We’ve just release version 0.7 of Ganeti Web Manager. Ganeti Web Manager is a Django based web application that allows administrators and clients access to their ganeti clusters. It includes a permissions and quota system that allows administrators to grant access to both clusters and virtual machines. It also includes user groups for structuring access to organizations.

This is the fourth release of Ganeti Web Manager and it contains numerous new features.  It also includes various bug fixes and speed optimizations.  Here is the full CHANGELOG, or read on for the highlights.

Xen Support

Ganeti Web Manager now have full Xen support.  Prior versions could display Xen instances, but now you can create and edit them too.  This as an important addition because Xen is a widely used and mature project.  Now with full hardware virtualization in Linux 3.0, Xen will continue to be an important technology for virtualization.  This was our most often requested feature and we’re glad to have fulfilled it.

Internationalization

Thanks to a large community contribution, internationalization support was added for nearly all aspects of the interface.  Users can switch between their default language and any other.  Currently only a Greek translation is available, but we’d like to see many more languages. If you can read and write another language this is a great opportunity for you to get involved. We’re using Transifex to coordinate people who want to help translate.

Search & Improved Navigation

Administrators of larger cluster can now find objects easier with our search interface.  It includes an Ajax auto-complete feature, along with detailed results.

We’ve also added contextual links wherever we could.  This included ensuring breadcrumbs were properly formatted on each page.  Object Permissions and Object Log were updated to ensure navigating between those screens and Ganeti Web Manager is seamless.

Import Tools

There are now import tools for Nodes.  These work the same as for instances.  The cache updater has also been reworked to support both Nodes and Instances.  It’s now a twisted plugin with modest speed improvements due to Ganeti requests happening asynchronously.

Speed, Scalability, and Bugs

We’ve sought out places where we performed extra and or inefficient database queries.  We identified numerous places where database interaction could be reduced, and pages returned faster.  This is an ongoing process.  We’ll continue to optimize and improve the responsiveness as we find areas of the project we can improve.

Numerous bugs were fixed in both the user interface and the backend.  Notably, the instance creation interface has had several bugs corrected.

Module Releases

We’re building several modules along with Ganeti Web Manager.  The following projects have new releases coinciding with Ganeti Web Manager 0.7:

Django Object Permissions 1.4

• improved user selection widget
• speed improvements

Object Log 0.6

• our first public release
• speed, scalability, and flexibility improvements

Twisted VNC Auth Proxy

• our first public release
• added support for hixie 07 and latest noVNC version.

Want to learn more?

Lance Albertson and I will be speaking about Ganeti & Ganeti Web Manager at several conferences this summer.  Catch us at the following events:

• Open Source Bridge – Hands-on Virtualization with Ganeti
• OSCON – Ganeti Web Manager: Cluster Management Made Simple
• OSCON – Hands-on Virtualization with Ganet (tutorial)

Five OSUOSL co-workers and I recently finished a road trip to Google I/O 2011.  We took two cars on an 11 hour drive through scenic southern Oregon and northern California.  We learned more about Android and other technologies shaping the web.  It was also a great opportunity to spend time with each other outside the office.

Monday night we joined about 30 Google Summer of Code mentors for dinner and drinks hosted by the Google Open Source Programs Office.  We’re always grateful for events that bring together friends old and new.  One developer nervously sat down at our table, professing that he didn’t know anyone.  We might not work on the same project, but we’re all part of the open source community.

The highlight of the conference was the double announcement of Android Open Accessory program and Android @ Home.  Both open up Android to integration with third party devices.  These features coupled with near field communications (NFC) stand to dramatically change how we use our mobiles devices to interact with the world around us.  This is not a new idea.  X10 home automation has existed since 1975.  Zigbee and Z-wave are more modern protocols, but also available for years.  The difference here is 100 million Android users and a half million Arduino hackers.

As Phillip Torrone wrote on the Makezine Blog, “There really isn’t an easier way to get analog sensor data or control a motor easier and faster than with an Arduino — and that’s a biggie, especially if you’re a phone and want to do this.”

It won’t be a short road.  We still have obstacles such as higher costs.  A representative from Lighting Science I spoke to at their I/O booth quoted Android@Home enabled LED lights at $30 per bulb.  Android and Arduino might be the right combination of market penetration, eager hackers, and solid platforms for a more integrated environment.

My favorite session was How To NFC.   NFC (near field communication) is similar to RFID except it only works within a few centimeters.  Newer android phones can send and receive NFC messages any time except when the phone is sleeping.  NFC chips can also be embedded in paper, like the stickers that came in our I/O Badges.  An NFC enabled app can share data such as a url, or launch a multiplayer game with your friend.  It makes complex tasks as simple as “touch the phone here”.  Android is even smart enough to launch an app required for an NFC message, or send you to the market to install the app you need.  Only the Nexus-S supports NFC now, but this feature is so compelling that others will support it soon too.

The other technical sessions were very useful too, whether you were interested in Android, Chrome, or other Google technologies.  The speakers were knowledgeable on the subject areas they spoke on.  I attended mostly Android talks, and it was great hearing from the people who wrote the APIs we’re trying to use.  The sessions were all filmed and are worth watching online.

I just returned from PyCon 2011, the largest annual gathering of Python users and contributors.  The conference was full of energy and I came home with my head stuffed full of new ideas and Python skills.  Hillary Mason best described my feelings about PyCon in her opening keynote, “I’m glad I’m in a room where list comprehensions receive spontaneous applause”.

The Talks

The talks came in many flavors: hands-on tutorials, sessions, a poster session, and open space discussions.  Topics included dev-ops, deployment, scalability, concurrency, large scale data processing, science, and much much more.  There was a great deal to learn for both novice and experienced programmers alike.  Most sessions taught useful skills like:

• Advanced Python I & II
• Through the Side Channel: Timing and Implementation Attacks in Python
• Hidden Treasures in the Standard Library

But some sessions were just fun, mind blowing examples of what you could do with Python:

• Using Python 3 to Build a Cloud Computing Service for my Superboard II
• How to kill a patent with Python

It was difficult to choose which talks to see during most time-slots.  There were just too many great topics to choose from, so it’s fortunate that the session videos are already online.  Many thanks to the PyCon team for being so prompt.

The Jobs

It’s an exciting time for Python developers whether you are just entering the workforce, or looking for something new and exciting.  Part of the exhibit hall was dedicated to startups looking for new employees, but every other exhibitor was looking for employees, too.  There is definitely an employer out there to match your individual passions, and I’m glad to know that my students will have many great choices after graduation.

The Hallway Track

This was my first PyCon and did not know many other attendees, so I planned to spend a good deal of time meeting other people.  Among the 1380 attendees walking the halls and attending sessions were Python Core Developers, authors of your favorite libraries, keynote speakers, and even Guido.  While this could seem intimidating, we all came to PyCon to learn from each other and collaborate. Everyone was welcoming and happy to share knowledge and great conversations.

Six days of talking to random people resulted in many awesome “a ha” moments.  Topics spanned programming, technology, science, and art.  The ideas I shared in these talks were as valuable as the formal sessions I attended.  The best part was making so many new friends.  Looking forward to a great PyCon with you all next year in Santa Clara!

We’ve released Ganeti Web Manager 0.6.  Ganeti Web Manager is a Django based web application that allows administrators and clients access to their ganeti clusters. It includes a permissions and quota system that allows administrators to grant access to both clusters and virtual machines. It also includes user groups for structuring access to organizations.

This release comes after a short development cycle, with the goal of fixing critical bugs and providing important core features.  Check out the full change log, or read on for some highlights:

Virtual Machines

Ganeti Web Manager 0.6 includes multiple improvements to the virtual machine detail view.  We’ve added the complete list of virtual machine properties.  The layout has been updated to group properties into relevant sections, as well as make it more readable.

The following new controls were added for virtual machines:

• Edit a virtual machine’s settings.
• Rename a virtual machine.
• Migrate a virtual machine to it’s secondary storage.

Ganeti Web Manager 0.6 also features improvements to the virtual machine deployment process.  It now detects and recovers from Ganeti errors better than before.  If a create job fails without ganeti deploying the virtual machine, you can edit the settings and re-submit the job.  All other failures will let you continue to the virtual machine detail view where you can use the provided admin tools to repair the virtual machine.

Nodes

Nodes are now cached by Ganeti Web Manager.  This allows views using node data to be displayed faster. We now also provide Node views that allow an admin to issue commands on a node such as migration and changing the node role.  The node detail view also provides information from the perspective of a node including used resources and which virtual machines are deployed on it.

Logs

Ganeti Web Manager 0.6 now provides a log of actions performed on every object.  This will allow admins to see the history of every action taken on a VirtualMachine, Node, and Clusters.  It also shows every action a user account has performed.  The log is intended to aid auditing and troubleshooting.

Logging is provided by the newly branded Django Object Log app.  It is a reusable app that can log generic messages.  Each message can define it’s own rich format, including contextual links to the related objects.  Object Log will be developed in parallel with Ganeti Web Manager and future projects by the OSUOSL.