Abstract

This is an HTML version of a paper presented at the LISA 2000 Conference in New Orleans in December 2000.

Note that the paper is out-of-date and doesn't reflect the latest official software release, pikt-current.tar.gz, especially in the area of security.  Please see the distribution NEWS and ChangeLog files, also the PIKT Reference, for the latest info.

(The USENIX Association published the paper in the following publication:  Proceedings of the 14th Systems Administration Conference.  USENIX has exclusive right to publish this paper, and--with the sole exceptions of our posting this in electronic form at this Web site (or its mirrors), also including it in the PIKT distribution--nobody else may may publish or otherwise disseminate this paper in any way, shape, or form.)

When faced with the many problems that arise in a complex of heterogeneous networked workstations, systems administrators often resort to coding scripts to monitor and problem-solve, scripts that they then schedule via cron.  PIKT is a new and innovative approach to monitor scripting and managing system configurations.  PIKT consists of an embedded scripting language with unique labor-saving features, a sophisticated script and system configuration file preprocessor, a scheduler, an installer, and other useful tools.  More than just a systems monitor, PIKT is also a cross-categorical toolkit for configuring systems, organizing system security, formatting documents, assisting command-line work, and performing other common systems administration tasks.

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