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Date:      Wed, 4 Jan 2012 14:55:27 -0800
From:      Devin Teske <devin.teske@fisglobal.com>
To:        Ron McDowell <rcm@fuzzwad.org>
Cc:        Marcel Moolenaar <marcel@xcllnt.net>, freebsd-sysinstall@freebsd.org, Lawrence Stewart <lstewart@freebsd.org>
Subject:   Re: sysinstall as a post-install tool
Message-ID:  <B076D94E-8979-4EC3-B56C-664AD7D93AC7@fisglobal.com>
In-Reply-To: <4F03C709.9@fuzzwad.org>
References:  <CAF6rxgnVAbRd-mrN%2BykDmXafPzQRJgaw9q=%2Bi%2BXqTzL26gWh5Q@mail.gmail.com> <F80CD5E2-0CC0-4872-9B25-72C4ABCC5F42@xcllnt.net> <4F03AF24.70102@freebsd.org> <4F03BE93.9040708@fuzzwad.org> <CAF6rxgnzLEfRr3jr1GiGC=zsmDFjwfd3r%2B_UVSEQnCudrNETgQ@mail.gmail.com> <964E978A-C016-4A53-A034-8959140CDF68@fisglobal.com> <4F03C709.9@fuzzwad.org>

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On Jan 3, 2012, at 7:27 PM, Ron McDowell wrote:

>=20
>=20
> Devin Teske wrote:
>>=20
>>=20
>> On Jan 3, 2012, at 6:57 PM, Eitan Adler wrote:
>>=20
>>> On Tue, Jan 3, 2012 at 9:50 PM, Ron McDowell <rcm@fuzzwad.org> wrote:
>>>> I [Ron] just added myself to the sysinstall list.
>>>=20
>>> Good
>>>>=20
>>>> What I envision is a text based system administration suite that will
>>>> [hopefully] do everything that the "Configure" option on the top level=
 of
>>>> the sysinstall menu does.  I see it as being part of the base OS, such=
 that
>>>> once one has rebooted from HD after the install and logged in as root =
[or
>>>> user+su], a menu can be brought up by entering "sysadmin" or such.  Do=
es
>>>> "sysadmin" work for a name?  I kinda like it.
>>>=20
>>> Do you plan on this tool being run "late in the game" after the system
>>> has been used for a while or this is a "welcome new user" only tool?
>>>=20
>>>> I plan on basically going through the sysinstall post-configuration me=
nu:
>>>=20
>>> [snip configure menu]
>>>=20
>>> Do you plan on making this a C based program or a shell script?
>>=20
>> If he plans on making it sh(1) based, then I wonder if he would be inter=
ested in starting with host-setup as a very solid and robust substrate.
>>=20
>> I was just about to start building the port Makefile and getting host-se=
tup to fill this exact need.
>>=20
>> We @vicor have been working on this exact thing for years now.
>>=20
>> I feel that it would be a *very* simple task to add the remaining [missi=
ng] menu items considering how hard it was to simply get this far.
>>=20
>> host-setup ... (we can change the name; I'll have to sleep on "sysadmin"=
 -- leaning more toward perhaps "sysconfig" ... it's the logical name consi=
dering we're taking the "Config[uration]" menu from "sys[install]", so the =
name ought to perhaps be "sysconfig") ... is a multi-thousand-line shell sc=
ript that uses a very full-proof approach to solving the problem. It's unbr=
eakable in its current form and has undergone hundreds of hours of testing =
(it's current version is 4.0.1).
>>=20
>> Oh, and it's BSD Licensed.
>>=20
>> Oh, and it's FreeBSD specific (originally works on both Linux and FreeBS=
D, but we've stripped the Linux stuff to make it FreeBSD-clean).
>>=20
>>=20
>>>=20
>>>> and as close as reasonable, stick to the same task flow.  I plan on wr=
iting
>>>> it against 10-current and look at back-porting to 9 after it's somewhat
>>>> stable.
>>>=20
>>=20
>> If you use host-setup as a substrate, it works on FreeBSD-4.x up to 10-C=
URRENT (tested 4.8, 4.11, 8.1, 9-CURRENT and 10-CURRENT).
>>=20
>>=20
>>> I'd like to work with you on this, especially w.r.t to ensuring that
>>> it meets the requirements for entering the base system.
>>>=20
>>=20
>> I too would like to work with you on this, regardless of language used o=
r whether you use host-setup as a substrate or not.
>>=20
>> We also maintain a custom version of sysinstall in-house. So we're intim=
ately involved with all of the code.
>>=20
>>=20
>>>> One new, important, and not-so-difficult task will be: on exiting, che=
ck the
>>>> sanity of /etc/rc.conf and complain if needed, but allow the user to
>>>> override the safety-switch if foot-shooting is really requested.  :)  =
I'm a
>>>> firm believer of not disallowing anything.
>>=20
>>> Good on both counts.
>>=20
>> host-setup actually leverages the power and safety of my sysrc(8) utilit=
y (just added to ports tree as sysutils/sysrc).
>>=20
>> In fact, sysrc was written as a test-script solely to feed back into hos=
t-setup so that we could replace sysinstall's Configure menu. We're just no=
t there with all the menu items (but we've got the most important ones -- I=
MHO -- and made them rock-stable).
>> --=20
>> Devin
>>=20
>> Links:
>> http://druidbsd.sourceforge.net/
>> http://druidbsd.sourceforge.net/download/host-setup.txt
>> http://druidbsd.sourceforge.net/download/sysrc.txt
>> _____________
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tial. If you are not the intended recipient, please: (i) delete the message=
 and all copies; (ii) do not disclose, distribute or use the message in any=
 manner; and (iii) notify the sender immediately. In addition, please be aw=
are that any message addressed to our domain is subject to archiving and re=
view by persons other than the intended recipient. Thank you.
>=20
> Devin, thanks, this looks very intriguing, pulling it down now.  And sysc=
onfig is a good name, better than sysadmin.


After sleeping on it, I'm actually thinking "bsdconfig" is a better name.

My reasoning is that "sysinstall" was C-based and "bsdinstall" is sh(1) bas=
ed. A "sysconfig" might imply sysinstall-roots, when in reality it's a rewr=
ite based on sh(1) and thus my reasoning is that "bsdconfig" would be a bet=
ter name.
--=20
Devin


_____________
The information contained in this message is proprietary and/or confidentia=
l. If you are not the intended recipient, please: (i) delete the message an=
d all copies; (ii) do not disclose, distribute or use the message in any ma=
nner; and (iii) notify the sender immediately. In addition, please be aware=
 that any message addressed to our domain is subject to archiving and revie=
w by persons other than the intended recipient. Thank you.



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