From 9a66c62ea3104c434f37027dbea9cf922cc9634b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Joey Hess Date: Sat, 19 Apr 2014 15:45:27 -0400 Subject: add basic front page --- doc/README.mdwn | 105 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ doc/index.mdwn | 8 +++++ 2 files changed, 113 insertions(+) create mode 100644 doc/README.mdwn create mode 100644 doc/index.mdwn (limited to 'doc') diff --git a/doc/README.mdwn b/doc/README.mdwn new file mode 100644 index 00000000..b870c9ec --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/README.mdwn @@ -0,0 +1,105 @@ +This is a configuration management system using Haskell and Git. + +Propellor enures that the system it's run against satisfies a list of +properties, taking action as necessary when a property is not yet met. + +Propellor is configured via a git repository, which typically lives +in ~/.propellor/. The git repository contains a config.hs file, +and also the entire source code to propellor. + +You typically want to have the repository checked out on a laptop, in order +to make changes and push them out to hosts. Each host will also have a +clone of the repository, and in that clone "make" can be used to build and +run propellor. This can be done by a cron job (which propellor can set up), +or a remote host can be triggered to update by running propellor on your +laptop: propellor --spin $host + +Properties are defined using Haskell. Edit config.hs to get started. +For API documentation, see + +There is no special language as used in puppet, chef, ansible, etc.. just +the full power of Haskell. Hopefully that power can be put to good use in +making declarative properties that are powerful, nicely idempotent, and +easy to adapt to a system's special needs. + +Also avoided is any form of node classification. Ie, which hosts are part +of which classes and share which configuration. It might be nice to use +reclass[1], but then again a host is configured using simply haskell code, +and so it's easy to factor out things like classes of hosts as desired. + +## quick start + +1. Get propellor installed + `cabal install propellor` + or + `apt-get install propellor` +2. Run propellor for the first time. It will set up a `~/.propellor/` git + repository for you. +3. `cd ~/.propellor/`; use git to push the repository to a central + server (github, or your own git server). Configure that central + server as the origin remote of the repository. +4. If you don't have a gpg private key, generate one: `gpg --gen-key` +5. Run: `propellor --add-key $KEYID` +6. Edit `~/.propellor/config.hs`, and add a host you want to manage. + You can start by not adding any properties, or only a few. +7. Pick a host and run: `propellor --spin $HOST` +8. Now you have a simple propellor deployment, but it doesn't do + much to the host yet, besides installing propellor. + + So, edit `~/.propellor/config.hs` to configure the host (maybe + start with a few simple properties), and re-run step 7. + Repeat until happy and move on to the next host. :) +9. To move beyond manually running `propellor --spin` against hosts + when you change their properties, add a property to your hosts + like: `Cron.runPropellor "30 * * * *"` + + Now they'll automatically update every 30 minutes, and you can + `git commit -S` and `git push` changes that affect any number of + hosts. +10. Write some neat new properties and send patches to ! + +## security + +Propellor's security model is that the hosts it's used to deploy are +untrusted, and that the central git repository server is untrusted too. + +The only trusted machine is the laptop where you run `propellor --spin` +to connect to a remote host. And that one only because you have a ssh key +or login password to the host. + +Since the hosts propellor deploys are not trusted by the central git +repository, they have to use git:// or http:// to pull from the central +git repository, rather than ssh://. + +So, to avoid a MITM attack, propellor checks that any commit it fetches +from origin is gpg signed by a trusted gpg key, and refuses to deploy it +otherwise. + +That is only done when privdata/keyring.gpg exists. To set it up: + + gpg --gen-key # only if you don't already have a gpg key + propellor --add-key $MYKEYID + +In order to be secure from the beginning, when `propellor --spin` is used +to bootstrap propellor on a new host, it transfers the local git repositry +to the remote host over ssh. After that, the remote host knows the +gpg key, and will use it to verify git fetches. + +Since the propoellor git repository is public, you can't store +in cleartext private data such as passwords, ssh private keys, etc. + +Instead, `propellor --spin $host` looks for a +`~/.propellor/privdata/$host.gpg` file and if found decrypts it and sends +it to the remote host using ssh. This lets a remote host know its own +private data, without seeing all the rest. + +To securely store private data, use: `propellor --set $host $field` +The field name will be something like 'Password "root"'; see PrivData.hs +for available fields. + +## debugging + +Set `PROPELLOR_DEBUG=1` to make propellor print out all the commands it runs +and any other debug messages that Properties choose to emit. + +[1] http://reclass.pantsfullofunix.net/ diff --git a/doc/index.mdwn b/doc/index.mdwn new file mode 100644 index 00000000..0d2b40b6 --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/index.mdwn @@ -0,0 +1,8 @@ +[[!meta title="propellor: property-based host configuration management in haskell"]] + +[[!sidebar content=""" +[[install]] +[[todo]] +"""]] + +[[!inline raw=yes README.mdwn]] -- cgit v1.2.3