Andrea,
This sounds very interesting. I have a couple of questions for you:
- How do the clients communicate back to the server? What protocol?
- Can you point us to some screen shots to give us an idea of what
the web GUI looks like?
- Please send a couple of the XML config schema examples.
- Are there any parts of SystemImager that conflict with your
improvements, that would need to be removed, or is it possible to
use your improvements as a "plug-in" to the existing framework?Again, this sounds very interesting!
Cheers,
-Brian
Thus spake Andrea Righi ([EMAIL PROTECTED]):
Hi all,
recently, to satisfy some hardware-heterogeneity requirements for the company where I work (CINECA Consortium - www.cineca.it), I've done some improvements in SIS (in particular for systemimager).
These changes consist in:
- the definition of a XML-based language by which is possible to express configuration schemas independent from the particular hardware installed in the target machines (i.e. the user doesn't care if a machine has a SCSI/IDE/RAID/etc. disk, but he can express only an abstract definition of the paritions... the system will perform the survey of the more opportune device at run-time);
- the development of a web-based front-end to define XML configuration schemas and to monitor the status of installations in real-time.
The scenario is the follow: XML schemas are defined by the web-based interface; they are translated into autoinstallation shell-scripts by an opportune "compiler" (running on the image-server) and are deployed into a repository (always on the image-server).
The client machines simply boot, get the autoinstall-script and run it into an embedded-linux (like BOEL and SIS do).
During the installation clients bring back periodically to the image-server some informations, so the administrator can see the status of installation for each machine by the web-based interface (a completion bar is shown). If an error occurs it is reported with an opportune error code and the system log. All these informations are stored into a MySQL database on the image-server and can be seen in every moment from the administrator using the web interface.
The main advantage of the web interface is that the administrator can manage and monitor installations remotely; he needs only a pc with an internet connection and a web-browser and it can ignore the particular hardware-configuration of the machines and their topology of connection.
If you are interested in these improvements please send me your opinions. From me I will be happy to help you in the development and the mantainance of this project also because I could be supported from the company where I work.
Bye, Andrea.
P.S. if you want to see what I've done until now you can take a look at http://members.lycos.co.uk/righiandr/sis-devel/ (obviously it's all under GPL license). For more informations you can contact me at the email above...
-- Andrea Righi System Management Group - CINECA - http://www.cineca.it Via Magnanelli 6/3 40033 Casalecchio di Reno (BO) - Italy e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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