nanog mailing list archives

Re: Configuration Systems


From: Andrew Latham <lathama () gmail com>
Date: Wed, 6 Jun 2012 22:58:48 -0400

Jonathan

That is the exact question I have asked myself many times.  All of the
major players in Configuration management have a "client" program that
must run and at times requires some libraries that are newer than the
platforms a company may need to support or that clients may wish
supported.  Another issue is the secure communication  over a
proprietary or SSH connection and not allowing secured VLANs or other
services like RSH and Telnet over a point to point connection.

Also you will find that the demand for cloud systems and the complex
languages used in the "Configuration Management Systems" do not easily
translate to the existing and developing cloud infrastructure.

and stuff...


On Wed, Jun 6, 2012 at 10:52 PM, Jonathan Herbert <jwherbert () gmail com> wrote:
Hi Andrew,

Out of curiosity, why are you reinventing the wheel here?

Don't take this the wrong way- I'm just curious why you're building
something new. What does Enablement do that the other technologies you've
mentioned doesn't?

Jonathan


On Wed, Jun 6, 2012 at 10:49 PM, Andrew Latham <lathama () gmail com> wrote:

Lurker speaking... beware...

I have been talking with some folks from various industries about
configuration systems ala Bcfg2, Puppet, Chef, and others.  Many of
them care far too much about the current nodes configuration status as
some admin had logged in and changed something.  I am authoring a
system called Enablement that uses what ever technology needed (ssh,
telnet over admin vlan, rsh, etc...) to push a planned system/config
to the device.  Monitoring and auditing are all the same at the moment
as we need historical data on when a service or port started and
stopped offering its planned or unplanned service.  For a meeting
Thursday I am looking forward to the future of configuring systems.
My idea is push + netblock scanning of services.  With stacks for
clouds we can startup and shut down nodes easy.  Would a bend over
backwards config reader for all the "Configuration Management Systems"
be the best medium ground from the service provider point of view?

Enablement....  Send another man to fight on the front line.

--
~ Andrew "lathama" Latham lathama () gmail com http://lathama.net ~





-- 
~ Andrew "lathama" Latham lathama () gmail com http://lathama.net ~


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