From owner-freebsd-isp Wed Nov 28 9:17:46 2001 Delivered-To: freebsd-isp@freebsd.org Received: from thud.tbe.net (thud.tbe.net [209.123.109.174]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 91A0437B41B for ; Wed, 28 Nov 2001 09:17:40 -0800 (PST) Received: by thud.tbe.net (Postfix, from userid 1001) id 0456F1C9453; Wed, 28 Nov 2001 12:17:16 -0500 (EST) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by thud.tbe.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id 00BDCDD09C; Wed, 28 Nov 2001 12:17:15 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2001 12:17:15 -0500 (EST) From: "Gary D. Margiotta" To: Drew Weaver Cc: 'Enriko Groen' , 'Randy Smith' , freebsd-isp@freebsd.org Subject: RE: OT? Server Maint. Practices In-Reply-To: <75634F04BFCFD511BF69009027DC864904DBAE@mailman.thenap.com> Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: owner-freebsd-isp@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk List-ID: List-Archive: (Web Archive) List-Help: (List Instructions) List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Scripts and databases... Just about any conf file you need can be created and maintained via a web interface with a database backend holding all the info, and then have simple scripts to pull out the info and create our configs either cron'd or as you need them. Case in point, Apache and DNS. Simple database with IPs and virtualhost info, and every hour you can regenerate your entire set of zone files, the named.conf and your apache virtualhosts, and any additions via the web interface for the non-admin monkeys in the past hour will all be incorporated in the next set of changes, and you always have the option of a spot change in an emergency by running the scripts manually. I did all my stuff by hand and it took me forever, and migrating to a new server was a PITA. Now, having learned enough Perl and MySQL, I've got more time for the more important things, like Half-Life... :) -Gary "Complexity breeds bugs. Bugs prevent adoption, lack of adoption results in death. Death not good." On Wed, 28 Nov 2001, Drew Weaver wrote: > Exactly, I do the same thing. I have scripts that add special (dedicated, > static IP accouts) to radius, scripts that add zones and named.conf > designations to my dns servers and et cetera, and I make sure that even the > dial up users can do most of their maintenance themselves, IE Pop lock > clearing and et cetera. > > Always looking for more ways to give me some day dreaming time =) > > -Drew > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Enriko Groen [mailto:enriko.groen@netivity.nl] > Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2001 11:17 AM > To: 'Randy Smith'; freebsd-isp@freebsd.org > Subject: RE: OT? Server Maint. Practices > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Randy Smith [mailto:randys@amigo.net] > > > > I'm the lone Sys Admin (and company programmer) for a > > small-ish ISP in > > Colorado and maintain a dozen or so FreeBSD servers. (Email, > > Me too... (except for the Colorado thingie) > > > Web, RADIUS, > > DNS, etc.) I frequently find that I don't have enough time in > > the course of a > > day to keep track of everything that I need to with the > > servers. How do you > > all cope with the administrative load as the number of servers go up? > > Two words: Automate & Delegate > > Make scripts that save you time and make them so easy that any zerobrain in > the company can run them. > > At least... that's the way I'm trying to do it... > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > with "unsubscribe freebsd-isp" in the body of the message > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > with "unsubscribe freebsd-isp" in the body of the message > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-isp" in the body of the message