A generic, peer-to-peer repository for distributed configuration management

Distributed configuration management is intended to support the activities of projects that span multiple sites. NUCM (Network-Unified Configuration Management) is a testbed that we are developing to help us explore the issues of distributed configuration management. NUCM separates configuration management repositories (i.e. the stores for versions of artifacts) from configuration management policies (i.e. the procedures by which the versions are manipulated) by providing a generic model of a distributed repository and an associated programmatic interface. This paper describes the model and the interface, presents an initial repository distribution mechanism, and sketches how NUCM can be used to implement two rather different configuration management policies, namely check-in/check-out and change sets.