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slack(8)							      slack(8)

NAME
       slack - Sysadmin's lazy autoconfiguration kit

SYNOPSIS
       slack [option ...] [role ...]

DESCRIPTION
       slack is a master command which coordinates the activities of its back‐
       ends, which variously:

       ·      determine the list of roles to be installed on this server

       ·      create a local cached copy of the role files  from  the  central
	      repository

       ·      merge file trees from subroles into a single, unified tree

       ·      install files onto the local filesystem

       ·      run scripts before and after installation

       Options	you  give to slack will be generally passed along to the back‐
       ends where relevant.

OPTIONS
       -h, --help
	      Print a usage statement.

       --version
	      Print the version and exit.

       -v, --verbose
	      Increase verbosity.  Can be specified multiple times.

       --quiet
	      Don't be verbose (Overrides previous uses of --verbose).

       -C, --config FILE
	      Use the specfied FILE for configuration instead of the  default,
	      /etc/slack.conf.

       -s, --source DIR
	      Source directory for slack files

       -e, --rsh COMMAND
	      Remote shell for rsync

       -c, --cache DIR
	      Local cache directory for slack files

       -t, --stage DIR
	      Local staging directory for slack files

       -r, --root DIR
	      Root destination for slack files

       --no-sync
	      Skip  the	 slack-sync  step (useful if you're pushing stuff into
	      the CACHE outside slack).

       --no-files
	      Don't install any files in ROOT, but tell rsync to print what it
	      would do.

       --no-scripts
	      Don't run scripts

       -n, --dry-run
	      Same  as	--no-files  --no-scripts   (CACHE, STAGE will still be
	      updated)

       --role-list
	      Role list for slack-getroles(8).

       -b, --backup
	      Make backups of existing files in	 ROOT  that  are  overwritten.
	      This  option  defaults  to  on if it is not set to 0 in a config
	      file or disabled with --nobackup on the command line.

       --backup-dir
	      Put backups from the --backup option into this directory.

       -H, --hostname HOST
	      Pretend to be running on HOST, instead  of  the  name  given  by
	      gethostname(2).

       --preview MODE
	      Do a diff of scripts and files before running them.  MODE can be
	      one of 'simple' or 'prompt' (See PREVIEW MODES, below).

       --diff PROG
	      Use this diff program for previews.

       --sleep TIME
	      Randomly sleep between 1 and TIME seconds before starting opera‐
	      tions.  Useful in crontabs.

PREVIEW MODES
       Preview	functionality  is new in slack 0.14.0.	I haven't quite worked
       out how things will work, so this usage is somewhat subject  to	change
       in future versions.  I thought I would try it this way and see how peo‐
       ple like it.

       In 'simple' mode, after syncing and staging the files directory,	 slack
       will present a diff of the files and scripts.  In this mode, slack will
       not run the preinstall or fixfiles scripts, and because of this, it may
       provide some false output about permissions changes to files.

       In  'prompt' mode, after syncing and staging the files directory, slack
       will diff the script directory.	If there are differences,  slack  will
       present	them  to  you and ask you if you want to continue.  If you say
       no, it will exit.  If you say yes, it will stage the scripts directory,
       run the preinstall and fixfiles scripts, and then diff the files in the
       stage with those in the root.  If there	are  differences,  slack  will
       present	them  to  you and ask you if you want to continue.  If you say
       no, it will exit.  If you say yes, it will install the  files  and  run
       the postinstall script.

       So, the 'simple' mode is easy to use, and will be accurate if you don't
       use fixfiles.  The 'prompt' mode will be accurate if you use  fixfiles,
       but requires some interaction.

       Why  can't  we just have one mode that works with fixfiles and requires
       no interaction?	Well, that would require slack to understand what your
       free-form  fixfiles  executable	was  going  to	do, which would either
       require some kind of universe simulator or would require you  to	 write
       your fixfiles in a less free-form way, which would make slack less like
       slack.

EXAMPLES
       To install all the roles configured in the role list for a server:
	      slack

       To install a specific role:
	      slack rolename

       To test a new role before checking in the changes:
	      slack --source user@workstation:/home/user/.../slack rolename

       To avoid killing your master server when calling from cron:
	      slack --sleep 3600

FILES
       /etc/slack.conf

SEE ALSO
       slack.conf(5), rsync(1)

Administrative commands		  2004-10-22			      slack(8)

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