[OpenAFS] Selecting a configuration file format for OpenAFS Services

[Jason Edgecombe]

Kim Kimball wrote:
> Jason Edgecombe wrote:
>> David Boyes wrote:
>>> On 5/16/09 12:33 AM, "Jeffrey Altman" <jaltman@secure-endpoints.com> 
>>> wrote:
>>>  
>>>> OpenAFS does not have a configuration file for use by 
>>>> administrators to
>>>> configure the various services.  As a result, each time a new
>>>> configuration option is created it has been implemented either as a
>>>> compile time option or a run time option controlled by a command-line
>>>> switch.  The gatekeepers are opposed to the addition of new compile 
>>>> time
>>>> options because it puts packagers in the position of determining what
>>>> features administrators and end users are able to deploy without
>>>> building from source.  However, additional command-line parameters 
>>>> have
>>>> their own complexity issues.  For example, the current fileserver
>>>> command line has approximate forty options; many of which are no 
>>>> longer
>>>> optional for reasonable deployment configurations.
>>>>     
>>>
>>> Rather than scattering configuration around in files, I'd like to see a
>>> configuration daemon that maintained the configurations for the various
>>> pieces. A single command line argument identifying a set of 
>>> addresses to
>>> contact a config daemon would make this very simple to implement, 
>>> and the
>>> config daemon could be a simple "connect, id yourself, receive your 
>>> config,
>>> disconnect" operation. Would make configuration management a lot 
>>> simpler.
>>>
>>> If you insist on files, then all configuration should be possible 
>>> within the
>>> files, and the command line args should be frozen as is for backward
>>> compatibility. The Kerberos file format is as good as any, although not
>>> really friendly for complex parms.   
>> I'd prefer one or more files as opposed to one more daemon. You can 
>> use cfengine, puppet, etc to distribute configs.
>>
>> I suggest putting the file in the same folder as CellServDB.
>>
> the server afs/local directory might be better for server config
>
Agreed.

Jason