist banner [-h] [-d] [-v]

cdist config [-h] [-d] [-V] [-c CONF_DIR] [-f HOSTFILE] [-i MANIFEST] [-p] [-s] [host [host ...]]

cdist shell [-h] [-d] [-v] [-s SHELL]

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:

-d, --debug¶: Set log level to debug

-h, --help¶: Show the help screen

-v, --verbose¶: Set log level to info, be more verbose

-V, --version¶: Show version and exit

9.6. CONFIG¶

Configure one or more hosts.

-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. Additionally this can also be configured by setting the CDIST_PATH environment variable to a colon delimited list of config directories. Directories given with the –conf-dir argument have higher precedence over those set through the environment variable.

-f HOSTFILE, --file HOSTFILE¶: Read additional hosts to operate on from specified file or from stdin if ‘-‘ (each host on separate line). If no host or host file is specified then, by default, read hosts from stdin.

-i MANIFEST, --initial-manifest MANIFEST¶: Path to a cdist manifest or - to read from stdin

-p, --parallel¶: Operate on multiple hosts in parallel

-s, --sequential¶: Operate on multiple hosts sequentially

--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)

9.7. 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¶: Select shell to use, defaults to current shell. Used shell should be POSIX compatible shell.

9.8. FILES¶

~/.cdist: Your personal cdist config directory. If exists it will be automatically used.
cdist/conf: The distribution configuration directory. It contains official types and explorers. This path is relative to cdist installation directory.

9.9. EXAMPLES¶

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

# 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

9.10. 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 scirpt 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).

9.11. EXIT STATUS¶

The following exit values shall be returned:

0 Successful completion.

1 One or more host configurations failed.

9.12. AUTHORS¶

Nico Schottelius <nico-cdist--@--schottelius.org>