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slack(8)		    System Manager's Manual		      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 up-
	      dated)

       --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 re-
       quire 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)

Want to link to this manual page? Use this URL:
<https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=slack&sektion=8&manpath=FreeBSD+Ports+14.3.quarterly>

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