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5. The sysf.hosts File

Sysf allows for the definition of host groups so that a set of hosts can share the same config file. The name of the host group is then used as the suffix for the config file. The host groups are defined in the sysf.hosts file. Each entry must obey the following syntax: 

HOST_GROUP_1 = NAME_1 NAME_2 ... NAME_N;
EMPTY_GROUP = ;
where HOST_GROUP_1 is the name of the group and NAME_1 ... NAME_N are the hosts belonging to that group. The names of host groups must start with an upper case letter while host-names must start with a lower case one (and typically be entirely lower case).

Groups can refer to other groups, but the group referred to must be defined before it is used for the first time. Forward reference to other groups is not allowed. There is no limit on the number of references to other groups; each time a group name is used, the list of hosts belonging to that group is inserted in the list. Host-names that appear more than once are kept only once (for they first occurrence) so there is no harm in using host groups where the same host-names appear multiple times. The list of names can be spread over several lines, but each entry must be terminated by a semi-colon.

The host group ALL must be defined in the file and should contain all the hosts.

Example: 

DEAD = gates;
SERVERS = tirring;
RedHat7.2 = tirring trovald cox ;
RedHat7.0 = kernighan ritchie knuth;
RedHat6.1 = ;
ALL = RedHat7.0 RedHat7.2 RedHat6.1;

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