All the programs required to manage the system and to generate configuration files are implemented in Perl and as shell scripts. All the filenames contain the prefix “pos,” so a quick overview of the available programs can be displayed using tab completion.
It is recommended that you use the /opt/SLES/POS/bin directory as the storage location for Novell Linux Point of Service scripts. All the scripts can be controlled transparently using the posAdmin metascript, as long as they are not run by cron. The posAdmin script is designed to operate in the same way on the Administration Server as on the Branch Servers.
The basic mechanism for all actions (image transfer to a Branch Server, data readout from the directory) is a pull mechanism from the Branch Servers that is run directly on the Branch Servers. One important element is central logging of all actions with success or failure flags on the Administration Server. For all actions, the rule must be transaction security or atomic execution to avoid, for example, inconsistent configuration files.