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Cross-Distro Remote Package Administration?

tobiasly writes "I administer several Ubuntu desktops and numerous CentOS servers. One of the biggest headaches is keeping them up-to-date with each distro's latest bugfix and security patches. I currently have to log in to each system, run the appropriate apt-get or yum command to list available updates, determine which ones I need, then run the appropriate install commands. I'd love to have a distro-independent equivalent of the Red Hat Network where I could do all of this remotely using a web-based interface. PackageKit seems to have solved some of the issues regarding cross-distro package maintenance, but their FAQ explicitly states that remote administration is not a goal of their project. Has anyone put together such a system?"

7 of 209 comments (clear)

  1. Great! by Frogbert · · Score: 4, Funny

    I for one look forward to the rational, well thought out, debate on the various pros and cons of linux distributions and their package managers, that this story will become.

    1. Re:Great! by Opportunist · · Score: 2, Funny

      Dunno, should this be modded funny, redundant or flamebait? :)

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  2. Re:Puppet or CFEngine + Version Control by walt-sjc · · Score: 2, Funny

    I don't want the Swedish chef Bork Bork Borking up the systems...

  3. Re:Can You Script? by magarity · · Score: 2, Funny

    If your internet connection goes down, where will you get updates from?
     
    Congrats, you just volunteered to mail him the floppies.

  4. Re:In centos you could try by supernova_hq · · Score: 2, Funny

    Thank You so much for responding to my post by simply taking what I said and re-wording it...

  5. Re:Remote admin of a UNIX box? by Bungie · · Score: 2, Funny

    Actually, I remember reading a year or so ago about a program that would allow you to run a specified command via ssh on a list of machines. You could do this with a shell-script (pass arguments), but I think the program also did it all in parallel and showed some output as well.

    I think many rootkits do the same thing. You can run a command (via irc) on a list of machines and return output to the channel (in parallel). The best update and control solution is to rootkit your own boxes and maintain them via IRC. Problem solved.

    --
    The clash of honour calls, to stand when others fall.
  6. Re:Exactly... by ddusza · · Score: 1, Funny

    You might as well beat your chest and yell "RTFM N00B".

    I always do, but I get funny looks from people walking by my office, and a message from my manager....

    --
    Don't fear the penguins