Yeah I hear ya. Apt solves the ssh push problem (which is what Eric was using). Matt can better explain why we went with debian preseeds over FAI/CFEngine. There were some major problems with CFEngine that kept us away from it. Chad Walstrom wrote: >> We have ssh as a fail safe system.. Again, all ssh root keys are >> managed via a package (ima-ssh-rootkeys) and are auto updated on >> every machine on the network nightly. Apt roxxors my soxxors. >> > > ssh and packages are O.K., but sometimes you don't want to have to > install packages just to manage configuration files. Maybe you want > to change a single line in a config file on only the machines that are > part of the fileserver class. cfengine can do that for you. > > What if the workstation is off the network and unable to communicate > with the master server, where it retrieves its data? When the > connectivity is re-established, cfengine can query the server for > changes and apply them on its own time. Most ssh setups are generally > server-to-client pushes. This doesn't always work, and you'll end up > having to push out changes once again. > > Still, these are just logistical hurdles. You can get a nice little > setup with ssh and packages, as Nate has shown. Visit to the cfengine > site for the true advocacy information. > > -- ============================================== Nate Sanders nate at ima.umn.edu Associate Systems Manager (612) 624 - 4353 http://www.ima.umn.edu/ ============================================== Institute for Mathematics and its Applications University of Minnesota 400 Lind Hall, 207 Church St. SE Minneapolis, MN 55455-0463 ==============================================