Use a script and systemd timer to keep the FreePBX tftpboot directory up to date with a git repository

JaredBusch

I had previously posted this guide on how to use a systemd timer instead of cron to automate a git pull.

It works as is, but it is just pulling down changes. While that can be useful, it is not enough for most systems, because I typically will have phones push changes back to the phone system also.

So let's make things better.

Assumption: You have the /tftpboot already in a git repository checked out via ssh (key based)

Let's get started.

Open the update the script

sudo nano /usr/local/bin/update_git.sh

Paste or type in this information.
Change the commit messages if they make more sense to you as something else.

#!/bin/sh
# Script to commit local changes and pull down remote changes
#change to the directory the git repo resides in
cd /tftpboot
# Pull down any changes
git pull
# Add any tracked or untracked -local.cfg files
git add *-local.cfg
git commit -m "local config file changes"
# Add any tracked or untracked -contact.xml files
git add *-contact.xml
git commit -m "local directory file changes"
# Add any other tracked files that have been updated
git commit -a -m "other file changes"
# Push the changes
git push

Save ctrl+o the file and exit ctrl+x from the editor.
Make the script executable and update the owner

sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/update_git.sh
sudo chown asterisk:asterisk /usr/local/bin/update_git.sh

Create the systemd service file

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/gitsync.service

Paste in this information.

[Unit]
Description=update /tftpboot with the git repository

[Service]
Type=simple
User=asterisk
Group=asterisk
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/update_git.sh

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Save ctrl+o the file and exit ctrl+x from the editor.
create the systemd timer file.

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/gitsync.timer

Paste in this information.

[Unit]
Description=Execute /usr/local/bin/update_git.sh every 10 minutes

[Timer]
OnCalendar=*:0/10
Unit=gitsync.service

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Save ctrl+o the file and exit ctrl+x from the editor.
Start the timer.

sudo systemctl enable --now gitsync.timer

You can verify it is running with normal systemd commands.

[jbusch@pbx ~]# sudo systemctl list-timers --all
NEXT                         LEFT         LAST                         PASSED    UNIT                         ACTIVATES
Mon 2020-04-27 13:00:00 CDT  4min 8s left n/a                          n/a       gitsync.timer                gitsync.service
Tue 2020-04-28 12:02:15 CDT  23h left     Mon 2020-04-27 12:02:15 CDT  53min ago systemd-tmpfiles-clean.timer systemd-tmpfiles-cle
n/a                          n/a          n/a                          n/a       systemd-readahead-done.timer systemd-readahead-do

3 timers listed.

Once it is running, you can also monitor the systemd logs to see what has happened.

[jbusch@pbx ~]$ journalctl -u gitsync.timer
-- Logs begin at Sun 2020-04-26 22:06:15 CDT, end at Mon 2020-04-27 20:49:17 CDT. --
Apr 27 12:55:43 pbx.domain.com systemd[1]: Started Execute /usr/local/bin/update_git.sh every 10 minutes.
[jbusch@pbx ~]$ journalctl -u gitsync.service
-- Logs begin at Sun 2020-04-26 22:06:15 CDT, end at Mon 2020-04-27 20:49:17 CDT. --
Apr 27 13:00:01 pbx.domain.com systemd[1]: Started update /tftpboot with the git repository.
Apr 27 13:00:02 pbx.domain.com update_git.sh[30246]: Warning: Permanently added the ECDSA host key for IP address '172.65.251.78
Apr 27 13:00:13 pbx.domain.com update_git.sh[30246]: Already up-to-date.
Apr 27 13:00:13 pbx.domain.com update_git.sh[30246]: [master 536e8bc] local config file changes
Apr 27 13:00:13 pbx.domain.com update_git.sh[30246]: 2 files changed, 16 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)
Apr 27 13:00:13 pbx.domain.com update_git.sh[30246]: # On branch master
Apr 27 13:00:13 pbx.domain.com update_git.sh[30246]: # Your branch is ahead of 'origin/master' by 1 commit.
Apr 27 13:00:13 pbx.domain.com update_git.sh[30246]: #   (use "git push" to publish your local commits)
Apr 27 13:00:13 pbx.domain.com update_git.sh[30246]: #
Apr 27 13:00:13 pbx.domain.com update_git.sh[30246]: nothing to commit, working directory clean
Apr 27 13:00:13 pbx.domain.com update_git.sh[30246]: # On branch master
Apr 27 13:00:13 pbx.domain.com update_git.sh[30246]: # Your branch is ahead of 'origin/master' by 1 commit.
Apr 27 13:00:13 pbx.domain.com update_git.sh[30246]: #   (use "git push" to publish your local commits)
Apr 27 13:00:13 pbx.domain.com update_git.sh[30246]: #
Apr 27 13:00:13 pbx.domain.com update_git.sh[30246]: nothing to commit, working directory clean
Apr 27 13:00:24 pbx.domain.com update_git.sh[30246]: To [email protected]:BundyAssoc/Bundy/PBX/Phone-Configs.git
Apr 27 13:00:24 pbx.domain.com update_git.sh[30246]: a1f81bf..536e8bc  master -> master
Apr 27 13:10:01 pbx.domain.com systemd[1]: Started update /tftpboot with the git repository.
Apr 27 13:10:11 pbx.domain.com update_git.sh[31749]: Already up-to-date.
Apr 27 13:10:11 pbx.domain.com update_git.sh[31749]: # On branch master
Apr 27 13:10:11 pbx.domain.com update_git.sh[31749]: nothing to commit, working directory clean
Apr 27 13:10:11 pbx.domain.com update_git.sh[31749]: # On branch master
Apr 27 13:10:11 pbx.domain.com update_git.sh[31749]: nothing to commit, working directory clean
Apr 27 13:10:11 pbx.domain.com update_git.sh[31749]: # On branch master
Apr 27 13:10:11 pbx.domain.com update_git.sh[31749]: nothing to commit, working directory clean
Apr 27 13:10:12 pbx.domain.com update_git.sh[31749]: Everything up-to-date

This is what it looks like in the GitLab interface. Github would be similar.