What is STTA ?
STTA (Services with Tarantella) is a tool to admin Services around Tarantella software.
Built as a Webmin module, allows full synchronization among different technologies: LDAP, Web-Server, Tarantella, etc.
Does not try to replace Tarantella Object Mangager or LDAP admin consoles, rather than coordinate objects attributes and definitions.
It helps to manage Services Objects as one unit in an enterprise deployment environment where
Tarantella web enabling technology and user authentication are critical :
- Users management
Add, modify, delete and load form user list files. Users LDAP DN and Tarantella ENS Object Name and his hierarchy sync and match.
This allows to mirror organization structure in both repositories for Service access and configuration.
- Applications autentication
Customize rules to scan credentials and access secuence to applications (Tarantella third tier).
Based on user, groups, hosts, applications, domains it require to use a dedicated LDAP. (Ldap Cache).
Or manage Tarantella password cache instead
- Manage Services objects and groups
Users, hosts, applications, links, etc- from one unique point- It does the basic work for Tarantella Object Manager and LDAP
- Navigation Object tools and links
To verify and fix objects correspondence among definitions and the LDAP servers
- Extended mechanisms to access applications.
STTA Ldap Cache allows to extend Tarantella TCL and Expect mechanism to get into applications.
- Admin, check and management Tools
For backup, restore, replicate, dump Tarantella ENS, test and monitor Services for the "array of machines".
- Tarantella Session management
Collect Tarantella emulator sessions, make accounting for objects to help STTA Monitor to decide to take acctions.
Number of sessions for groups, users, hosts or applications can be assigned
- Services Monitor
To perform specific task on all the services upon customizable events automatically or manual.
Multiple criteria and nested conditions are allowed.
- CGI File Manager tool
Tool made for manage "logs", "definitions", "scripts", "debug", etc. allows to run, empty, read, write files.
- Feedback procedure to send or pack Services info and files
For comments, issues, requests, problems, tracking, etc. this tools will collect everything, pack it and send it by mail.
From Services logs to config files, everything can be simply packed if no on-line mail server is available.
- Service Report and Checking tool
In each http(s) request you can get and scan Services port and config Status, get warn or stop.
Interface will adapt to services availability by not presenting objects from services down.
Icons and messages will alert on services down status.
- Log list manager
From a list of logs files and time parameters STTA can make housekeeping logs tasks.
- Web Help making tool
for external or static Web servers without all Webmin infraestructure installed or just only for reading
- Several STTA servers working in array
Communications among several servers to share common Service information and manage local services
This feature work in parallel of Tarantella Array for Service high availability and Service load sharing
- Install / update & patch management tool
Upon defined rules will follow you step by step to acomplish the task.
Install, update, upgrade, patch, join to array, install as secundary with LDAP services, etc.
- Branding mechanism to sync and control versions and installatios
Very helpfull in trying to maintain several servers and installations with many adjustments.
- High level of trace and debug
For "application login process", "actions over objects", "monitor actions", "installations", etc.
- A lot of config parameters ( more than 200 )
To make most of the process automatic and to adjust to different deployment situations and needs.
STTA Webmin module is written in PERL,
using all open and standard technologies: LDAP, TCL, HTML, Shell scripts, etc. Is under GPL license.
All Professional Services, consultancy and particular adjustment can be hire but the software itself is under GPL. By using a one year development project in a big company the idea is to OPEN this helpful tool to others and make it grow and strong.
Requirements: Unix/Linux OS with Perl, Webmin, Web-Server installed, LDAP and Tarantella. To manage as a front-end only a Web browser.
STTA Architecture
STTA coordinate LDAP and Tarantella requests so queries can get a right path.
All LDAP queries are made through Perl LDAP and all Tarantella communications are made through Tarantella script or command line interface.
Tarantella queries to LDAP Cache to get applications servers credentials are made from Tarantella TCL expect scripts modified with some hooks to PerlLDAP and STTA,
so the appropiate credentials and parameters will be passed. This approach allows to do extended checking for sessions tickets and actions and even more dialog for applications launching process.
Technologies in STTA
STTA use open and standard technologies:
- Webmin
Is by far one of the best Operating System manager developments. It is multiplatform as Tarantella and use also Web interface.
There are others languages but not a full interface well tested to work within.
- PerlLDAP
As Webmin is using Perl as a language the options is to find a Perl interface to LDAP. Until STTA 1.3,as first developments were made for Iplanet
STTA was using Mozilla Perl LDAP . This option need C compiler as use a C API, it is not pure Perl code.
Form STTA 1.3 Perl LDAP is used and is available as CPAN module also. This one looks like to have more future and gives a very good feedback in each operation.
- TCL Expect
This the standard technology used by Tarantella to communicate or better negotiate application servers access and application launch.
So STTA adjusts scanning credentials procedures to TCL and Expect languages to be as much transparent as it is possible to Tarantella.
- Tarantella Scripts
This is the basic method to "do" or "make" changes and queries to Tarantella Servers. This means that STTA works in a very transparent way with Tarantella, even if the JVM queries in each request does not help too much in system load.
- Shell Scripts
Some shells scripts are added to make adjustments or launch Perl scripts.
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