racktables

Table of Contents

1. Overview
2. Module Description - What the module does and why it is useful
3. Setup - The basics of getting started with racktables
   • What racktables affects
   • Beginning with RackTables module
4. Usage - Configuration options and additional functionality
5. Reference - An under-the-hood peek at what the module is doing and how
6. Limitations - OS compatibility, etc.
7. Development - Guide for contributing to the module

Overview

This Puppet module installs RackTables, along with Apache, PHP, MySQL.

Module Description

RackTables is nifty and robust solution for datacenter and server room asset management. It helps document hardware assets, network addresses, space in racks, networks configuration and much much more.

Use this module to install a new instance of RackTables. The module will also install Apache, PHP, MySQL (optional) and some other dependencies for RackTables (php packages mostly).

WARNING: Use this module on NEW servers! Existing databases, webserver configs and RackTables installations will be replaced or purged.

Setup

What racktables affects

• Apache - Any existing config will be purged or replaced.
• MySQL - Existing databases and settings might be replaced.
• RackTables - Existing RackTable files might be replaced.

Beginning with RackTables module

To install RackTables version 0.20.10 with local database and default parameters:

class { '::racktables':
  vhost      => 'racktables.example.com',
  release    => 'RackTables-0.20.10',
  install_db => true,
}

As soon as Puppet is done installing RackTables, go to the vhost address and append ?module=installer to the URL (Example URL: https://racktables.example.com/?module=installer). From there follow the RackTables installation steps (7 in total).

Default database settings are:

• database: racktables_db
• username: racktables_user
• password: racktables_pass

These values can be changed by adding parameters 'db_name', 'db_username' and 'db_password' to the ::racktables class (See more examples).

Handling the permissions of secret.php at installation step 3 and 4 of can be assisted by Puppet. Use parameter 'secretfile' on the ::racktables class and set it to "writable" on step 3 and "readonly" on step 4. Remember to run "puppet agent -t" on the target server after each of these steps. If you have an existing secretfile or template, the default behavior of 'secretfile' is to accept the contents as a string. For instance:

class { '::racktables':
  vost	     => 'racktables.example.com',
  release    => 'RackTables-0.20.10',
  secretfile => file('/path/to/file'),
}

Examples

Install RackTables with a new local database:

class { '::racktables':
  vhost       => 'racktables.example.com',
  release     => 'RackTables-0.20.10',
  install_db  => true,
  db_name     => 'racktables',
  db_username => 'racktables',
  db_password => 'make_a_strong_password',
}

Install RackTables, using a remote database with existing RackTables data:

class { '::racktables':
  vhost       => 'racktables.example.com',
  release     => 'RackTables-0.20.10',
  db_name     => 'example_db_name',
  db_username => 'example_username',
  db_password => 'example_password',
  db_host     => 'database.example.com',
  secretfile  => 'template',
}

Make sure there's a DNS entry for your vhost. After 'puppet agent -t' run on target machine, go to the vhost URL and follow the onscreen installation instructions.

Usage

###Classes and Defined Types

####Class: racktables

#####secretfile

Handles the inc/secret.php file. This can be put to good use during first time installation.

Available settings for this parameter are:

• "w" (writable)
• "r" (readonly) (these are useful for configuring Racktables manually through the web browser
• "template" (uses the included default template, which works in most cases)
• "absent" (deletes the file, if it exists)
• A string containing the contents of the secretfile ( usually read in from file() or template() )
• undef (or just don't include the parameter) - this does nothing and leaves the file undeclared

If you set this attribute to "w" while installing RackTables so that the web server can write to the file, remember to later set it to "r" (for readonly) after configuration in step 4.

#####vhost

String. The virtual host address to use for your racktables installation. Requires a valid DNS entry. Defaults to 'racktables.example.com'.

#####release

String. Selects what RackTables version to download. The version is pulled from https://github.com/RackTables/racktables/tree/REVISION (Revision = Git revision TAG). The RackTables project on GitHub has (so far) tagged every release with "RackTables-[version]". You can automatically upgrade the racktables version by modifying this attribute to a higher version number. Defaults to 'undef', which results in the default repo being downloaded. After first download, 'undef' setting will not modify local files even if the remote repo is updated.

#####install_db

Boolean. Set to 'true' to make this module install a mysql database on the target server. Defaults to 'false'.

#####db_username

String. Sets the mysql username for the racktables database. Defaults to 'racktables_user'.

#####db_password

String. Sets the password for the user defined in param "mysqluser". Defaults to 'racktables_pass'.

#####db_name

String. Sets the name of the database for racktables. Defaults to 'racktables_db'.

#####db_host

String. Sets the name of the database to connect to. Defaults to 'localhost'.

#####db_rootpw

String. Sets the root password on MySQL. Defaults to undef.

#####user_auth_src

String. "$user_auth_src" setting in inc/secret.php. Default setting is to authenticate users locally, but it is possible to employ existing LDAP or Apache user accounts. Check RackTables wiki for more information, in particular, this page for LDAP configuration details: http://wiki.racktables.org/index.php?title=LDAP Defaults to 'database'.

#####require_local_account

String. "$require_local_account" setting in inc/secret.php. See RackTables wiki on LDAP and SAML configuration for more information: http://wiki.racktables.org/ Defaults to true.

#####pdo_bufsize

String. "$pdo_bufsize" setting in inc/secret.php. Setting MySQL client buffer size may be required to make downloading work for larger files, but it does not work with mysqlnd. Example: '50 * 1024 * 1024' Defaults to undef.

#####ldap_options

Hash. "$LDAP_options" setting in inc/secret.php. See http://wiki.racktables.org/index.php?title=LDAP for details. Defaults to undef. Example class:

class { '::racktables':
  vhost                 => 'racktables.example.com',
  release               => 'RackTables-0.20.10',
  user_auth_src         => 'ldap',
  require_local_account => false,
  ldap_options          => {
    'server'               => 'localhost',
    'domain'               => 'example.com',
    'search_attr'          => '',
    'search_dn'            => '',
    'search_bind_rdn'      => 'NULL',
    'search_bind_password' => 'NULL',
    'displayname_attrs'    => '',
    'options'              => 'array (LDAP_OPT_PROTOCOL_VERSION => 3)',
    'use_tls'              => '2',
  }
}

#####saml_options

Hash. "$SAML_options" setting in inc/secret.php. See http://wiki.racktables.org/index.php?title=SAML for details. Defaults to undef. Example class:

class { '::racktables':
  vhost                 => 'racktables.example.com',
  release               => 'RackTables-0.20.10',
  user_auth_src         => 'saml',
  require_local_account => false,
  saml_options          => {
    'simplesamlphp_basedir' => '../simplesaml',
    'sp_profile'            => 'default-sp',
    'usernameAttribute'     => 'eduPersonPrincipName',
    'fullnameAttribute'     => 'fullName',
    'groupListAttribute'    => 'memberOf',
  }
}

#####helpdesk_banner

String. "$helpdesk_banner" setting in inc/secret.php. This HTML banner is intended to assist users in dispatching their issues to the local tech support service. Its text (in its verbatim form) will be appended to assorted error messages visible in user's browser (including "not authenticated" message). Beware of placing any sensitive information here, it will be readable by unauthorized visitors. Defaults to undef.

#####ssl_cert

String. Specifies the location of SSL certification. Defaults to undef.

#####ssl_key

String. Specifies the location of the SSL key. Defaults to undef.

#####apacheuser

String. Specifies the apache user. Used for setting permissions to inc/secret.php. Defaults to 'apache' for RedHat/CentOS and 'www-data' for Debian/Ubuntu.

#####datadir

String. Specifies the installation path of RackTables. Defaults to '/usr/local/share/RackTables'.

#####packages

Array. Defines what prerequisities to install. Defaults are operating system specific. See params.pp for details.

#####repoensure String. Specify the ensure parameter for vcsrepo. Setting this to 'latest' will always pull new commits to the GitHub repo, which is usefull for development environments. Use only 'present' for production installations! Defaults to 'present'. Valid values are 'present' and 'latest'.

#####vcsprovider

String. Defines what vcs system to use for downloading RackTables. Defaults to 'git'.

#####source

String. URL to the RackTables repo. Defaults to 'https://github.com/RackTables/racktables.git'.

Reference

###Classes

####Public Classes

• racktables: Starts the module and calls racktables::apache, racktables::mysql and racktables::install
• racktables::apache: Installs Apache and a specified vhost
• racktables::mysql: Installs MySQL and sets up an empty database
• racktables::install: Pulls and installs RackTables from GitHub (or other specified source)
• racktables::config: Handles the inc/secret.php file

####Private Classes

• racktables::params: Default parameters

Limitations

#####RHEL 7

Should work, but has not been tested.

Development

###Contributing

Please use the issue tracker (https://github.com/rspiak/sgnl05-racktables/issues) for any type of contribution.