diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'doc/server/plugins/grouping/metadata.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/server/plugins/grouping/metadata.txt | 42 |
1 files changed, 40 insertions, 2 deletions
diff --git a/doc/server/plugins/grouping/metadata.txt b/doc/server/plugins/grouping/metadata.txt index 5a437756a..88bb0c460 100644 --- a/doc/server/plugins/grouping/metadata.txt +++ b/doc/server/plugins/grouping/metadata.txt @@ -107,6 +107,44 @@ but that is deprecated. For detailed information on client authentication see :ref:`appendix-guides-authentication` +================ +Clients Database +================ + +.. versionadded:: 1.3.0 + +It is also possible to store client records in a database rather than +writing back to ``clients.xml``. This provides several advantages: + +* ``clients.xml`` will never be written by the server, removing an + area of contention between the user and server. +* ``clients.xml`` can be removed entirely for many sites. +* The Bcfg2 client list can be queried by other machines without + obtaining and parsing ``clients.xml``. +* A single client list can be shared amongst multiple Bcfg2 servers. + +In general, storing clients in the database works almost the same as +``clients.xml``. ``groups.xml`` is parsed identically. If +``clients.xml`` is present, it is parsed, but ``<Client>`` tags in +``clients.xml`` *do not* assert client existence; they are only used +to set client options *if* the client exists (in the database). That +is, the two purposes of ``clients.xml`` -- to track which clients +exist, and to set client options -- have been separated. + +With the improvements in ``groups.xml`` parsing in 1.3, client groups +can now be set directly in ``groups.xml`` with ``<Client>`` tags. (See +:ref:`metadata-client-tag` for more details.) As a result, +``clients.xml`` is only necessary if you need to set +options (e.g., aliases, floating clients, per-client passwords, etc.) +on clients. + +To use the database backend instead of ``clients.xml``, set +``use_database`` in the ``[metadata]`` section of ``bcfg2.conf`` to +``true``. You will also need to configure the :ref:`Global Server +Database Settings <server-database>`. + +The ``clients.xml``-based model remains the default. + Metadata/groups.xml =================== @@ -161,8 +199,8 @@ profile group would be a member of the ``apache-server``, Client tags in ``groups.xml`` allow you to supplement the profile group declarations in ``clients.xml`` and/or client group assignments with the :ref:`server-plugins-grouping-grouppatterns` plugin. They -should be used sparingly. (They are more useful with the -:ref:`server-plugins-grouping-dbmetadata` plugin.) +should be used sparingly. (They are more useful when you are using +the database backend for client records.) You can also declare that a group should be negated; this allows you to set defaults and override them efficiently. Negation is applied |