EboxSpec
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Launchpad Entry: ebox
Packages affected:
Summary
Package ebox (http://www.ebox-platform.com/) for Ubuntu and provide it as an easily accessible installation option on the server cd.
Release Note
This version of Ubuntu features a new Ebox install option. Put in the server CD, select the Ebox option and just wait. You'll be greeted by a web interface allowing you to set up network and install other services.
Rationale
EBox fill a huge gap in our Ubuntu Server offering. It provides easily configurable file and printer sharing, jabber service, ntp server, dhcp server, vrtual mail server, openvpn server, and other things we may want to add to it later. We have all these things already, but setting them up is difficult to new users.
Use Cases
- Mark runs a small business. He knows other companies have snazzy ways of sharing files and printers and he wants in on the fun.
Assumptions
Design
Implementation
The packages will be based on the debian packages provided by the ebox developers themselves. Great care must be taken to make sure that any existing openvpn, samba, ldap, etc. configuration is either imported or at least backed up, so that reverting from an ebox installation will be a breeze.
An extra option will be added to the bootsplash (Install Ebox server). This would allow us to preseed things like network configuration since that is much more elegantly handled by ebox than by d-i.
UI Changes
It would be nice to have ebox more ubuntu-looking.
Migration
Ebox hijacks configuration files. For some of them, it imports the existing configuration, for others it just overwrites things. When overwriting, we should grab a backup (which will be restored when the ebox modules is removed again).
In each configuration file managed by ebox, there will be a warning saying that the file is managed by ebox and any changes *will* be lost. There should be a reference to the templates used to generate the config file, so any local changes can be added to the templates.
Test/Demo Plan
It's important that we are able to test new features, and demonstrate them to users. Use this section to describe a short plan that anybody can follow that demonstrates the feature is working. This can then be used during CD testing, and to show off after release.
This need not be added or completed until the specification is nearing beta.
Outstanding Issues (a.k.a. the todo list)
Please do not add anything to this list without asking SorenHansen.
- Replace apache-perl (eek) with apache2.2 with mod_perl.
- * Investigate how this affects reloading of modules, etc.
- Figure out the order in which stuff needs to be done in the postinst script, and make it so. Leave gconf stuff to dh_gconf.
- Replace ebox's init script with an upstart job description.
- Be painfully sure that no existing configuration is overwritten.
- * Ebox should work with a default postgresql config. If the user has deviated from the default postgresql config, it's HIS fault. Never try to override it or fix it. The process it too fragile.
- Make ebox work without password authentication against postgresql.
- Don't have a default ebox password. Rather set it to something random and make it easy to reset from the console.
- Upload the entire thing to Universe.