7. Change Control Process Integration

As of version 2.5, the beltane_update executable has an option --merge UUID which has the purpose to merge a Delta Database (DeltaDB) identified by the given UUID with the baseline database of a client:

	 root# beltane_update --merge UUID --update file.CLIENT
       
[Note]Location and naming

The DeltaDB you want to merge must be named file.CLIENT.UUID and must be located in the yule data directory, i.e. the same directory where the file.CLIENT baseline database is located. beltane_update will construct the pathname from the baseline database and the UUID given.

This is part of a set of new features (most of them in Samhain) to allow seamless integration of the Samhain/Beltane II file integrity monitoring suite into a change control process. The full set of features and the discussion of various use cases is dicussed here.

The intended use of this particular feature is that, upon executing a scheduled change on the client, a DeltaDB containing the changes would be created. This DeltaDB can then be transported out-of-band to the server to perform an update of the client baseline database. I.e. this feature allows to update the client baseline database even if the client does not report the changes.