First thoughts on bcfg2

In my last post I mentioned starting a quick eval of the existing config management tools. I ended up with bcfg2,so I got to spend some time Friday starting to look at it. Armed with the SAGE [short topics book|http://www.sage.org/pubs/19_bcfg2/] and the online docs, I managed to get it installed and doing some stuff. These…

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Aleksey at SCALE 8x

Going to SCALE 8x today – I’ll be in the LOPSA booth, PostgreSQL booth and doing FOSS tours. Do I know how to overcommit or what?

Evaluating New Config Management Systems

At $WORK, we currently use cfengine 2 to manage on the order of 300 systems. It works, it does most things we want. We use the [Singlecopy Nirvana|http://cfwiki.org/cfwiki/index.php/Singlecopy_Nirvana] “pattern” to distribute configuration files of all types, have copious shellcommands, and even a few editfiles. In general, it does what I need, but not necessarily the…

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Preventing rsync from picking up rsync temp files.

If you have multiple vias in your rsync path (e.g. a -> b -> c) you can use an rsync filter rule to tell rsync: don’t transfer files that have . in the beginning of the filename! –filter ‘- .*’ This way you won’t have rsync temp files (named something like .filename.xxyyzz) from the a…

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Why we still need old-fashioned backups: A cautionary tale

“Backups are becoming less and less necessary these days”, I’m told. High availability, cheap disk mirroring and snapshots, cloud storage, data syncing between services—all these factors make old-fashioned backups—the offline, offsite, multi-tier kind, probably to tape, an expensive and cumbersome luxury that is neither affordable nor needed today. I just got bitten, hard, by the…

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LISA ’10 Call for Participation

The Call for Participation for LISA ’10 has just been published. If you have not attended a LISA conference before, then this would be a great year to start. Even if you don’t plan on submitting a paper or a talk proposal, reading the Call for Participation is a great way to understand how the…

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Learning just isn’t what it used to be

Like probably almost anyone reading this blog, I’m a sysadmin. Specifically, I consider myself to be a pretty darned good one – years of experience, blah blah blah. One of the personality traits a “good sysadmin” has, is the drive and ability to learn new things. COMPLICATED things. No fear. Try out installing and setting…

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Uma Thurman

OK, not related to work, but worthy of a blog entry at least. The other day I dove into VOIP for the first time. I admit, I’m a bit of a holdout with regards to my home phone service. I’m also old enough to recall the days when the phone in our house plugged into…

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