Kontrollcomm
The Kontrollcomm Engine – “Server Command Automation Interface” is a web-based application that automates command execution on servers. There are three main areas of the application: Hosts, Templates, and Commands. The use is very simple: all of your hosts are setup in the Host Control tab, and they have templates associated with them. Templates are comprised of a list of commands that are to be run.
All of the client/server interaction is done over the web, with encryption (if using HTTPS), so no complex setup is needed other than to put the client script on the server. This method allows you to remotely manage command execution from a simple web interface – it automates the process of reporting (and other task executions) so that you no longer have to manually run reports and commands on the local server. Everything is managed in a centralized web based interface, ideal for those running on o2 mobile broadband or a similar on-the-move source of access to their server. Server administration and reporting is now more efficient.
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A quick example of use:
You have a web or database server that needs to run a report everyday. This report requires executing several commands. Sometimes these commands change slightly and you are responsible for managing these reports and their changes. Below are the two most common methods that sysadmin/DBAs use to solve these tasks and then the way that Kontrollcomm solves it.
First solution: Manually login to the server everyday and run each command in succession and combine the results to generate the report. Result: highly inefficient use of administrator time, tedium.
Second solution: Write a script that executes your commands and have it run from crontab – then everytime you need to change something you have to log into the server and modify the script. Requirement: you know how to code automation scripts with integrated reporting. Result: Scripts are custom to each server and lack centralized management, inefficient use of time and lack of standardization of reporting process.
Kontrollcomm solution: Add your servers and reporting commands to the Kontrollcomm web interface. Associate commands to service templates (web/database/etc) and associate the proper template to each host as needed for the server’s role. Place the agent script on each host and set it to run at your chosen interval via crontab and it will connect to the Kontrollcomm server to pull down it’s proper template. The agent then runs the commands listed in the template and generates a formatted report and sends it to the specified email address. Result: you now have an easily managed system for automated remote reporting and interval command execution. Kontrollcomm saves you time and removes tedious task repetition from your daily schedule.
Best of all, it’s 100% Free Open Source Software that is released under the new BSD License.
Do you need Kontrollcomm?
You do if you want the following:
- You want a powerful remote command execution system that is intuitive to use.
- You want to manage servers without having to manually log in to each server to run commands.
- You want to improve operations team efficiency by having automated reporting available instantly.
- You want to support the open source community and see no need to pay for an application that you can get for free.
- You want a system that has efficient support with quick response times and timely feature releases.
- You want a system that is secure and simple to deploy across a large server environment.
Want to demo Kontrollcomm online?
Click here to access the demo server.
Use the folllowing to login – username: “demo”, password: “password”
This is a demo account. This demo will give you an idea of the current features of the product. Please do not delete hosts/commands/templates.
Is the demo server online and responding? Let’s see…
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