Update Host Command

Update an existing host's information in the system inventory at context/hosts/{hostname}/.

How This Command Works

This command orchestrates the host-management skill to update host information.

Architecture:

• The skill's tool modifies JSON files directly
• You read the tool's JSON output to see what was updated
• You DO NOT modify files directly - let the tool manage state

Workflow

1. Gather information from user or $ARGUMENTS:

   • Hostname (required)
   • Fields to update: IP, SSH user, FQDN, tags
   • Whether to re-gather facts

2. Invoke the host-management skill's update-host.sh tool:

   ./skills/host-management/tools/update-host.sh --hostname <name> [OPTIONS]
   

3. Read the JSON output from the tool to see:

   • Success/failure status
   • Which fields were updated
   • Whether facts were re-gathered

4. Report to the user:

   • If successful: confirm what was updated
   • If failed: explain the error from the tool's output
   • Optionally read context/hosts/{hostname}/facts.json to show updated state

Examples

Example 1: Update IP address

User: /update-host webserver01 --ip 192.168.1.15

1. Run: ./skills/host-management/tools/update-host.sh --hostname webserver01 --ip 192.168.1.15
2. Read JSON output
3. Report: "Updated webserver01 IP address to 192.168.1.15"

Example 2: Update tags

User: /update-host dbserver --tags production,database,critical

1. Run: ./skills/host-management/tools/update-host.sh --hostname dbserver --tags production,database,critical
2. Read JSON output
3. Report: "Updated dbserver tags: production, database, critical"

Example 3: Re-gather facts

User: /update-host appserver --gather-facts

1. Run: ./skills/host-management/tools/update-host.sh --hostname appserver --gather-facts
2. Read JSON output (check "facts_gathered": true/false)
3. Read context/hosts/appserver/facts.json to show updated facts
4. Report: "Re-gathered facts for appserver: Ubuntu 22.04, 8 cores, 16GB RAM"

Example 4: Update multiple fields

User: /update-host webserver01 --ip 10.0.1.20 --ssh-user deploy --tags production,web

1. Run: ./skills/host-management/tools/update-host.sh --hostname webserver01 --ip 10.0.1.20 --ssh-user deploy --tags production,web
2. Read JSON output (check "updated_fields" array)
3. Report: "Updated webserver01: IP, SSH user, and tags"

Important Reminders

• NEVER modify host JSON files directly
• ALWAYS use the skill's tool for state management
• READ the tool's output to understand what was updated
• Let the tool handle all file modifications

This ensures data integrity and prevents errors from manual LLM modification of data.