Subject: Ximian Setup Tools 0.6 - Now red-carpet powered ! From: Chema Celorio Ximian Setup Tools 0.6 Release Notes The Ximian Setup Tools are a set of cross-platform configuration utilities for Linux and other Unix systems. Internally they are divided in front and back end subsystems. The front end knows nothing about the underlying operating system and provides the same user interface across the different platforms. The backend knows how to read and write configuration information for a given platform. The Ximian Setup Tools do not impose a new database on the system and therefore do not conflict with other tools or with by-hand editing of configuration files. You can get it from : a) Binaries / packages Redcarpet, channel "Ximian Preview" If you don't have red carpet you can visit : http://www.ximian.com/desktop/download.php3 or b) tarball from ftp. ftp://ftp.ximian.com/pub/setuptools/ or (once the mirrors sync) ftp://ftp.gnome.org/pub/GNOME/unstable/sources/ximian-setup-tools Changes since last release -------------------------- This was a major bug fix release only. There are some internal changes but no new user-visible features were added. We have started working on a new set of tools. Contributions ------------- We are happy to say that a lot of contributions have started flowing in. We still need lots of help from anybody interested in contributing to XST. * Testing Testing that the tools work correctly on your system and either filing detailed bug reports or confirming that they work correctly is greatly appreciated. If you test a tool in an unsupported distro/system and find out that it works correctly let us know so that we can update the supported tools matrix (see below). * Porting The backends are designed as to minimize the effort needed to support more distros/systems. A great way to contribute is to port the tools to another distribution/system. Mailing list / IRC We have a mailing list set up at : http://lists.ximian.com/mailman/listinfo/setup-tool-hackers You can also find us in IRC server irc.gnome.org// channel #xst Whitepaper ---------- You can find the latest version of the XST whitepaper at: http://primates.ximian.com/~miguel/helix-setup-tools.html Backup system ------------- Every time a tool modifies your system configuration files, it makes backups of those files. The backups are rotated (for 9 levels in total), and the backup made the first time the tool was run is kept forever. This means that you can revert your system configuration to the point before you ever ran a Ximian Setup Tool. The backup path is /var/cache/ximian-setup-tools/backup///. In this directory, you'll find a complete snapshot of the files that were modified. The original directory structure leading up to these files is also kept. runs from 1-9, and when the first backup is rotated out, it is kept in a special catalog called "First", which is never touched again. Location Management ------------------- Location management is available under the program "location-manager-capplet", now built by default. This program runs in two modes: per-user and global. In per-user mode (the default), the capplets available from the control center are location-managed. In order to use this mode, you will need to fetch the GNOME Control Center from CVS (HEAD branch). A release of the Control Center with capplets that support location management will be made shortly. In global mode, the Ximian Setup Tools themselves are location managed. To invoke the location manager in this mode, pass the -g option. Of course, you will need to be running as root to run the location manager in this mode. Included Tools --------------- The current set of tools include: Network admin Allows you to configure your: * hostname * samba hostname and workgroup * DNS servers * search domains * hosts (/etc/hosts) * Network interfaces * ppp * ethernet * slip * wavelan (limited support) Boot admin Allows you to set : * Default boot partition * Partition type and label * Timeout * Kernel image * Kernel extra parameters (append) * adding or deleting partitions from the boot manager Time admin Allows you to configure your : * Date & Time * Timezone * NTPD servers Memory admin Allows you to configure : * Swap partitions * Swap files * Priorities of swap areas Shares admin Allows you to import and export NFS and samba shares. Disks admin Allows you to mount and unmount local file systems. Users admin Allows you to manage : * Groups * Users * username / full name * password * home dir * shell * groups Verification matrix -------------------- This is a matrix describing the current status of tool platform/distribution support to the best of our knowledge. Key: + Supported and tested. Tools work natively on this platform. Of course, there may still be bugs. :-) +? Supported, but untested. Ximian Setup Tools will probably work on this platform because we know it's compatible. ? Unsupported, may work. You'll be asked to select from a list of similar distributions; the Ximian Setup Tools will use that system's configuration methods. - Unsupported, probably won't work. We haven't worked on anything we know to be compatible with that system. Red Hat Linux: Version 5.2 6.0 6.1 6.2 7.0 7.1 Boot +? +? +? + + + Disks +? +? +? + + + Memory +? +? +? + + + Network +? +? +? + + + Shares +? +? +? + + + Time +? +? +? + + + Users +? +? +? + + + Debian GNU/Linux: Version 2.2 Woody Boot + + Disks + + Memory + + Network + +? Shares + + Time + + Users + +? Woody comments: You'll have to echo 'woody' > /etc/debian_version to make the ximian-setup-tools detect your distribution. Linux Mandrake: Version 7.0 7.1 7.2 8.0 Boot ? ? + ? Disks ? ? + ? Memory ? ? + ? Network ? ? + ? Shares ? ? + ? Time ? ? + ? Users ? ? + ? SuSE Linux: Version 6.3 6.4 7.0 7.1 Boot ? ? + ? Disks ? ? + ? Memory ? ? + ? Network ? ? +? ? Shares ? ? + ? Time ? ? + ? Users ? ? + ? Turbolinux: Version 6 Boot ? Disks ? Memory ? Network - Shares ? Time - Users ? LinuxPPC: Version 2000 Boot - Disks ? Memory ? Network - Shares ? Time - Users ? Yellow Dog Linux: Version 1.2 2.0 Boot - - Disks ? ? Memory ? ? Network - - Shares ? ? Time - - Users ? ? Solaris: Version 7.0 8.0 Boot - - Disks - - Memory - - Network - - Shares - - Time - - Users - - HPUX: Version 10.0 11.0 Boot - - Disks - - Memory - - Network - - Shares - - Time - - Users - - FreeBSD: Version 4.x 5.x Boot - - Disks - - Memory - - Network - - Shares ? ? Time - - Users ? ?