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The "ServerDictatedConfiguration" page has been changed by CMichaelPilato: http://wiki.apache.org/subversion/ServerDictatedConfiguration?action=diff&rev1=15&rev2=16 Comment: Try to clarify some stuff that didn't quite jive on my last read-thru. == Design: Server-Dictated Configuration == - Many software development shops of non-trivial size desire to have (and to the extent possible, to enforce) a uniform configuration environment among the various clients which commit to their repositories. Although these shops may have the ability to control the environment on the client machines (dictating software versions, etc), relying upon the client for setting various configuration parameters can be time-consuming and problematic. + Many software development shops of non-trivial size desire to have (and to the extent possible, to enforce) a uniform configuration environment among the various clients which commit to their repositories. Although these shops may have some ability to control the environment on the client machines (dictating software versions, etc), expecting humans to consistently set and maintain various runtime configuration parameters in accordance with corporate policy and on every repository-accessing client computer is both error-prone and unscalable. - Subversion already provides the means of enforcing much (but not all) of this configuration through the hook script mechanism. What our users desire is some way of having the server dictate a default or recommended configuration to clients. The parameters of interest typically come from the standard client-side config: things like global-excludes or auto-props. Allowing the administrator to store a default config on the server, which then gets pushed to the clients, would save both time and frustration. + Subversion already provides the means of enforcing much (but not all) of this configuration through the hook script mechanism, but at best this can only punish non-compliant client behavior and clumsily recommend configuration changes (which, again, a human must implement on their client computer). However, allowing the administrator to store a default configuration on the server, which gets automatically pushed to and honored by the clients, would save both time and frustration. === Behavioral specification === - The high-level behavior for repository-dictated configuration is relatively simple: the repository maintains a list of configuration parameters and values, and upon request, provides these to the client who then applies them appropriately. + The high-level behavior for server-dictated configuration is relatively simple: the repository maintains a list of configuration parameters and values which, as necessary, the server provides to the client. The client, then, behaves in accordance with the server-dictated configuration. There are a number of specific bits of configuration that existing Subversion users and administrators wish to have propagated from the server to the client. There are also different scopes at which administrators might reasonably wish to apply differing defaults for these things: server-wide, repository-wide, or local to a particular directory hierarchy within a specific repository. The following is a listing of those that we know about, with some notes about scope and desired degrees of control: ||'''Configuration''' ||'''Scope''' ||'''Enforceability''' ||'''Notes''' || @@ -14, +14 @@ ||ignores ||per-directory ||Enforceable via hook scripts ||Client should be allowed to override this || ||use-commit-times ||per-directory ||Unenforceable ||Client should be allowed to override this || ||log message templates ||per-directory ||Enforceable via hook scripts ||Doesn't fit the name=value configuration motif quite as readily as some of the others. Would a client need to override this? || - ||myriad authn-related stuff ||per-server, per-repos ||Unenforceable ||Lack of enforceability plus relationship to security means that admins do not want the client to be able to trivially override this setting. Precise requirements TBD (is this a boolean "allow/disallow plaintext password caching", or "require X, Y or Z encrypted password stores", or ...?) || + ||myriad authn-related stuff ||per-server ||Unenforceable ||Lack of enforceability plus relationship to security means that admins do not want the client to be able to trivially override this setting. Precise requirements TBD (is this a boolean "allow/disallow plaintext password caching", or "require X, Y or Z encrypted password stores", or ...?) || @@ -24, +24 @@ }}} At least one user specifically called out the need for the server to enforce adherence to the configured behaviors ''without'' requiring hook scripts to do so. For example, if the repository has a configured auto-props list, the Subversion C code is perfectly capable of validating that incoming committed items obey those settings, failing the commit otherwise. This seems like a reasonable request so long as we permit admins to specify which of their configuration settings are "suggested" versus "required" (again, taking into account that anything unenforceable can't truly be "required"). - Subversion should recognize multiple levels of possible hierarchy in the server-side configuration: + Subversion could recognize multiple levels of possible hierarchy in the server-side configuration: 1. server - Settings apply for all repositories and paths therein on the server - 1. repository - Settings apply for all interactions with the repository and the paths within it 1. subtree within repository - Settings apply for paths at or under a given path in the repository And at each level, multiple degrees of insistence in the actual configuration items:
