RE: [gentoo-server] Ideas for a server profile?

[Patrick Lauer]

On Tue, 2006-02-28 at 13:47 +0200, Jean Blignaut wrote:
> I don't see why you'd want to have a dhcp client on a server but any
> way...
"Just in case" ... I've been almost locked out of machines because they lacked a dhcp client.
I'm not after a strictly-server-only profile, and having dhcp available
by default "makes sense"(tm) 
> How about the profile contains minimal packages like say no
> productivity/office packages, no X like you said no games (besides maybe
> game servers) basicly clear out every thing that doesn't make sence on a
> server.
Basically an independent overlay / portage tree with only minimal
package sets available?
That is difficult because then not all packages are available --> more
overlay fudgery

> A great Idea would be some thing like virtual packages with flexible use
> flags that represent use full combinations of packages on production
> servers. What I'm getting at is this: There are some greate Howto this
> with that and that articles in the gentoo sysadmin docs as well as
> www.gentoo-wiki.com why not create say -- a virtual_postfix package with
> appropriate use flags to combine say your choice of imap/pop server, db
> backend, authentication system, antivirus and spamfilters -- all in one
> package!
Ah, meta-packages ... lots of work, but that'd be really cool.

> It might even be better if such a packages default use flags are so use
> full that most would use it - a sort of standard.
How do you decide that? You can only do a survey and ask for useflags, then hope people don't have to change too much ...

> a nother issue I find very taxing is scanning thru config files
> during/after updates to try catch the configs that would break my setup.
> Can't we have some means to check whether or not the admin has ever
> edited a config file by hand and if so be more don't auto update but if
> so do.
In theory yes, but I'm not sure if that is reliable. Config managment is
tricky on gentoo and should be extended.
> I guess I'm getting at a more complex config management system.
> It might also have helped if config files where more standard - say if
> they all used some vaguely similar xml format
Like, say, libconf?

Patrick
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