[K12OSN] Documenting the Network

[Les Mikesell]

Rob Owens wrote:
> On Thu, Mar 19, 2009 at 12:13:11PM -0400, j.w. thomas wrote:
>> How do you guys document your networking environment?
>>
>> I am the sole admin of a small system, and it just seems bad practice  
>> for the sole repository of all that info to be my head.  For one, my  
>> head is notoriously unreliable for that sort of thing.  Also, it can't  
>> be backed up.
>>
>> Right now I have a small setup with a firewall, an ltsp server, five  
>> clients, a wireless connection, and a stand-alone workstation.  More to  
>> come later (printers, more services, etc).
>>
>> I'm planning to fire up an svn server to use as a repo for all the /etc  
>> directories on all the machines.  I also have a text file with  
>> descriptions of every technical detail I could think to put in it:
>> equipment specs, models, location, function, wireless encryption keys,  
>> power feeds (i.e., ups or not), ip addresses, services, etc.
>>
> I'd use BackupPC to backup all the /etc directories (and /usr/local and
> whatever else is important to you).

I like the idea of subversion.  I've used CVS in the past for my dns 
files, cisco configs that are tftp'd to a linux server and a few other 
odds and ends.  It is really nice when combined with viewvc (a web 
interface that will let you browse either cvs or subversion histories, 
see side-by-side color-coded diffs of any 2 versions, etc.).

However it always seemed like too much trouble to turn an existing 
directory tree (/etc) into a checked-out svn workspace.  Maybe that has 
gotten easier with the current version and the sparse checkout options, 
though.  Has anyone come up with a way to make the files from similar 
machines appear as branches with a common history?

-- 
   Les Mikesell
     lesmikesell at gmail.com