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Scott Milliken edited this page May 21, 2023 · 28 revisions

Welcome to the openDCIM WIKI

Data Center Management Basics

Data Centers have been around since the first computers were built, only they weren't called data centers, yet. However, there's a lot of talk about what exactly constitutes a data center. Is a closet with 1 computer in it a data center? What if it's in a cabinet? How about an office with desktop PC's lined up across shelved? Is there a minimum size to qualify as a data center? We, the openDCIM project, have adopted a very simple philosophy around it - if it's important enough for you to want to track it, it's a data center.

That being said, we have a very wide range of "clients" using openDCIM, with a very wide range of experience in data center management. Some of the fields and prompts in the application make some basic assumptions about the knowledge level of the user. To help bridge the knowledge gap, we have some helpful information. Not all of this is directly applicable to openDCIM, but is certainly part of the corpus of knowledge around data center management itself.

Glossary

Standards

Client Requirements

  • Web browser that is reasonably standards compliant.
    • We do not support Internet Explorer 8 or earlier, in other words
    • Developers regularly test against the latest IE, Chrome, Mozilla, and Safari
    • Some mobile devices (tablets/phones) work decently. If you want to scan barcodes for input, I suggest looking at Bluetooth enabled scanners (around $200 and up).
  • Javascript must be enabled on your client
  • You must be connected to the network at all times - openDCIM does not work in a batch mode

System Requirements

openDCIM is designed to run on a fairly cookie cutter LAMP system. However, there is no operating system specific code, so it could conceivably run on any operating system that can run the components.

  • Apache Web Server 2.x, or similar web server, with page authentication set up for where you want to install openDCIM
  • It is highly recommended that you install openDCIM as its own Virtual Host on the server rather than as a subtree of an existing site
    • Set up your page as SSL enabled!
    • The main page checks for SSL, and enforces a redirect to https if you are accessing via insecure methods. If you didn't set up an SSL site, this will result in an infinite loop with your browser until you tell it to stop.
    • Basic auth is still supported through Apache, but some form of Modern Authentication is highly recommended (SAML/OIDC). You may offload not only the authentication but also authorization to your Identity Provider.
  • MariaDB/MySQL - you can either run this on the same host or a separate host. Space requirements are very low.
  • PHP 8.x - Make sure that you have libraries enabled for MySQL and SNMP access.

Optional Modules

These are used in the Ubuntu based container build

  • locales-all
  • tzdata
  • mariadb-client
  • apache2
  • php
  • php-mbstring
  • php-snmp
  • php-gd
  • php-mysql
  • php-zip
  • php-curl
  • php-ldap
  • php-redis (needed when load balancing multiple instances)
  • php-xml
  • php-php-gettext
  • locales
  • graphviz

Getting started

  • Some information about running this Cloud Native (in containers) is at Kubernetes
  • Download from http://www.opendcim.org/downloads.html
  • Follow the installation instructions in the README file ** Set up your database ** Configure openDCIM to talk to your database ** Log in for the first time. '''The first user to log in is the default administrator! (when using Apache authentication)'''
  • Follow the Configuration guide
  • Setting up BackgroundJobs.
  • Ubuntu 15.04 specific installation notes
  • CentOS Installation guide
  • Why doesn't Translation work on my system? Everything is still in English
  • How to add your SiteContact information to the login and main pages.

Several videos exist on YouTube to guide you through the process of setting up and using openDCIM. Check it out [http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdDKR8jKgL_3C9YbH-cwb8Q here].

Specifically, a video of the installation process is available at:

Installing openDCIM from Scratch

Upgrading

  • Simply untar the new version onto your server, configure, and browse to the site. The install.php will automatically run if it is present. That being said, however, there are a few more steps involved in a "best practices" Upgrade.

Integration

Shared Template Repository

One of the really nice bits about openDCIM is that there is a global online repository where other users can submit Device Templates according to the RepositoryGuidelines and then others can download those templates to their own installation. As the userbase for openDCIM grows, so does the repository.

Do not request an API Key for the repository unless you are submitting templates to it - there is '''no need for an API key''' if you are only going to pull templates from it.

[https://repository.opendcim.org openDCIM Repository]

Basic Navigation

Site Management

Daily Operations

Auditing

Reporting

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