[PLUG] server documentation & configuration

[Chad Vogelsong <chad@vogelsong.net>]

I'm looking for software (preferably OSS) that will help me manage and document my servers at a new job.

What this software should do:
1. Automatically inventory hardware, software & configuration files from multiple linux servers.
2. It should either use SSH to connect to the servers or have a client agent that is run on the servers to report back.
3. Use a browser interface to view information.
4. Allow other documentation to be uploaded to the site (i.e. spreadsheets, documents, notes about servers, etc.).

Sys Admins's should be able to login to the site and be able to go into a particular server and see the text from its /etc/hosts file, or the output of "ifconfig -a", or "netstat", or the contents of /etc/resolv.conf or any other such file or command.

They should also be able to click on a server and see any user created documentation that goes along with the automatically generated stuff.  Soemthing like a setup procedure or any customizations to the server.

I have setup and used GLPI with the inventory gathered from OCS NG at the previous company I worked for.  It's a great combination for any SMB and includes helpdesk / ticketing, statistics, knowledge base, user access controls, etc.  A great piece of software all around.

I was thinking of implementing the same thing at this company, but the scale is much larger.  125 vs. 13,000 employees, 15 vs. 2000+ servers (only around 50+ will be mine to manage & document).  I have done some brief searches, but haven't really found anything substantial.  I was wondering what software or methods other SA's on this list use to manage and document their servers.

Thanks for any comments.

Chad
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