Building Identical Configurations

[Kristian Vaaf]

Hello Steve!

I wanted the exact same thing back in the days.
Tried looking at CVS and some other shit, but nobody out there seems 
to think like we do.

So I ended up with the simplest way of doing it which I'll never regret.

Simply mirror your configuration files into your home directory, e.g. 
~/etc/hostname/

Here's a fancy tree of my mirror.

/home/vaaf/etc
+-----awad
|     +-----boot
|     |     +-----loader.conf
|     +-----etc
|     |     +-----aliases
|     |     +-----cvsupfile
|     |     +-----group
|     |     +-----hosts
|     |     +-----inetd.conf
|     |     +-----master.passwd
|     |     +-----motd
|     |     +-----periodic.conf
|     |     +-----pf.conf
|     |     +-----rc.conf
|     |     +-----resolv.conf
|     |     +-----zlogout
|     |     +-----zshrc
|     +-----root
|     |     +-----list.txt
|     |     +-----make_ports.sh
|     |     +-----make_world.sh
|     +-----sys
|     |     +-----i386
|     |     |     +-----conf
|     |     |     |     +-----AWAD
|     +-----usr
|     |     +-----home
|     |     |     +-----johann
|     |     |     |     +-----dot.gnupg
|     |     |     |     |     +-----options
|     |     |     |     |     +-----pubring.gpg
|     |     |     |     |     +-----random_seed
|     |     |     |     |     +-----secring.gpg
|     |     |     |     |     +-----trustdb.gpg
|     |     |     |     +-----dot.gpgrc
|     |     |     |     +-----dot.irssi
|     |     |     |     |     +-----blow.ini
|     |     |     |     |     +-----config
|     |     |     |     |     +-----look.theme
|     |     |     |     |     +-----modules
|     |     |     |     |     |     +-----libfish.so
|     |     |     |     |     +-----scripts
|     |     |     |     |     |     +-----autorun.tgz
|     |     |     |     |     |     +-----dns.pl
|     |     |     |     |     |     +-----url_log.pl
|     |     |     |     +-----dot.mailcap
|     |     |     |     +-----dot.muttrc
|     |     |     |     +-----dot.signature
|     |     +-----local
|     |     |     +-----etc
|     |     |     |     +-----amavisd.conf
|     |     |     |     +-----apache2
|     |     |     |     |     +-----httpd.conf
|     |     |     |     |     +-----virtual.conf
|     |     |     |     +-----bitlbee
|     |     |     |     |     +-----bitlbee.conf
|     |     |     |     |     +-----vaaf.accounts
|     |     |     |     |     +-----vaaf.nicks
|     |     |     |     +-----clamd.conf
|     |     |     |     +-----courier-imap
|     |     |     |     |     +-----authdaemonrc
|     |     |     |     |     +-----authmysqlrc
|     |     |     |     |     +-----imapd
|     |     |     |     |     +-----imapd-ssl
|     |     |     |     |     +-----imapd.cnf
|     |     |     |     |     +-----pop3d
|     |     |     |     |     +-----pop3d-ssl
|     |     |     |     |     +-----pop3d.cnf
|     |     |     |     +-----freshclam.conf
|     |     |     |     +-----mail
|     |     |     |     |     +-----spamassassin
|     |     |     |     |     |     +-----init.pre
|     |     |     |     |     |     +-----local.cf
|     |     |     |     +-----nessus
|     |     |     |     |     +-----nessusd.conf
|     |     |     |     +-----php.ini
|     |     |     |     +-----postfix
|     |     |     |     |     +-----main.cf
|     |     |     |     |     +-----v_alias.cf
|     |     |     |     |     +-----v_domain.cf
|     |     |     |     |     +-----v_mailbox.cf
|     |     |     |     +-----procmailrc
|     |     |     |     +-----screenrc
|     |     |     |     +-----snort.conf
|     |     |     +-----lib
|     |     |     |     +-----sasl2
|     |     |     |     |     +-----smtpd.conf
|     |     |     +-----share
|     |     |     |     +-----vim
|     |     |     |     |     +-----vimrc
|     +-----var
|     |     +-----named
|     |     |     +-----etc
|     |     |     |     +-----namedb
|     |     |     |     |     +-----db.mydomain.com
|     |     |     |     |     +-----named.conf
+-----amra
|     +-----etc
|     |     +-----cvsupfile
|     |     +-----group
|     |     +-----master.passwd
|     |     +-----motd
|     |     +-----periodic.conf
|     |     +-----rc.conf
|     |     +-----zlogout
|     |     +-----zshrc
|     +-----usr
|     |     +-----home
|     |     |     +-----mujahid
|     |     |     |     +-----ice
|     |     |     |     |     +-----ezstream.xml
|     |     |     |     |     +-----m3u.sh
|     |     |     |     |     +-----shuffle.py
|     |     +-----local
|     |     |     +-----etc
|     |     |     |     +-----apache2
|     |     |     |     |     +-----httpd.conf
|     |     |     |     |     +-----virtual.conf
|     |     |     |     +-----auth
|     |     |     |     |     +-----collabo.auth
|     |     |     |     |     +-----uklart.auth
|     |     |     |     +-----collabo.auth
|     |     |     |     +-----icecast.xml
|     |     |     |     +-----php.ini
|     |     |     |     +-----pure-ftpd.conf
|     |     |     |     +-----pure-ftpd.passwd
|     |     |     |     +-----sc_serv.conf
|     |     |     |     +-----screenrc
|     |     |     +-----share
|     |     |     |     +-----vim
|     |     |     |     |     +-----vimrc
+-----wata
|     +-----boot
|     |     +-----grub
|     |     |     +-----menu.lst
|     |     +-----loader.conf
|     +-----etc
|     |     +-----X11
|     |     |     +-----xorg.conf
|     |     +-----cvsupfile
|     |     +-----hosts
|     |     +-----login.conf
|     |     +-----master.passwd
|     |     +-----rc.conf
|     |     +-----resolv.conf
|     |     +-----sudoers
|     |     +-----usbd.conf
|     |     +-----zlogout
|     |     +-----zshrc
|     +-----mnt
|     |     +-----bcm5751.zip
|     +-----sys
|     |     +-----i386
|     |     |     +-----conf
|     |     |     |     +-----WATA
|     +-----usr
|     |     +-----local
|     |     |     +-----share
|     |     |     |     +-----vim
|     |     |     |     |     +-----vimrc

I have yet to make a script to automatically mirror files that I edit,
I don't see no need to really. Manual copying works fine.

I can restore my entire system setup with a simple cp command and that's it.

Doesn't get more simple than this.

This is also a chance for you to get your configuration files straight.
Make them look nice and all that.

I always use a neatly designed header like this one:

#####  Company FreeBSD/i386
#####  60.24N+5.19E host.name.com

The number being the latitude and longitude of your box.

I hope it works for you :)

Take care!

At 15:47 04.02.2006, you wrote:
>I'd like to build and tune one server and then create an iso of the 
>configuration so that I can easily build additional machines in the 
>same configuration. I've tried googling but perhaps I just haven't 
>used the right search parameters to find the info I'm looking for. I 
>have figured out being able to create the iso using mkisofs and 
>creating a bootable disk. I'm just not sure what part of the file 
>system I need and then how to go about building the new machines 
>once I have the disk ready.
>
>Can anyone point me to some sites or if it's easier than that, just 
>give me some idea?
>
>Thanks!
>Steve
>
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