Templates

A template is a snapshot of a set of package names. Use it to record a system's package set and replay it elsewhere, or to define a named group you install together. Templates live under /etc/slacker/templates/.

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Commands

Command	What it does
generate-template NAME	Snapshot the installed package set into NAME.template.
install-template NAME	Install every package the template lists (following include lines).
remove-template NAME	Uninstall every package the template lists (removes them from the system).
delete-template NAME	Delete the template file only — installed packages are untouched.

Mind the difference: remove-template uninstalls packages (this is slackpkg behaviour); delete-template just removes the file.

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Clone a machine's package set

# on the source machine
slacker generate-template snapshot
#   -> writes /etc/slacker/templates/snapshot.template

# copy that file to the target machine's /etc/slacker/templates/, then:
slacker install-template snapshot

Dependency resolution applies to install-template too, so any .dep-declared dependencies are pulled in. See Dependencies.

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Includes

A template may pull in other templates with include lines, so you can compose larger sets from smaller ones (for example a base template included by several role templates). Includes are resolved and de-duplicated when the template is loaded.

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Notes

• generate-template snapshots installed package names that are known to a repository (orphans with no repo are skipped).
• Templates are plain text — you can edit them by hand, add comments, and keep them in version control alongside the rest of your /etc/slacker/ setup.