#mgmt
##mgmt by James ####Available from: ####https://github.com/purpleidea/mgmt/
####This documentation is available in: Markdown or PDF format.
####Table of Contents
- Overview
- Project description - What the project does
- Setup - Getting started with mgmt
- Usage/FAQ - Notes on usage and frequently asked questions
- Reference - Detailed reference
- Examples - Example configurations
- Development - Background on module development and reporting bugs
- Authors - Authors and contact information
##Overview
The mgmt tool is a research prototype to demonstrate next generation config
management techniques. Hopefully it will evolve into a useful, robust tool.
##Project Description
The mgmt tool is a distributed, event driven, config management tool, that supports parallel execution, and librarification to be used as the management foundation in and for, new and existing software.
##Setup
During this prototype phase, the tool can be run out of the source directory.
You'll probably want to use ./run.sh run --file examples/graph1.yaml to
get started. Beware that this can cause data loss. Understand what you're
doing first, or perform these actions in a virtual environment such as the one
provided by Oh-My-Vagrant.
##Usage and frequently asked questions (Send your questions as a patch to this FAQ! I'll review it, merge it, and respond by commit with the answer.)
###Why did you start this project?
I wanted a next generation config management solution that didn't have all of the design flaws or limitations that the current generation of tools do, and no tool existed!
###Why did you use etcd? What about consul?
Etcd and consul are both written in golang, which made them the top two contenders for my prototype. Ultimately a choice had to be made, and etcd was chosen, but it was also somewhat arbitrary. If there is available interest, good reasoning, and patches, then we would consider either switching or supporting both, but this is not a high priority at this time.
###You didn't answer my question, or I have a question!
It's best to ask on IRC to see if someone can help you. Once we get a big enough community going, we'll add a mailing list. If you don't get any response from the above, you can contact me through my technical blog and I'll do my best to help. If you have a good question, please add it as a patch to this documentation. I'll merge your question, and add a patch with the answer!
##Reference Please note that there are a number of undocumented options. For more information on these options, please view the source at: https://github.com/purpleidea/mgmt/. If you feel that a well used option needs documenting here, please patch it!
###Overview of reference
- graph.yaml: Main graph definition file.
- Command line: Command line parameters.
###graph.yaml This is the compiled graph definition file. The format is currently undocumented, but by looking through the examples/ you can probably figure out most of it, as it's fairly intuitive.
###Command line
The main interface to the mgmt tool is the command line. For the most recent
documentation, please run mgmt --help.
####--file <graph.yaml>
Point to a graph file to run.
####--converged-timeout <seconds>
Exit if the machine has converged for approximately this many seconds.
####--max-runtime <seconds>
Exit when the agent has run for approximately this many seconds. This is not
generally recommended, but may be useful for users who know what they're doing.
##Examples For example configurations, please consult the examples/ directory in the git source repository. It is available from:
https://github.com/purpleidea/mgmt/tree/master/examples
##Development
This is a project that I started in my free time in 2013. Development is driven by all of our collective patches! Dive right in, and start hacking! Please contact me if you'd like to invite me to speak about this at your event.
You can follow along on my technical blog.
To report any bugs, please file a ticket at: https://github.com/purpleidea/mgmt/issues.
##Authors
Copyright (C) 2013-2016+ James Shubin and the project contributors
Please see the AUTHORS file for more information.