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Date:      Sat, 2 Jun 2007 12:43:24 +0200
From:      Thierry Lacoste <lacoste@miage.univ-paris12.fr>
To:        freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Cc:        Maxim Khitrov <mkhitrov@gmail.com>
Subject:   Re: Recommendations for config file revision control
Message-ID:  <200706021243.25325.lacoste@miage.univ-paris12.fr>
In-Reply-To: <26ddd1750706011635s285860c1p57c360af69596ecc@mail.gmail.com>
References:  <26ddd1750706011227g224eaa1dh93233400c704595e@mail.gmail.com> <1d3ed48c0706011603k5948510ctb49e399aa2ace22f@mail.gmail.com> <26ddd1750706011635s285860c1p57c360af69596ecc@mail.gmail.com>

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Do you have an idea of how to manage symlinks with jailed software?

Thierry.

On Saturday 02 June 2007 01:35, Maxim Khitrov wrote:
> On 6/1/07, Kevin Downey <redchin@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On 6/1/07, Maxim Khitrov <mkhitrov@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > Hi everyone,
> > >
> > > I'm currently setting up a new server, and I'd like to keep track of
> > > all changes made to various config files (in /etc, /usr/local/etc, and
> > > a few other places perhaps). My first thought was to setup a
> > > subversion server which would contain the partial directory structure
> > > that matches that of the server's starting at /. It would contain
> > > versioned copies of all the configuration files that I want to keep
> > > track of in their appropriate locations. What I would do then is write
> > > a hook for subversion that will issue an automatic export command
> > > (don't want .svn directories everywhere) every time a commit is made
> > > to the repository. So to edit some configuration file I would first
> > > checkout a working copy of the repository to some other location, make
> > > the change and commit it. The server would be automatically updated
> > > with the new file and I would be able to keep track of every change.
> > >
> > > This seems like a decent strategy to me, but before I go off writing
> > > the scripts and setting up the server I wanted to ask what you guys
> > > might be using to keep track of the server configuration (backups
> > > don't count)? Is there an easier way of doing the same thing, for
> > > example, eliminating the need to do a working copy checkout first?
> > > Perhaps a way to monitor certain files for changes, and automatically
> > > commit them every time a change is saved. I'd be glad to hear any
> > > suggestions you might have in this regard. If possible, I'd like all
> > > the versioned files to contain an id string, so that it's easy to
> > > determine when the file was last changed and by whom, but this is
> > > optional. For the most part I just need a way of going back to
> > > previous versions.
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > > Maxim Khitrov
> >
> > What is the objection to having the metadata directories (.svn)
> > everywhere?
>
> Well to be honest, I just really don't like that design. I think the
> metadata should be separated out from the data, and placing .svn
> directories into each directory of the project seems like a bad idea
> to me. I understand why it was done this way, but I wish that some
> extra effort was put in to consolidate all that information into
> perhaps a single .svn directory in the root of the project. That, and
> since they keep copies of the original files it also creates
> additional storage requirements, but for storing configuration files I
> don't really care.
>
> I did just think of another thing I could do. What if I create a new
> directory on the server, and move all configuration files from their
> original location to this directory. I then make then make it into an
> svn working directory, and in place of the original files put symlinks
> that point to the corresponding file in the working directory. This
> would mean that I no longer have .svn directories all over the file
> system, there is just one working directory that is separate from
> everything else. Instead of an export operation I could have the hook
> script do an update, and this would also give me a rather simple way
> of editing the files locally on the server (plus it has the advantage
> of quick access to all important files without having to constantly
> move from /etc to /usr/local/etc).
>
> Does this seem like a decent idea to try and do? Might some software
> have a problem with its configuration file being a symlink to some
> other location?
>
> > devel/bazaar-ng is rather nice, and distributed vcs is very flexible.
>
> Will take a look at this as well, thanks.
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