Build a Custom Cisco Configuration Repository : Page 4

Find a Better Front End
ViewCVS was originally written for CVS. However, because CVS and SVN are so similar in functionality, it works just as well for SVN. You can run most of the above examples easily from ViewCVS, making it a convenient, portable way to view files.

Install ViewCVS, and set up Apache to use the viewcvs.cgi as a path. You'll need to add these lines to your httpd.conf file:

      ScriptAlias /viewcvs /path/to/your/viewcvs/cgi/viewcvs.cgi

Next, you need to make sure that the viewcvs path has permissions to run properly:

   <Directory "/path/to/your/viewcvs/cgi/viewcvs.cgi">
      AllowOverride None
      Options +ExecCGI
      Order allow,deny
      Allow from all
        AuthType Basic
        AuthName "Authorization Realm"
        AuthUserFile /srv/svn/user_access/passwd
        Require valid-user
        # Require SSL connection for password protection.
        # SSLRequireSSL
   </Directory>

In the installation root of ViewCVS, there's a file called viewcvs.conf. Make sure that cvs_roots is commented out, and the following directives are enabled:

   svn_roots:
           base_depot : /opt/svn/depot
   
   svn_parent_path = /opt/svn/depot
   default_root = base_depot

Finally, you'll need to run apachectl configtest and then apachectl restart. Now, go to http:///viewcvs on your Web browser, and a nice Web-based version (see Figure 2) of some of what you've previously done should appear.

Figure 2. Repository View: By navigating to the viewcvs page of your server, you'll see a nice browser-based view of the items in the repository.

Populating the Repository
As I mentioned previously, there are two major ways that the repository can be updated. The first method is fairly simple—simply run a cron job at regular intervals. The downside to this method is that the routers may not have the absolute most up-to-date revision of the configuration; however, it's very easy to configure. The second method is to set up your Cisco router to send SNMP traps to a host whenever configuration changes happen. The host will then retrieve the latest configuration and upload it into the repository automatically.

Cron-Based updates
You'll need to download the sample script (snmp-conf.pl), and configure your routers towards the bottom of the script. Next, you'll need to paste the following code into a script at /usr/local/bin/router-cron.sh, and then run the command chmod 755 /usr/local/bin/router-cron.sh.

   </b>#!/bin/sh
   
   # set these for your environment
   SVN=/usr/local/bin/svn
   NOW=`date`
   CMD=/usr/local/bin/snmp-conf.pl
   
   # check out the configs
   cd /tmp; $SVN co http://<yourhost>/depot/routers
   
   # edit the following line to contain the 
   # IP addresses of your 
   routers
   for ROUTER in '10.0.0.1 10.0.1.1 10.0.2.1'
   do
           $CMD -t ${ROUTER} -o /tmp/routers
   done
   
   # update the repository
   cd /tmp/routers; $SVN update
   # commit the changes
   cd /tmp/routers; $SVN commit --message 
      "Auto update on $NOW"

Then, set up the cron job. The following example causes the configurations to be backed up every Thursday at midnight:

   0 0 * * 5 /usr/local/bin/router-cron.sh

If you've decided to use the cron method, ignore the next section of this article and skip to the section titled "Configuring the Initial Repository." You need to take some steps to ensure the proper functionality of the Subversion repository.

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