Server online – finished migration!

It was a tough one. A real tough one. However, finally, our little Dell Server (described below) PE1800, is up and running. Replacing it’s old 5 years old predecessor. It was a living hell, but it allowed me vast experiments with wider range of technologies, better combined solutions, and newer, more mature approach to system management.

I can proudly say I’ve been pushing towards the "no shell" solution, where everything will either be completely automatic, or where some web interface which allows even a non-tech user to manage things, will be the only required tools aiding in managing a server.

It’s not that I abandon CLI. On the contrary. I can now choose whether to use it or not, unlike before, where it was not a matter of choice, but of necessity.

I wish ISPMAN would give better permission and authorization granularity. I have developed a small wish-list of my own, but I don’t think it will ever come true. I will describe it here,
for the sports of it:

1) Allow domain users to manage their own passwords and GECOS-like information

2) Allow setting up "master domain", which will default to having no-extras to the login name. I wish I could login using "username" and not "username_my_domain_com". Allow me to set a single default during init time, and you’d make me happy. I’ve had to do so myself, for many scripts.

3) Allow me to state few levels of domain manager. I want "administrative" and "technical" domain managers, which could overlap on some issues, or could not.

4) I want to select what each type of the above mentioned roles would be able to do using the web interface. let me state that the "administrative" domain manager
cannot change DNS settings, but can control users. Let me select what each of them can and cannot do using the web GUI.

5) Better documentation. I might contribute some to it, and I try, when I remember, and have time, to share some of my knowledge with the readers of this specific blog.

Well… It’s up and running, dealing with real DNS requests, and tagging, queuing and delivering real mail messages, being under real attacks. My Baby 🙂

It’s probably during the next few days I’ll have better perspective of the success of the migration.