[wpkg-users] Deploying software using AD group membership

[Pendl Stefan]

>
> happy to help wit hADS testing, feel free to send requests to me.
>
> Hi Simon,
>
> simon.begin at institutsmq.qc.ca wrote:
> >
> > Does anyone already found a way to deploy software based on
> an Active
> > Directory Group membership ?
> >
> > Here we used to use SMS and (hey this is a really good news
> for WPKG)
> > we are currently switching on WPKG for simplicity.
> > What we did is to make a Group like "App Deploy XYZ", and
> put Computer
>
> > objects as member of that group.
> > Once configured correctly, The call center here was able to deploy
> > software themself without even calling level 2 support -
> they just add
>
> > another Computer to the AD group!
> >
> > I have an idea of scripting this, but I first like to know if it is
> > either planned on wpkg.js or if somebody already has done it.
>
> My personal recommendation here would be a script/tool which
> exports ADS
> information to WPKG XML files based on schedule or trigger. However
> there is a (yet unsupported) patch for an early WPKG 1.1 version in
> Bugzilla:
> <http://bugzilla.wpkg.org/show_bug.cgi?id=118>
>
> I am still having some concerns integrating it into the official
> version. Maybe it will make its way in WPKG 1.2 release (where I plan
> some bigger internal re-structurings anyway).
>
> In general I am not a big friend of doing ADS lookup with JScript
> because of stability and portability. Moreover most WPKG users
> (including me) do not have an ADS running. So integrating ADS support
> would increase testing effort (each patch/release would have to be
> tested in detail by somebody having an ADS). Even the patch
> in Bugzilla
> has never been ported/tested for newer WPKG releases.
> So for the stable releases I clearly focus on stability and
> compatibility for the majority of WPKG users (using plain
> shares and XML
> files).
>
> Having a tool which exports ADS information to XML files
> would allow ADS
> users to run WPKG with ADS "support" while people without ADS are not
> affected by code which they will never use.
>
> br,
> Rainer

In general adding AD support through a third party JS script, which creates the hosts XML file by querying the AD, would be the option, which does not involve changes to the core package.

Keeping the core as simple and maintainable is a reasonable point of view, which I fully support.

---
Stefan