Hi, My apologies if members don't consider this list appropriate, if so perhaps a more appropriate forum could be suggested.
I am using scientific linux 6.2. I will be installing it on 4-5 computers that will make up my lab. I plan to add some additional packages from source or otherwise: /opt/python2.7 /opt/python3.2 /opt/libreoffice3.5 /opt/zotero3.0 /opt/qt-4.8.1 ...and a few more plus a number of python2.7 packages such as numpy, pyqt, etc. I have my environment setup pretty well on one machine with a bash script I wrote to download make and install all the packages I need. It also sets up a decent /etc/skel/, so that global settings are set for all users. I would like all the machines to be identical, and I would like to be able to update packages automatically. My question is, what is the best way to deploy and maintain this environment onto several networked machines? Setting up my own repo seems like a lot of overhead for a few machines. Is there a better way? I could go around to each machine with my bash script, but what would the best way be to handle updates? I am willing to learn about repository management if necessary, but obviously the less effort/knowledge required the better, as I am a relative novice at system administration. Thus, any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks, Chris
