[rt-users] Using RT to track system changes..

[Glenn Sieb]

At 11:24 PM 11/2/2002 -0600, Dustin Puryear wrote:
>We are looking at RT for use in both tracking client and internal 
>technical issues as well as tracking changes that we make to systems. The 
>first use is obviously what RT was designed to do. As for tracking system 
>changes, that is another matter altogether. Essentially, we would like to 
>have a standardized system whereby when we make a change to a server, be 
>it UNIX or Windows, we can either send an email or submit a change entry 
>via the web to a database. I'm thinking that we can RT for just this.

Hi Dustin,

This is what we do at Lumeta:

My mentor and co-worker, Tom Limoncelli, set up our systems to use 
Makefiles a lot. So we make changes to files like named.conf-master and 
dhcpd.conf and such, and do a make which then (if necessary) builds the 
actual live conf files or such, and checks things into RCS. I don't see why 
you couldn't do things like send an email to an RT queue with a copy of the 
file you just edited, or even something more advanced by tagging along the 
"diff" version of the RCS checked-in code, or what-have-you.... We run 
FreeBSD, so RCS is built-in--nothing says that CVS wouldnt' work! :)

One of the big things I've learned from Tom--Automate! Automate! Automate! 
If you have to do it once, it's a pain. If you have to do it twice, it's 
worth writing a script for! :)

Here's an example Makefile I use on my own personal server (remembering 
that tabs are necessary in Makefiles...):

$ cat /etc/Makefile


all: postfixstuff dnsstuff

postfixstuff:   /etc/postfix/transport.db /etc/postfix/aliases.db 
/etc/postfix/relocated.db /usr/local/mailman/aliases/aliases.mailman.db

/etc/postfix/aliases.db: /etc/postfix/aliases
         ci -q -l -mAliases\ update /etc/postfix/aliases
         newaliases

/usr/local/mailman/aliases/aliases.mailman.db: 
/usr/local/mailman/aliases/aliases.mailman
         ci -q -l -mMailman\ Aliases\ Update 
/usr/local/mailman/aliases/aliases.mailman
         newaliases

/etc/postfix/transport.db: /etc/postfix/transport
         ci -q -l -mPostfix\ Transport\ Update /etc/postfix/transport
         postmap /etc/postfix/transport

/etc/postfix/relocated.db: /etc/postfix/relocated
         ci -q -l -mPostfix\ Relocated\ Update /etc/postfix/relocated
         postmap /etc/postfix/relocated

dnsstuff:
         (cd /chroot/named/etc/namedb && make )

You can always add something along these lines to each of the above:

mail -s "Postfix Aliases updated" help at yourdomain.tld < /etc/postfix/aliases

Hope this helps,
Glenn


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(c)1998-2002 Glenn E. Sieb.    ICQ UIN: 300395    IRC Nick: Rainbear

"Religion is for those who do what they are told regardless of what is right.
Spirituality is for those who do what is right regardless of what
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