[LON-CAPA-dev] webmin

[Felicia Berryman]

Hi Scott,

> Though the remote control can be used as a launch point for common
> tasks.  It could help to think of what these common tasks are...
> 
> RPM updating
> Testing
> Status Reports
> Process handling
> Unix user management
> Cron job management
> Printer configuration
> Samba
> NFS
> Appletalk
> Time synchronization
> Disk usage monitoring

Let's say we had to stop supporting the High School servers and their
administrators had to take over and continue maintaining things just as
they are now.  IF this is the case, then I think the following tools
would be best:

RPM updating
Unix user management
Samba
Appletalk

The other tools can be put on some advanced page (or just leave them out
for now).  I think the four things above would be very successful and
they we can worry about adding the others if needed.  I think the less
the better.  Yes, we want to help users, but if easy tools exist, such
as prittool and userconf, then I'm guessing it would be easier to set up
the default desktop of the RedHat/LON-CAPA install with shortcuts to
more advanced features.  My feeling is the less software to support, the
better.  Of course, you want to encourage frequent updates.  In that
case, the RPM updating through webmin is a great idea for that feature.

Basically, I've been responding to most of your emails concerning the
administration interface because I see myself as taking over some of the
more tedious responsibilities, such as updating the software.  I'm
keeping in mind which things I access the most and which things I would
need help with to start out easily.  

The only other suggestion I can think of it to have nice way to control
backups and retrieving from backups.  I have the backup script for s10
and I have the instructions for retrieving a backup from s10 (I tested
it out a while back).  Actually, backing it up is much more important
than retrieval.  If a rare circumstance occurs and a backup needs to be
retrieved, it might work best by leaving this as an advanced feature on
the desktop.

Felicia
--
Felicia Berryman
LON-CAPA Coordinator
Michigan State University
  Email:  felicia@lon-capa.org
  Phone:  (517)432-9866  
http://www.lon-capa.org