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System Configuration Collector (SCC) is yet another configuration collector.
It consists of a client and a server part. The client-part collects
configuration data of systems in a structured snapshot. The structure of the
snapshot allows scc to compare the new snapshot with the previous one and
detect changes in the configuration. Upon detecting changes, scc adds the
differences to a logbook. The snapshot and the logbook are converted to HTML
for local inspection. Optionally, the SCC-files can be send to a system
running the SCC server software. On the server, summaries of the SCC-data
are generated and search/compare operations on the snapshots and logbooks
are available via a web-interface.

The logbook is a starting point in case a system "suddenly" does not work
correctly and the administrator is wondering what he/she has changed in the
last weeks or months. As most of us know by experience, configuration
changes can have accidental side-effects on (other) systems. By examining
the entries in the logbooks and considering the consequences, the cause of
an actual problem might be found more easily than by just trying to remember
the changes that were performed. Even the absence of changes in the logbooks
is usefull. This can be used to settle disputes between system
administrators and application developers.

Because of the classification of the data in the snapshots, the snapshots
can be used to compare the configuration of systems. Imagine that two
systems, that are supposed to be identical, behave differently. Comparing
parts of the snapshots of the two systems can indicate the cause of the
difference in behavior. The snapshots can also be used to recover a system
after a crash. A regular backup does not contain the sizes of filesystems or
firmware and boot settings. This data is part of the snapshots. Compare the
snapshots before and after recovery to find out anything you might have
forgotten.

The client and server software of SCC is available in the native system
install-formats for HP-UX, Solaris, Linux (rpm), FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD
and in source tar-balls. The client part of SCC is also available for
Windows systems. SCC (client and server) is free software under the terms of
the GNU General Public License. Copyright (©) 2001 - 2004 Open Challenge
B.V. Copyright (©) 2004 - 2005 OpenEyeT Professional Services B.V.

--
Siem Korteweg
OpenEyeT Professional Services
www.openeyet.nl/scc/index.html

Siem Korteweg wrote:
> System Configuration Collector (SCC) is yet another configuration collector.
> It consists of a client and a server part. The client-part collects
> configuration data of systems in a structured snapshot. The structure of the
> snapshot allows scc to compare the new snapshot with the previous one and
> detect changes in the configuration. Upon detecting changes, scc adds the
> differences to a logbook. The snapshot and the logbook are converted to HTML
> for local inspection. Optionally, the SCC-files can be send to a system
> running the SCC server software. On the server, summaries of the SCC-data
> are generated and search/compare operations on the snapshots and logbooks
> are available via a web-interface.
>
> The logbook is a starting point in case a system "suddenly" does not work
> correctly and the administrator is wondering what he/she has changed in the
> last weeks or months. As most of us know by experience, configuration
> changes can have accidental side-effects on (other) systems. By examining
> the entries in the logbooks and considering the consequences, the cause of
> an actual problem might be found more easily than by just trying to remember
> the changes that were performed. Even the absence of changes in the logbooks
> is usefull. This can be used to settle disputes between system
> administrators and application developers.
>
> Because of the classification of the data in the snapshots, the snapshots
> can be used to compare the configuration of systems. Imagine that two
> systems, that are supposed to be identical, behave differently. Comparing
> parts of the snapshots of the two systems can indicate the cause of the
> difference in behavior. The snapshots can also be used to recover a system
> after a crash. A regular backup does not contain the sizes of filesystems or
> firmware and boot settings. This data is part of the snapshots. Compare the
> snapshots before and after recovery to find out anything you might have
> forgotten.
>
> The client and server software of SCC is available in the native system
> install-formats for HP-UX, Solaris, Linux (rpm), FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD
> and in source tar-balls. The client part of SCC is also available for
> Windows systems. SCC (client and server) is free software under the terms of
> the GNU General Public License. Copyright (©) 2001 - 2004 Open Challenge
> B.V. Copyright (©) 2004 - 2005 OpenEyeT Professional Services B.V.
>

Excellent.