Services

Having Debian packages around is a handy way to ensure an easy and reproducible deployment, as well as future updates (be it on servers or on workstations). Debamax can deal with packaging tasks, which includes creating packages for in-house software, merging Debian packages from another suite (e.g. backporting them to Debian stable), or packaging software components which haven’t been introduced in the Debian archive yet.

Maintaining APT repositories makes it even easier to push updated packages to various machines. Debamax can set up the needed components to maintain APT repositories, which includes the build infrastructure as well as secure update channels (usually leveraging GPG and/or TLS).

packaging backports deb/apt repositories building secure update

Debamax can help configure various servers (web, mail, and other common services), be it for initial setup or for planned changes (e.g. adding SSL certificates to a web server, managing a new domain name).

Complementary improvements to existing infrastructures include setting up monitoring, centralized logging, or progressively evolving towards a centralized configuration system (Puppet).

Binding components together (e.g. through the addition of import/export features) and automating tasks are other common administrator duties.

Debamax can implement such things using various programming languages like Perl, Python, or shell.

Another area where help can be provided is running diagnostics at the system level to investigate various problems: performance issues, stuck processes, unexpected halts, and wrong software configuration.

sysadmin monitoring logging puppet bridging automating diagnostics

The Debian Installer is a very flexible installer for Debian systems, defaulting to an interactive installation process, while also making it possible to automate installations partially or entirely; it also features a rescue mode which can be used to diagnose and/or repair a system that won’t boot (e.g. by reinstalling or reconfiguring GRUB).

The installer system consists of a restricted environment, and it can be hard at times to implement extra features (e.g. support for recent hardware) or to debug issues, because of the rather minimal system being run. Cyril has been the Debian Installer release manager since 2012 and can provide support with such topics.

debian-installer automated installation preseeding hardware support

Thanks to their very nature it’s possible to modify free software components to introduce new features and to fix bugs. Debamax can dispense advice and guidance here, during the debug, design, and implementation phases (especially if C, C++, Perl, Python, and shell programming languages are involved).

Debamax can also help set up quality assurance tools (such as continuous integration). These tools can help spot mistakes and regressions as early as possible thanks to test suites and regular compilations.

development debugging QA CI best practices