2.1. Introduction

The control file is a per-host configuration description. It consists of sets of resources with properties including support for complex structures representations such as lists, records, trees and large embedded or referenced objects.

The simplest way to to create the control file is by using a regular editor. You can use one of the many XML editors available or use your favourite text editor with XML support (i.e. Emacs, Vim). However, it is not quite optimal to create the control file manually for large sets of machines and it should only be seen as an interface between the auto-installation engine and the Configuration Management System (CMS). The Configuration Management System available with SuSE is not the only method to create profiles, you can for example write your own configuration system, i.e. by using WWW technologies such as PHP or by converting existing meta data to the format accepted by YaST2