Does anyone know of a program for Linux systems that will maintain/update a set of file(s) on a group of around 50 PC's? The files need to be updated daily but done in an efficient manner. All PC's must be in sync with the same file from a server on the same network.

can you export it with nfs then mount it on the 50 computers or do you need 50 identical copies for some reason?

I could mount and copy with NFS but it is an old protocol and I had bad experience with it on a SCO OpenServer implemntation (we are migrating to Linux.) I want to keep the files identical on the PCs as they provide a standard set of tools and data reference for apps we develope.

I want a fast deployment method that is good at maintaining data integrity since any data contention problems could be amplified by the system that need to be maintained.

Example, our old network deploys via NFS in an automated set of bourne scripts. In some instances, the PC will have the updated file but all other files in the directory are missing (except the running program.)

I was going through some of my old threads and decided to reply to my own in case any poor soul comes across this problem. First of all the NFS issue where it wipes out the directory is due to file locking and the crappy implementation of NFS on SCO.

Secondly, if you want a data deployment system that will maintain duplicate data files on a network of systems, use Rsync. It is Andrew Tridgell's (creator of Samba as well) gift to network admins like me.

All you have to do is setup the Rsync server and then push/pull files with rsync -avz <from_file> <to_file>. I have a shell script that runs in cron on the clients and will rsync every couple of minutes. Rsync will only update modified files and uses compression while sending data. Its the best thing since sliced bread and the overhead is low on the server!