hostsadm 3.1.0
Overview
Purpose of the program
The hostsadm program reads a MySQL database and creates several configuration and documentation files, i.e.
- hosts and ethers configuration files,
- hosts.ldif, ethers.ldif and netgroup.ldif for import of host related information into an LDAP service,
- ethers-byip (an ethers file listing entries in inverted order -- IP address first),
- netdocu.tex (LaTeX source to produce a network documentation) and
- licenses.tex (LaTeX source to produce a license report).
The program is licensed to you under BSD-style license terms, see FAQ.
Hosts administration
On Unix and Linux systems host related information is maintained in
several configuration files, i.e. /etc/hosts, /etc/ethers, /etc/netgroup
(used as data source for name services like NIS or LDAP) and
/etc/dhcpd.conf.
Larger sites also have a network documentation.
Adding new hosts or applying changes to a host requires modifications in
multiple files. Having all information about a host in one place
allows easier maintenance and ensures consistency between configuration
files and documentation.
License reports
Organization owning a number of computers should keep track of the used
software licenses (when using commercial software). For small organizations
or single computers it is sufficient to keep license documents
(order letter/fax, delivery papers, invoices...)
For large organizations a database allows to generate reports listing the
obtained licenses and the assignments of licenses to users and computers
sorted by user/computer, software manufacturer/product or date.