As a Linux system administrator you are constantly working on tasks like: - Cloning a system from an existing one - Migrating a system to new hardware, a virtual environment or a different distribution - Debugging a broken system - Upgrading a system - Integrating your systems into a configuration management tool Determining and comparing the state of a system in order to work on these tasks is not a trivial thing. You have to know about services, packages, configuration files, etc. This proves to be even harder if one or more of your systems differ in version and/or distribution. You can use Machinery to inspect your Linux systems and use the generated descriptions to be interpreted in an off-line fashion, giving you the ability to compare a system at different points in time or against another system. Peace of mind will be the result of knowing that you can ensure the resulting state of your system and many other types of analysis based on your system descriptions. In this guided tour you will explore the basics of Machinery and see some examples in the wild. All from the safety of your seat. The focus will be on openSUSE systems but stay open to the use of any other distributions. Should you have any questions about Machinery your guide will be there for you at all times.