bcfg2-cron

As submitted by Kamil Kisiel

The following is my /etc/cron.d/bcfg2 file. It uses the python random module seeded with the client hostname to generate a random time for the client to check in. The hostname seed ensures the generated file is the same each time the client checks in. This cron file helps to distribute the load on the Bcfg2 server since not all machines are checking in at the same time.:

{% python
from genshi.builder import tag
import random
random.seed(metadata.hostname)
%}\
${random.randint(0,60)} * * * *    root    /usr/sbin/bcfg2 &> /dev/null

You can apply the same concept to the other time fields by adding another ${random.randint()} call.