Bcfg2

TracNav

Bcfg2 is the fifth generation of configuration management tool developed in the ​Mathematics and Computer Science Division of ​Argonne National Laboratory.

It is based on a unique operational model where the bcfg2 specification can be used to validate the states of clients (as all tools do), but can also be used to assess it's own completeness. Bcfg2 provides an objective measure of how good a job an administrator has done in specifying the configuration of client systems.

Bcfg2 has been designed from the ground up to support gentle reconciliation between the specification and current client states. Due to the rapid pace of updates on modern networks, client systems are constantly changing; Bcfg2 enables the construction of complex change management and deployment strategies.

Finally, Bcfg2 is designed to gracefully cope with manual system modifications, and a number of tools are available to aid in this process. Bcfg2 is built to help administrators construct an accurate, comprehensive specification.

Bcfg2 is fairly portable. It has been successfully run on:

• Debian (and Ubuntu)
• RPM-based Linux distributions (Redhat, SuSE, SLES, RHEL, Centos, and Mandrake)
• Solaris
• FreeBSD
• MacOSXFootNote(POSIX File Support Only)?

Bcfg2 helps system administrators produce a consistent, reproducable, and verifible description of their environment, and offers visualization and reporting tools to aid in day-to-day administrative tasks.

FootNote?