hi folks,

i'm building a test environment with ~10 VMs right now and i'm looking for a tool that can automate easy changes in config files (for example replace a parameter in a config file).

i don't want to have a huge tool that needs to be configured heavily (like puppet).

i'm thinking of something like this (and if i don't find it here, i'll probably build it myself )

a daemon runs on all clients as root and checks for changes to be made (for example a new script file lies in a predefined folder) and it runs that script as root.
then i just need a little local script that copies my scripts via scp to all VMs.

that sounds like a huge security risk (and it probably is ), but maybe there's a software out there that has those issues solved already.
and maybe you can help me find it

cheers
benni

Well, that's pretty much how Puppet & the others work.

Still, its a good exercise for you to build your own.
You're basic idea is ok; use ssh keys and you're good to go.
Consider also keeping the src files in eg cvs and getting your system to pull from there.

Python Fabric is small and easier to use. Or RunDeck,. if you prefer GUI stuff.

ok, thank you very much for your answers

i checked python fabric and that seems pretty easy. but your answer, chrism01, encouraged me to build it myself because i really just need the most basic functions (and building it myself is more fun ).

thanks again.

cheers,
benni

Could use git and hooks or any other cvs for this.

Have cronjob sync your cvs and create a hook that will roll out the changes. Or just create the whole config files within a cvs and only have a hook to restart services.