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Server Scripts and Tools

This is a collection of scripts or other programs that I find to be of value on various UNIX servers. You may have to customize them for your system. They are available in a bundle via:

• servertools-current.tar.gz FTP HTTP

• autoupdate (FTP) (HTTP) -- This is a driver script for the autoupdate package, which is used to keep RedHat systems updated with current RPMs. This script is intended to reside in the /etc/cron.daily directory. It not only drives autoupdate, but does additional logging including updating the host modification file if it exists. (See the report-log-change entry, below.)
• check-kernel (FTP) (HTTP) -- This script checks to see if the version of the running kernel matches the version of the highest-version installed kernel, and complains if the two do not match. It was written for the case where autoupdate has been configured to perform automated kernel updates, and acts as a reminder to reboot the system. (In such a case, if you permit autoupdate to perform two consecutive updates without rebooting your machine, you -- depending on your configuration -- may no longer have a kernel that has been verified to boot.
• report-log-change (FTP) (HTTP) -- This script will monitor the text file `hostname`-mods in root's home directory and on a daily basis mail root on any changes made to that file. It is intended as a simple version control mechanism for recording changes made to the local server. It is generally OS independent, and is known to run on Linux RedHat and OpenBSD.
• zcruft (FTP) (HTTP) This is a script for Linux RedHat systems intended to be placed in the /etc/cron.daily directory. It searches for various forms of "cruft" left on the system by other tools and notifies root via email. Its original purpose was to notify root about *.rpmsave and *.rpmnew files that were left behind from updated RPMS; these often need to be manually examined and sometimes merged into the running system.