Automatic desktop configuration using Ansible and Perl
Science, Not Fiction
The superluminal speed of the provisioning tool Ansible is suitable for configuration and release management of medium-sized server farms, as well as for use at home for restoring adjustments on your Linux desktop.
About every five years it is time to install a new Linux distribution in the Perlmeister labs. Only every five years because, in my experience, after running do-release-upgrade, getting all the small cronjobs that inevitably require special treatment – because of new versions of Perl, Apache, and various libraries – up and running again involves a huge amount of effort.
Many open source developers – both in the distribution scene (Hello, Ubuntu!) and in the tool area (Hello, OpenSSL! – don't give two hoots about backward compatibility and expect me to take a few days vacation each time, sitting and cussing in front of my Linux desktop while changing configurations or customizing scripts.
I then often only vaguely remember all the little manually inserted patches that were needed to finally get one tool or another running to my satisfaction. Even weeks after completing the upgrade, it is not unusual to find something that still isn't working properly; and each time, I rack my brains, trying to remember how I solved it years ago.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
openSUSE Joins End of 10
openSUSE has decided to not only join the End of 10 movement but it also will no longer support the Deepin Desktop Environment.
-
New Version of Flatpak Released
Flatpak 1.16.1 is now available as the latest, stable version with various improvements.
-
IBM Announces Powerhouse Linux Server
IBM has unleashed a seriously powerful Linux server with the LinuxONE Emperor 5.
-
Plasma Ends LTS Releases
The KDE Plasma development team is doing away with the LTS releases for a good reason.
-
Arch Linux Available for Windows Subsystem for Linux
If you've ever wanted to use a rolling release distribution with WSL, now's your chance.
-
System76 Releases COSMIC Alpha 7
With scores of bug fixes and a really cool workspaces feature, COSMIC is looking to soon migrate from alpha to beta.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 6.0 Available for Installation
The latest release of OpenMandriva has arrived with a new kernel, an updated Plasma desktop, and a server edition.
-
TrueNAS 25.04 Arrives with Thousands of Changes
One of the most popular Linux-based NAS solutions has rolled out the latest edition, based on Ubuntu 25.04.
-
Fedora 42 Available with Two New Spins
The latest release from the Fedora Project includes the usual updates, a new kernel, an official KDE Plasma spin, and a new System76 spin.
-
So Long, ArcoLinux
The ArcoLinux distribution is the latest Linux distribution to shut down.