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Unallocated Machines

A machine that's not currently in use, but is still fit for use, should be put in a store-room and have its status marked in its LCFG file.

LCFG

This is how the LCFG file should look:

/* the machine's name */

#include <dice/os/unallocated.h>
#include <dice/hwbase/dell_optiplex_gx270.h> (the machine's model)

dhclient.mac   01:23:45:67:89:AB

/* End of file */

Commenting Things Out

Note that any old stuff can appear in the middle of your LCFG file as long as it's commented out. For those that don't know - commenting things out means marking them so that the LCFG profile compiler ignores them. However, in order to keep the profile short, only essential comments should really be put in the machine profile. Stuff can be commented out in three ways.
  1. /* The dangerous way is to surround stuff with /*...*/ like this. It's dangerous because the stuff you're commenting out probably has this sort of comment style in it already, and those comment characters will interfere with yours and create a nasty mess. */
  2. #ifdef blahblah
    A better way is to surround the commented-out stuff with #ifdef...#endif like this. This generally works safely. blahblah can be any single word that you care to invent.
    #endif
  3. The preferred method to update the comment associated with a computer system or piece of equipment is to use the new Inventory System , for example:

    invedit --host tickle --comment 'random hardware problems.'
    or
    invedit --serial HF0ZB2J --comment 'random hardware problems.'

    The comment field can be any string value (including an empty string to remove a comment no longer required).

Inventory

The machine should be set to unallocated using the inventory system command:

invedit --host tickle --allocate unallocated

It is important that a machine put in a store room has its location set manually, as this cannot be derived from the network e.g.

invedit --host tickle --building if --room 2.09


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