[wpkg-users] Ugly perl script to check if packages are installed on a set of

[Jens Geile]

Hi,

> Wow, impressive feature list. Looks like it could be some kind of replacement for the WPKG web GUI.
Well, for me it already is. I've also got a package editor, xml import/export for packages through the webinterface, some tools automatically download the installation files from the internet (firefox.exe, adobereader.exe, ...), and so on...
I'm maintaining one big repository of package .xml files and package them to distribute them through a nightly update system to all the servers running my solution. After the automatic nightly update a script parses the .xml files, stores them in the database, another script automagically downloads all the installers and the next morning everything is ready when the first computers get turned on.
I can also distribute profiles, serial numbers, ... basically whatever i want.

> I also like the vistual representation very much. Just the light bulb I would replace with a typical green tick mark and a failure with a typical red cross. The warning symbol I like :-)
The visual representation is the standard layout of our server's webinterface. One really cool thing about it is that you can sort the columns in the list in ascending and descending order by clicking on the column header. Some columns are also groupable for examble by the first letter like its shown in the images. About the icons .. i could do that but I'd need a green tick mark and a red cross which actually fits the style of all the other icons. ;)

> > And before anyone asks, I cannot make my webinterface public because its completely integrated into the webinterface of our server and fully depends on it.
> Too bad.
Well, we are selling our solution to schools. The server provides all kinds of other things (email, homepages, forums, chat, user/group management, .......) and the unattended/wpkg setup is just an optional module called "Client Installer". Of course I'm not charging any money for either WPKG or Unattended, those packages are available for free download from our update server. Just the webinterface and the integration into our server has costed me A LOT of time so far that I simply cannot give it away for free anymore.
For anyone interested: http://iserv.eu/ (the website is currently german only, the server itself is available with both and english and german webinterface)


> > Anyway, I hope you can get some ideas out of my solution and distribute it to the public, Chris.
> Would be great to turn it into a stand-alone situation. I guess you did not have to do changes to the wpkg.js script as it allows you to store wpkg.xml anywhere. Probably you needed to change the naming scheme?
Config.xml is my friend:

<param name='settings_file_name' value='%COMPUTERNAME%.xml' />
<param name='settings_file_path' value='\\\\iserv\\install\\wpkg\\status' />
<param name='log_file_path' value='\\\\iserv\\install\\wpkg\\status' />
<param name='logfilePattern' value='[HOSTNAME].log' />

The \\iserv\install share is strictly restricted to exactly one user with a high-security password as there could be sensitive data on the share noone is supposed to look at.

> In any case it looks very promising. However it would most likely need a lot of manpower to turn it into a generic solution including documentation to set it up properly.
It was developed by me to be as generic as possible in the environment of our server. In the near future this module will be installed on over 70 schools around here. :) The admins at the schools won't have to do very much as I can supply them with all the settings they need through the automatic update. The only thing they'll have to do is add the computers to the profiles. ... and if they want they can add new profiles and software packages, but only if they want.

> Currently it looks like we don't have this manpower but who knows...
WPKG itself is already pretty good. I just needed a webinterface since I cannot have the admins at the schools, which are all also teachers, and most of them don't have a single clue about IT, configure WPKG and Unattended through plain textfiles. They'd screw up the syntax and everything every second letter and call for support. Too much a PITA. :p

-
jens