Quickstart Guide

After Installing Exosphere, you can quickly get started by following this guide and adapting the simple scenario it presents to your needs.

Create the Configuration File

$ exosphere config paths

Create config.yaml in the Config directory shown here.

Tip

You can also use config.toml or config.json if you prefer those formats. See the The Configuration File page for more details.

Basic configuration

Add your hosts and options to the configuration file.

# Username for SSH connections, optional
# If not specified, the current user will be used.
# The entire "options" section can be omitted if you
# don't need to set any global options.
options:
  default_username: admin

# Hosts to manage
hosts:
- name: dbhost1
  ip: dbhost1.example.com
  description: Database Server
- name: web1
  ip: web1.example.com
  description: Frontend Web Server
- name: fileserver
  ip: 192.168.0.28 # ip is fine too
  port: 2222       # Optional port if not 22
  username: alice  # This one has a special login
  # description is optional

Note

This assumes your private keys are loaded in your SSH agent. See Connections and Authentication for more details.

Run Exosphere

$ exosphere

At the exosphere prompt, you can run commands to manage your hosts. You can also explore the interactive help system in the CLI by running:

exosphere> help

Discover Hosts

exosphere> inventory discover

This will detect the platform and package manager for each host. It only needs to be done once, or if something changes on the host.

If you encounter issues at this step, see the Connections and Authentication and Supported Remote Platforms pages for more details.

Refresh Hosts

exosphere> inventory refresh

This will refresh the state of each host and collect information about available updates.

View Status and Host Details

exosphere> inventory status
exosphere> host show hostname

There you go! You are now set up with a basic Exosphere configuration and can aggregate your updates all in one place.

Next Steps

For more fundamental details, you could have a look at How Exosphere Works.

To go further, you can:

Or start the full Text User Interface (TUI) for a more interactive experience:

$ exosphere ui

Tip

For more advanced configuration options, authentication details, and troubleshooting, see the full The Configuration File and Connections and Authentication documentation.

The Frequently Asked Questions section may also be helpful for common questions and issues.