VM v1 GroundworkOpensource 4.5.11 SuSE 10.0 ************************************* GWK VM configuration SuSE 10.0 patched to May 25, 2006 GroundworkOpenSource 4.5-11 Autoupdates enabled to check for updates and automatically install nightly shortly after midnight GMT (Be aware that an unexpected patch can kill your system! Re-configure for Production use!) KDE Desktop Samba installed, but may require custom configuration Intalled Postfix for SMTP Server functionality FW HTTP Server settings configured VNC Remote Administration enabled, and firewall configured accordingly (see SuSE documentation for default config which is different than normal VNC) Includes Monarch patch Default Hostname(Fully Qualified) gwks.domain.unroutable NOTE! - If you change this, you will have to modify your Hosts file accordingly! Ordinarily there should not be reason to change the Hostname as configured. Default login credentials (See "Security" to change) SuSE root password joe password GroundworkOpenSource admin admin joe joe MySQL Admin root password Timezone and time set to the GMT. You will want to modify to your own timezone. ************************************* Some references www.groundworkopensource.com www.nagios.org www.nagiosexchange.org www.opensuse.org www.su-networking.com ************************************* Instructions for deployment You only need the vmdk (VMware Disk) file within a configured VMWare application. All VMWare applications will work including but not limited to VMWare Player 5.5, VMWare Server (currently in Beta), VMWare Workstation 5.5, VMware GSX, VMWare ESX. Configuration files were not included because those are auto-generated by the VMware application anyway. Once you're deployed, modify your timeclock ASAP. VM Guests don't always pick up date/time properly from the BIOS and Automatic Updates are scheduled for shortly after 1AM GMT which could be very inconvenient for where you are. Also, your configured timezone will determine what online Update Servers you will use. If you deploy where you have a permanent network connection, configure the NTP client to keep your time/date updated regularly and automatically. ************************************* Vmware configuration Virtual RAM - Although the VM has been tested to run on as little as 156mb virtual RAM, it only supports minimal monitoring and User access with no System updating. 256mb RAM should be considered the minimal recommended for reasonably good performance. NIC - An ethernet connection is required. Not tested bound to more than one NIC (The Host OS may have more than one NIC), and it's not certain that more than one NIC would be advisable anyway. CDROM - Not required. Could be advisable in an extraordinary circumstance if packages can't be downloaded. CD/DVD writing apps were left installed in this VM (See last section) This VMdisk will auto-expand to 8gb max. ************************************* What do you get with this VM? A time-saving pre-configured, Groundworkopensource deployment, fully configured to auto-update and auto-install critical updates(beware the consequences, see "Security" comments) Not configured for specific plugins, commands and services beyond what is installed by a default GroundworkOpenSource installation which is itself very extensive. GroundworkOpenSource which IMO is one of the best web interfaces to one of the most powerful network and server monitoring applications around, Nagios. As a default GroundworkOpenSource deployment, this VM can monitor only itself but includes extensive documentation and links to resources which enable monitoring other machines. For the completely uninitiated to Nagios, I estimate that this VM saves a considerable amount of time but only gets you about 30% to a full deployment. If you're interested in a highly convenient "drop in" solution which can be fully deployed within an hour or two, I will personally be creating such a thing targeted specifically for Microsoft Small Business Server, estimated v.1 completion June 30, 2006 more information will be found at www.su-networking.com. For the experienced, this VM provides a totally portable, quick to deploy and quick to backup piece of a potentially highly redundant monitoring system which can save hours of tedious installation and configuration. Note: Although not a "minimal" installation and although I've left many probably unnecessary things installed in this VM for easy newbie use, much has been removed that would have made this a machine "for fun." If you're looking for an intro to SuSE, I recommend a default install instead of this VM which is stripped of about 1gb of default applications. ************************************* GWK VM FAQ ************************************* For you Windows folks, here are a few "New Ways of Doing Things" Windows SuSE ipconfig ifconfig ipconfig /renew (or repair) ifdown eth0 (that's a number zero), followed by ifup eth0 ************************************* VMWare VM FAQ related to this VM Network Connections not working This is specific to VMs. When you change(create new not affected) network connection types and connections (VMWare VM Settings > Ethernet >) SuSE will often add a NIC but it would be configured while the old NIC is left "hanging." Resolve by removing the old NIC Yast2 > Network Devices > Network Card If you see an extra network card listed, delete the top listed, then click "Next" to auto-configure the new NIC (DHCP client will be configured automatically) ************************************* VMware VM FAQ (General) If you're running VMware Workstation, use Snapshots! - Especially when you're about to do a major modification and unsure of the consequences This VM only includes what you need to run. Updates and modifications to SuSE may require the original SuSE 10.0 (not 10.1 or any other version) installation disk which can be downloaded by FTP, HTTP or torrent, see www.opensuse.org for the torrent file or download servers. Want to make a backup? - Just copy the disk file. ************************************* Security you should implement! Secure your VM! Default VM is configured very genericly for newbies. Recommend at least the following changes for semi-Production or Production deployments - Change Auto login When you're comfortable with the GUI, disable auto-login because it's not necessary as a "Black Box Appliance." 1. Yast2 Control Center > Security and Users > User Management > Expert Options > LoginSettings Uncheck "Auto Login" radio button. Click OK to close the Window. As long as you're in this window, change the "Joe" password from "password" to anything you want. 2. May not be necessary, Start Menu > Control Center > System Administration > Login Manager > Administrator Mode > Convenience > Uncheck "Enable Auto-Login" This is the KDE control center which is the alternative to Yast, most things can be done in Yast. -Change User Account Passwords By default, you have been configured with 2 User Accounts, Root and Joe User, both with the password "password" root password joe password To change the root password Open a command line console Change to root permissions by typing, when prompted enter your current password su - root With root permissions, type the following to change the root password passwd root You can change the "Joe User" account similarly, if you didn't change it using Yast in the "Change Auto login" instructions -Change MySQL Admin Account password Open a command line console mysqladmin -u root password [yournewmysqladminpassword] mysqladmin -u root -h [yoursystemhostname password] [yournewmysqladminpassword] -Alternative way to change MySQL Admin Account password Use Knoda which is a database GUI(connect to MySQL), which is already installed ************************************* Important optional update! I did not include this pre-installed into the VM since it makes major changes to the "stable release" of GroundworksOpenSource as of this document and VM release, but it's an important update if your VM is exposed to the outside world. http://www.groundworkopensource.com/community/forums/viewtopic.php?t=122 ************************************* Final Personal Comment: I hope you'll enjoy this contribution to the Open Source community. My personal opinion is that Nagios is a very cool and powerful technology, and GroundworkOpenSource has contributed invaluable pieces that assist in Managing and validating configurations and scripts. I personally feel that although Nagios is a fully mature application, GroundworkOpenSource is still very new and therefor some bugs still need to be ironed out. But, that's the cost of using the latest and the best. If you're inexperienced, I recommend using pre-configured packages and letting the experienced try new things. There is no doubt that once you have a tested package running, it will continue to deliver reliably and is suitable for Production use. ************************************* Everything to my knowledge included in this package has been released under variations of Public Licensing and Open Source, and since I have not included any original contribution to this package I cannot be held responsible for the licensing, use of and consequences of this product. Anyone who uses or distributes this product does so subject to the individual licenses of the parts of this product. ************************************* Summary of variations from a standard SuSE install Removed OpenOffice, Games, Bluetooth, media players, iPod, Palm, Television Added knoda which is a MySQL GUI Manager Enabled Remote Administration (VNC) Set Videocard to VESA 1280x960@60hz (As the current max resolution) so supported displays include XGA (1024x768) and WXGA (1280x800) on a 15" without major modification Modified Hostname to be updatable via DHCP This release does not contain any custom code created by myself, so in all likelihood any questions or issues you may have would not be related to anything I would've created so I'd be the last person you'd want to ask for answers. For SuSE OS issues, start at www.opensuse.org. For Groundwork issues, go to www.groundworkopensource.com. For Nagios stuff, maybe it's answerable at GWK, but research at www.nagios.org. If you have problems, Use the Public Forums! Or, if you're working on something really important Purchase a Support Contract from GroundworkOpensource! Or, send me a request for a pre-configured package! Sometime approximately June 30, 2006 I expect to be releasing a package specifically configured for Microsoft Small Business Server. Happy monitoring, Tony Su tonysu at su-networking.com