Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!bbn!rochester!pt.cs.cmu.edu!andrew.cmu.edu!ws0n+ From: ws0n+@andrew.cmu.edu (Walter Ray Smith) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac Subject: Re: keeping multiple machine environments in synch Message-ID:Date: 8 May 88 07:44:08 GMT References: <12086@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU> Organization: Carnegie Mellon Lines: 31 In-Reply-To: <12086@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU> > *Excerpts from ext.nn.comp.sys.mac: 8-May-88 keeping multiple machine en..* > *flowers@CS.UCLA.EDU (1661)* > It is getting really difficult trying to keep a few different machines > in synch in terms of each having the same installed software and > copies of the same working documents (home & office machines). Does> anyone > have any good suggestions or know of a program that will help> with this? The CMU Computer Science Dept. has had hundreds of networked Unix workstations for several years now, and we have exactly the same problem. Different machines need different configurations. Some things are centrally controlled, while others are dictated by individual preference. Packages are constantly being updated, especially those created locally. The machines are no longer in a single room staffed by operators, but distributed around the campus in locked offices. This situation became enough of a nightmare to generate at least one Ph.D. thesis and a complex system called SUP (Software Update Package?). SUP is a daemon process that visits each machine daily in the wee hours of the morning and makes it conform to the appropriate configuration standard. It takes the place of the operator of times past who would fix each machine individually when a package was updated. Now that Macs are being networked together in vast numbers, it seems that a SUP-like program for the Mac might have a market opportunity. It would take a lot of effort to make it comprehensible to the average part-time "LAN manager", but could save a lot of time for users. Imagine, when a new LaserWriter driver comes out, installing it on a single Mac, pressing a button, and distributing it to every appropriate Mac in the building, all at once. - Walt