Crafting Reproducible OpenBSD Server Configs

Building on our previous OpenBSD exploration from May 30th, today we’ll dive deeper into using OpenBSD as a server operating system with a focus on creating reproducible, version-controlled configurations.

We’ll create a small demo app with an httpd reverse-proxy to it with all configuration files managed as code within the app’s repository.

• httpd (OpenBSD’s built-in web server) with reverse proxy configuration
• pf (packet filter firewall) with appropriate rules for our services
• Creating a custom daemon for an application we’re building
• Configuring rc.conf.local for daemon startup

• Using GNU Stow to manage symlinked configuration files
• Version controlling our configurations with Git
• Organizing configs within the application repository
• Creating deployment scripts to apply configurations

If we have time, we’ll look into using answerfiles to automate the actual system installation.