.. -*- mode: rst -*-

.. _appendix-guides-bootstrap:

=========
Bootstrap
=========

Once you have your bcfg2 server setup and working, a common next step to
take is automating the addition of new clients.

The method for bootstrapping your clients will vary depending on your
needs. The simplest way to go about this is to create a public default
group in ``Metadata/groups.xml``. Example:

.. code-block:: xml

    <Group profile='true' name='basic' public='true' default='true'>

This allows clients to freely associate themselves with this group so that
you will not be required to manually add them to ``Metadata/clients.xml``
prior to running the client.

.. note::

    Reverse DNS will need to work in order to automate the process of
    bootstrapping clients without first adding them to
    ``Metadata/clients.xml``.

There are command line options available on the client which allow
you to specify the options that are normally found in the client's
``/etc/bcfg2.conf``::

    bcfg2 -x password -p basic -S https://bcfg2-server:6789

The above command will add the client to ``Metadata/clients.xml`` with the
profile *basic*. Generally, you should include ``/etc/bcfg2.conf`` in the
configuration given to the client by the bcfg2 server in this initial run
to avoid specifying these options on future runs.