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#+TITLE: How I Keep Track of My Servers
#+DATE: 2020-10-19T21:22:28-04:00
#+DRAFT: true
#+DESCRIPTION:
#+TAGS[]: emacs org-mode ssh
#+KEYWORDS[]: emacs org-mode ssh
#+SLUG:
#+SUMMARY:
I manage a lot of servers. Some are serving static content like this
blog, with others running services like [[https://nextcloud.com/][Nextcloud]], [[https://wiki.znc.in/ZNC][ZNC]], [[https://shadowsocks.org/en/index.html][Shadowsocks]],
or [[https://www.mumble.info/][Mumble]]. I also have one or two game servers to play with my family
and friends. These are spread across two providers for cost and
geographic reasons.
In addition, I have several machines running in my house, one running
[[https://www.freenas.org/][FreeNAS]] with some jails, another running [[https://www.proxmox.com/en/][Proxmox]] with several VMs and
containers. I also have a couple smaller single board PCs like
Raspberry Pis scattered around.
Needless to say, I've got a lot to keep track of. I tried using a
couple methods of keeping inventory of what I had running where, the
user names, IP addresses, and links, but found that none suited my
needs particularly well. I also had to worry about making sure my
=~/.ssh/config= file was always up to date with VMs and containers I
create.
I'd already been playing with the idea of using an [[https://orgmode.org/][org mode]] file to
keep track of servers with VMs and containers, as it seemed like that
would fit well with the hierarchical structure of org files.
What I came up was a system where each server location/provider gets a
heading, with the machines in that location as headings under it. If
the machine runs VMs or containers, I just put those as headings under
the host machine.
#+BEGIN_SRC org
,* Scaleway
,** example.com
,** example.org
,* Vultr
,** lambda.cx
,* Home
,** proxmox
,*** pi-hole
,*** openbsd-1
,** freenas
,*** web-jail
#+END_SRC
Each machine gets a bullet point list of what's running on it. For
services with web interfaces, I add a link with the name of the
service to the list, so I can click it to open it in my browser. I
also write details about services underneath their bullet points if I
there's more I want to remember.
#+BEGIN_SRC org
,* Vultr
,** example.com
- Minecraft
Save directory: =/home/minecraft/survival=
Port 4587
- [[https://example.com][nginx]]
- [[https://example.com:8080/][znc]]
,** example.org
- Shadowsocks
- Mumble
- [[https://example.net][nginx]]
#+END_SRC
From there I added either an =IP= or =Hostname= properties to each
heading, along with other information about the system like =OS=,
=SSH_USER=, etc. This allows me to use org-mode's [[https://orgmode.org/manual/Sparse-Trees.html][sparse trees]] to
search for, say, all VMs running OpenBSD. Using org mode also allows
me to manage servers like anything else in an org mode document;
adding [[https://orgmode.org/manual/Tags.html][tags]], [[https://orgmode.org/manual/TODO-Items.html#TODO-Items][TODO]] entries, [[https://orgmode.org/manual/Working-with-Source-Code.html#Working-with-Source-Code][code blocks]], [[https://orgmode.org/manual/Hyperlinks.html#Hyperlinks][hyperlinks]], [[https://orgmode.org/manual/Tables.html#Tables][tables]],
[[https://orgmode.org/manual/Attachments.html#Attachments][attachments]], putting details in [[https://orgmode.org/manual/Drawers.html#Drawers][drawers]], etc.
#+begin_src org
,* home
,** proxmox
:PROPERTIES:
:IP: 192.168.0.6
:SSH_USER: dante
:OS: Proxmox-VE
:END:
- [[https://192.168.0.6:8006][WebUI]]
,*** VMs
,**** openindiana
:PROPERTIES:
:OS: OpenIndiana
:IP: 192.168.0.11
:SSH_USER: dante
:END:
,**** pfsense
:PROPERTIES:
:IP: 192.168.0.12
:OS: FreeBSD
:SSH_USER: admin
:END:
- [[https://192.168.0.12][WebUI]]
- DHCP
- DNS
- OSPF
,*** Containers
,**** pihole
:PROPERTIES:
:IP: 192.168.0.21
:OS: Debian
:SSH_USER: pi
:END:
- [[http://192.168.0.23/admin/][WebUI]]
,**** ubuntu
:PROPERTIES:
:IP: 192.168.0.22
:OS: Ubuntu
:SSH_USER: dante
:END:
- Prometheus
- Shadowsocks
#+end_src
Finally to keep my SSH config up to date, I wrote [[https://github.com/dantecatalfamo/ox-ssh][ox-ssh]]. A backend
for the org mode [[https://orgmode.org/manual/Exporting.html][export engine]] that lets me export my buffer as an SSH
configuration file. It takes the properties from the all headings with
either an =IP= or =HOSTNAME= property and turns them into entries in a
configuration file. It [[https://github.com/dantecatalfamo/ox-ssh#usage][supports]] every client configuration option
OpenSSH has, so I can maintain my entire SSH client list from within
my org mode file.
#+caption: Property drawers are folded by default in org mode, but expanded here for context.
[[file:ox-ssh-example.jpg]]
For completeness, I also added a variable that lets me set a header to
the configuration when exporting. This lets me add options which apply
to all hosts, like keyring support for MacOS.
With this new setup, I just have a single version controlled
=Servers.org= file which I keep all the relevant information in.
Whenever I change any details related to a server, I simply press
@@html: <kbd><kbd>Ctrl</kbd> + <kbd>c</kbd></kbd>@@
@@html: <kbd><kbd>Ctrl</kbd> + <kbd>e</kbd></kbd>@@
to bring up the org export dispatch, then
@@html: <kbd>s</kbd>@@ to select =ox-ssh=, and
@@html: <kbd>x</kbd>@@ to overwrite my existing ssh config file with
the newly generated one.
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