bcfg2.conf(5) File Formats Manual bcfg2.conf(5)
NAME
bcfg2.conf - configuration parameters for Bcfg2
DESCRIPTION
bcfg2.conf includes configuration parameters for the Bcfg2 server and
client.
FILE FORMAT
The file is INI-style and consists of sections and options. A section begins with the name of the sections in square brackets and continues
until the next section begins.
Options are specified in the form 'name = value'.
The file is line-based each newline-terminated line represents either a comment, a section name or an option.
Any line beginning with a hash (#) is ignored, as are lines containing only whitespace.
SERVER OPTIONS
These options are only necessary on the Bcfg2 server. They are specified in the [server] section of the configuration file.
repository
Specifies the path to the Bcfg2 repository containing all of the configuration specifications. The repository should be created
using the 'bcfg2-admin init' command.
filemonitor
The file monitor used to watch for changes in the repository. Values of 'gamin', 'fam', or 'pseudo' are valid.
listen_all
This setting tells the server to listen on all available interfaces. The default is to only listen on those interfaces specified by
the bcfg2 setting in the components section of bcfg2.conf.
plugins
A comma-delimited list of enabled server plugins. Currently available plugins are:
o Account The account plugin manages authentication data, including:
* /etc/passwd
* /etc/group
* /etc/security/limits.conf
* /etc/sudoers
* /root/.ssh/authorized_keys
o Actions
Action entries are commands that are executed either before bundle installation, after bundle installation or both. If exit status
is observed, a failing pre-action will cause no modification of the enclosing bundle to be performed; all entries included in that
bundle will not be modified. Failing actions are reported through Bcfg2's reporting system, so they can be centrally observed.
o BB The BB plugin maps users to machines and metadata to machines. (experimental)
o Base A structure plugin that provides the ability to add lists of unrelated entries into client configuration entry inventories.
Base works much like Bundler in its file format. This structure plugin is good for the pile of independent configs needed for most
actual systems.
o Bundler Bundler is used to describe groups of inter-dependent configuration entries, such as the combination of packages, configu-
ration files, and service activations that comprise typical Unix daemons. Bundles are used to add groups of configuration entries to
the inventory of client configurations, as opposed to describing particular versions of those entries.
o Bzr The Bzr plugin allows you to track changes to your Bcfg2 repository using a GNU Bazaar version control backend. Currently, it
enables you to get revision information out of your repository for reporting purposes.
o Cfg The Cfg plugin provides a repository to describe configuration file contents for clients. In its simplest form, the Cfg repos-
itory is just a directory tree modeled off of the directory tree on your client machines.
o Cvs The Cvs plugin allows you to track changes to your Bcfg2 repository using a Concurrent version control backend. Currently, it
enables you to get revision information out of your repository for reporting purposes. (experimental)
o Darcs The Darcs plugin allows you to track changes to your Bcfg2 repository using a Darcs version control backend. Currently, it
enables you to get revision information out of your repository for reporting purposes. (experimental)
o DBStats Direct to database statistics plugin. (0.9.6 and later)
o Decisions The Decisions plugin has support for a centralized set of per-entry installation decisions. This approach is needed when
particular changes are deemed "high risk"; this gives the ability to centrally specify these changes, but only install them on
clients when administrator supervision is available. (0.9.6 and later)
o Deps The Deps plugin allows you to make a series of assertions like "Package X requires Package Y (and optionally also Package Z
etc.)
o Editor The Editor plugin allows you to partially manage configuration for a file. Its use is not recommended and not well docu-
mented.
o Fossil The Fossil plugin allows you to track changes to your Bcfg2 repository using a Fossil SCM version control backend. Cur-
rently, it enables you to get revision information out of your repository for reporting purposes.
o Git The Git plugin allows you to track changes to your Bcfg2 repository using a Git version control backend. Currently, it enables
you to get revision information out of your repository for reporting purposes.
o GroupPatterns The GroupPatterns plugin is a connector that can assign clients group membership based on patterns in client host-
names.
o Hg The Hg plugin allows you to track changes to your Bcfg2 repository using a Mercurial version control backend. Currently, it
enables you to get revision information out of your repository for reporting purposes. (experimental)
o Hostbase The Hostbase plugin is an IP management system built on top of Bcfg2.
o Metadata The Metadata plugin is the primary method of specifying Bcfg2 server metadata.
o NagiosGen NagiosGen is a Bcfg2 plugin that dynamically generates Nagios configuration files based on Bcfg2 data.
o Ohai The Ohai plugin is used to detect information about the client operating system. The data is reported back to the server
using JSON. (experimental)
o POSIXCompat The POSIXCompat plugin provides a compatibility layer which turns new-style (1.0) POSIX entries into old-style entries
which are compatible with previous releases.
o Packages The Packages plugin is an alternative to Pkgmgr for specifying package entries for clients. Where Pkgmgr explicitly spec-
ifies package entry information, Packages delegates control of package version information to the underlying package manager,
installing the latest version available from through those channels.
o Pkgmgr The Pkgmgr plugin resolves the Abstract Configuration Entity "Package" to a package specification that the client can use
to detect, verify and install the specified package.
o Probes The Probes plugin gives you the ability to gather information from a client machine before you generate its configuration.
This information can be used with the various templating systems to generate configuration based on the results.
o Properties The Properties plugin is a connector plugin that adds information from properties files into client metadata instances.
(1.0 and later)
o Rules The Rules plugin resolves Abstract Configuration Entities to literal configuration entries suitable for the client drivers
to consume.
o SGenshi (Deprecated) See Bundler.
o Snapshots The Snapshots plugin stores various aspects of a client's state when the client checks in to the server.
o SSHbase The SSHbase generator plugin manages ssh host keys (both v1 and v2) for hosts. It also manages the ssh_known_hosts file.
It can integrate host keys from other management domains and similarly export its keys.
o Svn The Svn plugin allows you to track changes to your Bcfg2 repository using a Subversion backend. Currently, it enables you to
get revision information out of your repository for reporting purposes.
o TCheetah The TCheetah plugin allows you to use the cheetah templating system to create files. It also allows you to include the
results of probes executed on the client in the created files.
o TGenshi The TGenshi plugin allows you to use the Genshi templating system to create files. It also allows you to include the
results of probes executed on the client in the created files.
o Trigger Trigger is a plugin that calls external scripts when clients are configured.
prefix Specifies a prefix if the Bcfg2 installation isn't placed in the default location (eg. /usr/local).
MDATA OPTIONS
These options affect the default metadata settings for Paths with type='file'.
owner Global owner for Paths (defaults to root)
group Global group for Paths (defaults to root)
perms Global permissions for Paths (defaults to 644)
paranoid
Global paranoid settings for Paths (defaults to false)
sensitive
Global sensitive settings for Paths (defaults to false)
CLIENT OPTIONS
These options only affect client functionality, specified in the [client] section.
decision
Specify the server decision list mode (whitelist or blacklist). (This setting will be ignored if the client is called with the -f
option.)
drivers
Specify tool driver set to use. This option can be used to explicitly specify the client tool drivers you want to use when the
client is run.
paranoid
Run the client in paranoid mode.
STATISTICS OPTIONS
Server-only, specified in the [statistics] section. These options control the statistics collection functionality of the server.
database_engine
The database engine used by the statistics module. One of either 'postgresql', 'mysql', 'sqlite3', or 'ado_mssql'.
database_name
The name of the database to use for statistics data. If 'database_engine' is set to 'sqlite3' this is a file path to sqlite file and
defaults to $REPOSITORY_DIR/etc/brpt.sqlite
database_user
User for database connections. Not used for sqlite3.
database_password
Password for database connections. Not used for sqlite3.
database_host
Host for database connections. Not used for sqlite3.
database_port
Port for database connections. Not used for sqlite3.
time_zone
Specify a time zone other than that used on the system. (Note that this will cause the bcfg2 server to log messages in this time
zone as well).
COMMUNICATION OPTIONS
Specified in the [communication] section. These options define settings used for client-server communication.
ca The path to a file containing the CA certificate. This file is required on the server, and optional on clients. However, if the cac-
ert is not present on clients, the server cannot be verified.
certificate
The path to a file containing a PEM formatted certificate which signs the key with the ca certificate. This setting is required on
the server in all cases, and required on clients if using client certificates.
key Specifies the path to a file containing the SSL Key. This is required on the server in all cases, and required on clients if using
client certificates.
password
Required on both the server and clients. On the server, sets the password clients need to use to communicate. On a client, sets the
password to use to connect to the server.
protocol
Communication protocol to use. Defaults to xmlrpc/ssl.
retries
A client-only option. Number of times to retry network communication.
serverCommonNames
A client-only option. A colon-separated list of Common Names the client will accept in the SSL certificate presented by the server.
user A client-only option. The UUID of the client.
PARANOID OPTIONS
These options allow for finer-grained control of the paranoid mode on the Bcfg2 client. They are specified in the [paranoid] section of the
configuration file.
path Custom path for backups created in paranoid mode. The default is in /var/cache/bcfg2.
max_copies
Specify a maximum number of copies for the server to keep when running in paranoid mode. Only the most recent versions of these
copies will be kept.
COMPONENT OPTIONS
Specified in the [components] section.
bcfg2 URL of the server. On the server this specifies which interface and port the server listens on. On the client, this specifies where
the client will attempt to contact the server. eg: bcfg2 = https://10.3.1.6:6789
encoding
Text encoding of configuration files. Defaults to UTF-8.
LOGGING OPTIONS
Specified in the [logging] section. These options control the server logging functionality.
path Server log file path.
SNAPSHOTS OPTIONS
Specified in the [snapshots] section. These options control the server snapshots functionality.
driver sqlite
database The name of the database to use for statistics data. eg: $REPOSITORY_DIR/etc/bcfg2.sqlite
SEE ALSO
bcfg2(1), bcfg2-server(8)
bcfg2.conf(5)