ClearCenter and ClearFoundation are interested in starting a CentOS variant called 'ClearCenter Marketplace for CentOS'. This will allow management of various CentOS services, EPEL packages, and third party applications to be easily managed and configured under CentOS.
We are also interested in being part of a SIG centered around 'Server Management.' Please let us know the next steps. We'd like to get started right away and we are willing to participate in the process of helping to set up shop. Let us know how we can serve.
On 01/11/2014 12:06 AM, David Loper wrote:
ClearCenter and ClearFoundation are interested in starting a CentOS variant called 'ClearCenter Marketplace for CentOS'. This will allow management of various CentOS services, EPEL packages, and third party applications to be easily managed and configured under CentOS.
Can you elaborate on this a bit ?
We are also interested in being part of a SIG centered around 'Server Management.' Please let us know the next steps. We'd like to get started right away and we are willing to participate in the process of helping to set up shop. Let us know how we can serve.
If you had to map this to a technology, what might that be ?
If I had to map it to a technology, I'd map it to all the MSC server apps in Microsoft Server Suite…but web based and with cloud services. Our product is appropriate for any home, office, or business as a comprehensive solution for IT or in an environment that needs to have turnkey solutions to specific IT needs not addressed by their current technology. Currently, we primarily replace Sonicwall, Cisco, and Microsoft SBS. We'd like to be able to do that as a CentOS variant as well. Especially for individuals migrating to Linux who need easy to use administration. We take a whole rack of IT junk and make it manageable under CentOS.
ClearCenter Marketplace adds a web-based management interface to CentOS for the purpose of managing the Server, Network, Gateway, and Cloud for a home, small office, or business.
Server based items under web-based control include: Directory Services via OpenLDAP for users and groups Windows Networking File Sharing services via HTTP, CIFS, FTP and others Printer Services via CUPS Photo Organizer Bittorrent MySQL Web Server (LAMP) SugarCRM, Wordpress, and other LAMP applications FileServer antivirus Mail Server Email Antispam and Antivirus Backup Server and much, much more
Network based items under web-based control include: DHCP and DNS Server Incoming and Outgoing Firewall control Port Forwarding and 1:1 NAT RADIUS SSH Server VPN MultiWAN and much, much more
Gateway-based items under web control include: Intrusion Detection and Prevention Proxy services WPAD control Web Content Filtration Gateway antivirus and antiphishing and much, much more
Reports will exist in the web interface that allows for easy interpretation of data from the various services listed. In addition, privilege separation allows non-admins to view aspects of delegated control.
Lastly, the Marketplace adds a platform to which 3rd party application providers using open and closed technologies can write a graphical management app for the installation and configuration of their app.
For example, if Kaspersky wanted to be able to provide an alternative pattern file for antivirus than ClamAV (the default) they can have an app and sell their product in the marketplace. (think Apple Store/Google Play…but for servers)
We have all the sources ready to go and ready to build. Just let us know what is required to get them building against CentOS
On Fri, Jan 10, 2014 at 5:21 PM, Karanbir Singh mail-lists@karan.orgwrote:
On 01/11/2014 12:06 AM, David Loper wrote:
ClearCenter and ClearFoundation are interested in starting a CentOS variant called 'ClearCenter Marketplace for CentOS'. This will allow management of various CentOS services, EPEL packages, and third party applications to be easily managed and configured under CentOS.
Can you elaborate on this a bit ?
We are also interested in being part of a SIG centered around 'Server Management.' Please let us know the next steps. We'd like to get started right away and we are willing to participate in the process of helping to set up shop. Let us know how we can serve.
If you had to map this to a technology, what might that be ?
-- Karanbir Singh +44-207-0999389 | http://www.karan.org/ | twitter.com/kbsingh GnuPG Key : http://www.karan.org/publickey.asc _______________________________________________ CentOS-devel mailing list CentOS-devel@centos.org http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos-devel
Hi CentOS Devel,
We are also interested in being part of a SIG centered around 'Server Management.' Please let us know the next steps. We'd like to get started right away and we are willing to participate in the process of helping to set up shop. Let us know how we can serve.
If you had to map this to a technology, what might that be ?
Integration through a web-based administration tool. How's that for a nebulous answer :-) Here's a scenario that will help explain what we do.
For privacy and compliance reasons, a not-for-profit needs to run a mail server in their own data center. Using a VM or bare metal, they fire up CentOS and install:
- Postfix - Cyrus IMAP - SpamAssassin - ClamAV (from EPEL) - OpenSSL for user certificates
They pull it all together with OpenLDAP for user and group management. Now all that needs to be done is configuring all those open source packages into a cohesive mail solution: /etc/postfix/main.cf, /etc/clamd.conf, /etc/imapd.conf, etc. When that's done, they breakout the OpenSSL documentation to figure out all the security certificate jargon -- Certificate Authority, here we come.
Many people on this list (including yours truly) love to get into these details, but many others prefer to get the ball rolling and dig in only when required. ClearOS pulls everything together with a web-based interface for configuration -- a picture is worth a thousand words (screenshot):
http://www.clearcenter.com/images/clearos%20professional%20gateway%20id.png
All of this runs on a "CentOS variant" today and most of it is open source ( http://code.clearfoundation.com/). Yes, there are some paid apps available to pay the bills but the apps noted above, for example, are free and free.
That's a basic overview of what we do. How does this help the CentOS / RHEL community and how does ClearOS fit in with the variants proposal? Some thoughts from a technical perspective:
- RPM package maintenance (EPEL packaging?) - QA and test scripts - Documenting best practices - Growing the CentOS / RHEL ecosystem
Cheers, Peter Baldwin ClearFoundation
hi
On 01/11/2014 04:17 AM, Peter Baldwin wrote:
That's a basic overview of what we do. How does this help the CentOS / RHEL community and how does ClearOS fit in with the variants proposal? Some thoughts from a technical perspective:
Is the code in a git repo somewhere ? It seems like a couple of puppet manifests or chef / ansible ones, that implement a pre-setup assumption-based ( which can be a good place to start from ) config state on a machine.
As the first person to bring up the QA word, I like you already.
Woah... this turned into a long e-mail.
On Sat, Jan 11, 2014 at 7:20 AM, Karanbir Singh mail-lists@karan.org
On 01/11/2014 04:17 AM, Peter Baldwin wrote: That's a basic overview of what we do. How does this help the CentOS / RHEL community and how does ClearOS fit in with the variants proposal? Some thoughts from a technical perspective:
It seems like a couple of puppet manifests or chef / ansible ones, that implement a pre-setup assumption-based ( which can be a good place to start from ) config state on a machine.
Deep inside the ClearOS developer documents, there's a short walkthrough on how to "convert" a CentOS system to a ClearOS system. In essence, it's a walkthrough that shows what's needed to get a barebones ClearOS web-management tool running on top of a CentOS system. As stated in the doc, it's not recommended for a real world deployment and intended for tinkerers.
http://www.clearfoundation.com/docs/developer/architecture/core_system/clear...
Below is a summary for those who don't have the time/interest to break out a VM and perform a walkthrough:
1) A sandboxed Apache/PHP engine is packaged to avoid interfering with the default OS Apache/PHP engine. Source RPMS required:
- webconfig-httpd (upstream "httpd', but tweaked to run out of /usr/clearos/sandbox) - webconfig-php (upstream "php", ditto)
2) A slightly modified CodeIgniter PHP framework is used by the web-management interface. Source RPM:
- clearos-framework
3) A set of barebones "app" packages are required - these are the PHP API/REST/web front-end RPMs. We can strip out the "must register" type of workflow for a CentOS variant of course, but those are implementation details. Source RPMs:
- app-language - app-network - app-register - app-suva-core / suva-client (needed for registering) - app-clearcenter - app-registration - app-marketplace
Not all the features listed on the on the following page would be available in a CentOS variant since some require EPEL or ClearOS-maintained packages (e.g. ClamAV, DansGuardian, Snort):
http://www.clearcenter.com/marketplace/
So something like "OpenVPN" would require the "app-openvpn" RPM in addition to the upstream openvpn package. Most, if not all, of the packages listed in the above URL listed as "free as in beer" are also "free as in speech".
Is the code in a git repo somewhere ?
We have 3 types of packages.
1) Modified upstream and ClearOS-maintained packages
CentOS development veterans will recognize this :-) It's a CVS repository used by plague build system: http://buildsys.clearfoundation.com/plague/success.psp . Source code:
cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.clearfoundation.com:/var/clearos/cvs/repositories/clearos co rpms
Here's a list of upstream packages that we modify with reasons why we modify (warning: doc is not 100% up-to-speed): http://www.clearfoundation.com/docs/developer/packaging/clearos_6.x/start
None of the upstream modifications would be required for a CentOS variant but some apps would not be available without the modifications.
2) Internal code used a helpers for some ClearOS features
We have a dozen-ish packages that we have developed to support some apps. Those are found on Github: https://github.com/clearos-packages
For example, the "csplugin-routewatch" watches for route modifications from external packages (OpenVPN, IPsec, PPTP) and notifies the multi-WAN app when something changes.
3) PHP API, REST, and web frontend
The "meat and potatoes" -- these are the PHP API/REST/web RPMs. These will be migrated to Github in the next week or so (https://github.com/clearos), but can be found on svn.clearfoundation.com/clearos right now (web frontend @ http://code.clearfoundation.com/svn/).
Cheers, Peter Baldwin
Karanbir and team,
Is this enough information for us to get started on the ClearCenter/ClearFoundation variant? What time of build tools will be available to the variant community? Will we be able to have access to the build system? Something like SuseStudio?
On Mon, Jan 13, 2014 at 8:50 AM, Peter Baldwin <pbaldwin@clearfoundation.com
wrote:
Woah... this turned into a long e-mail.
On Sat, Jan 11, 2014 at 7:20 AM, Karanbir Singh mail-lists@karan.org
On 01/11/2014 04:17 AM, Peter Baldwin wrote: That's a basic overview of what we do. How does this help the CentOS / RHEL community and how does ClearOS fit in with the variants proposal? Some thoughts from a technical perspective:
It seems like a couple of puppet manifests or chef / ansible ones, that implement a pre-setup assumption-based ( which can be a good place to start from ) config state on a machine.
Deep inside the ClearOS developer documents, there's a short walkthrough on how to "convert" a CentOS system to a ClearOS system. In essence, it's a walkthrough that shows what's needed to get a barebones ClearOS web-management tool running on top of a CentOS system. As stated in the doc, it's not recommended for a real world deployment and intended for tinkerers.
http://www.clearfoundation.com/docs/developer/architecture/core_system/clear...
Below is a summary for those who don't have the time/interest to break out a VM and perform a walkthrough:
- A sandboxed Apache/PHP engine is packaged to avoid interfering with the
default OS Apache/PHP engine. Source RPMS required:
- webconfig-httpd (upstream "httpd', but tweaked to run out of
/usr/clearos/sandbox)
- webconfig-php (upstream "php", ditto)
- A slightly modified CodeIgniter PHP framework is used by the
web-management interface. Source RPM:
- clearos-framework
- A set of barebones "app" packages are required - these are the PHP
API/REST/web front-end RPMs. We can strip out the "must register" type of workflow for a CentOS variant of course, but those are implementation details. Source RPMs:
- app-language
- app-network
- app-register
- app-suva-core / suva-client (needed for registering)
- app-clearcenter
- app-registration
- app-marketplace
Not all the features listed on the on the following page would be available in a CentOS variant since some require EPEL or ClearOS-maintained packages (e.g. ClamAV, DansGuardian, Snort):
http://www.clearcenter.com/marketplace/
So something like "OpenVPN" would require the "app-openvpn" RPM in addition to the upstream openvpn package. Most, if not all, of the packages listed in the above URL listed as "free as in beer" are also "free as in speech".
Is the code in a git repo somewhere ?
We have 3 types of packages.
- Modified upstream and ClearOS-maintained packages
CentOS development veterans will recognize this :-) It's a CVS repository used by plague build system: http://buildsys.clearfoundation.com/plague/success.psp . Source code:
cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.clearfoundation.com:/var/clearos/cvs/repositories/clearos co rpms
Here's a list of upstream packages that we modify with reasons why we modify (warning: doc is not 100% up-to-speed): http://www.clearfoundation.com/docs/developer/packaging/clearos_6.x/start
None of the upstream modifications would be required for a CentOS variant but some apps would not be available without the modifications.
- Internal code used a helpers for some ClearOS features
We have a dozen-ish packages that we have developed to support some apps. Those are found on Github: https://github.com/clearos-packages
For example, the "csplugin-routewatch" watches for route modifications from external packages (OpenVPN, IPsec, PPTP) and notifies the multi-WAN app when something changes.
- PHP API, REST, and web frontend
The "meat and potatoes" -- these are the PHP API/REST/web RPMs. These will be migrated to Github in the next week or so ( https://github.com/clearos), but can be found on svn.clearfoundation.com/clearos right now (web frontend @ http://code.clearfoundation.com/svn/).
Cheers, Peter Baldwin
CentOS-devel mailing list CentOS-devel@centos.org http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos-devel
Hi all,
On Fri, Jan 17, 2014 at 12:33 AM, David Loper dloper@clearcenter.com
wrote:
Karanbir and team,
Is this enough information for us to get started on the ClearCenter/ClearFoundation variant? What time of build tools will be available to the variant community? Will we be able to have access to the build system? Something like SuseStudio?
Easy now tiger ... one step at a time :-)
I would recommend having an "OfficeHours" discussion if possible. The NethServer and SME Server teams should be involved. There are too many open questions that need to answered and a meeting is probably the best forum to get some clarity.
Cheers, Peter Baldwin ClearOS Developer Guy
I would recommend having an "OfficeHours" discussion if possible. The NethServer and SME Server teams should be involved. There are too many open questions that need to answered and a meeting is probably the best forum to get some clarity.
I agree. We're in Italy, CET (GMT+1).
Part of our agenda: software stacks (ie postfix+amavis+...) kernel features
Packages we're building now: http://code.nethesis.it/
NethServer
On Fri, Jan 17, 2014 at 4:26 PM, Peter Baldwin pbaldwin@clearfoundation.com wrote:
I would recommend having an "OfficeHours" discussion if possible. The NethServer and SME Server teams should be involved.
Peter, as I said last Jan 17, we are ready to discuss further. The basic idea is that NethServer and ClearOS could jointly maintain some packages for the community. Could you find some time for an office hour?
Hello Filippo,
On Fri, Feb 7, 2014 at 1:14 PM, Filippo Carletti <filippo.carletti@gmail.com
wrote:
Peter, as I said last Jan 17, we are ready to discuss further. The basic idea is that NethServer and ClearOS could jointly maintain some packages for the community. Could you find some time for an office hour?
Certainly! The Toronto office is in North America Eastern Time (UTC-5) and the Salt Lake City office is in North America Mountain Time (UTC-7). Let's coordinate this off-list. I'll send an e-mail shortly.
Cheers, Peter
-
David Loper -
Filippo Carletti -
Karanbir Singh -
Peter Baldwin