Selectable install packages.

[Spum]

Alright, i'm back, was a bit busy, but ive got a week off, so i'm totally going to get ISPconfig to better than cPanel. Anyway, i had an idea. Now, if we want to expand, we should offer more functionality for other RDBMS's and other software.. Now, the problem with this is that we should not have them all in the installer, but with my new one, make it so that they can choose.

This is what i propose - we need to have support for say, ruby, PHP, Perl, python, etc, but not have them installed as default. Now, say i make some scripts which are either PHP or bash, or both, which download the packages, and then installs them, and notifies the main web-based program that they require admin for it, and it adds the option, say "manage postgresql/python/perl, etc".

so, without rambling, this is what i propose to do.

* Have core components that are installed from web or hd.
* Then, have optional software that can be installed by PHP scripts, or bash which can be run, install the software on the machine.
* Then, the web fontend gets notified, and the admin then gets the options to admin it.

software i can make install scripts for is ;
* Ruby for Apache
* Perl
* Python
* postgreSQL (although i think this should be pushed as a good option)
* Firebird SQL

[till]

To work with components in the installer is a good idea. Also the core components will have to be selectable if we want to have multiserver setups where not all services run on the same server.

Example:

3x Webserver (on one of this the controlpanel is installed)
1x Mailserver
2x DNS Server
1x Database Server

If we want to manage this with ISPConfig, the installer must handle these scenario.

Example:

Install Controlpanel (y/n)
Install BIND support (y/n)
Install Mailserver support (y/n)
Install DNS support(y/n)
Install Database MySQL support (y/n)
Install Database Postgres support (y/n)

What do you think?

[Spum]

Yes! I like the idea very much, i think that the core components should be force installed, otherwise many many problems will occur and cause nightmarish circumstances :-(, but still, i'm working on this now, so yes! should be neat indeed! :-)

[till]

Yes, maybe the selection of components is something for an expert mode

Here is the database table i thought of:

CREATE TABLE server (
server_id bigint(20) NOT NULL auto_increment,
server_name varchar(255) NOT NULL default '',
mail_server int(11) NOT NULL default '0',
web_server int(11) NOT NULL default '0',
dns_server int(11) NOT NULL default '0',
file_server int(11) NOT NULL default '0',
mysql_server int(11) NOT NULL default '0',
postgresql_server int(11) NOT NULL default '0',
firebird_server int(11) NOT NULL default '0',
active int(11) NOT NULL default '1'
) TYPE=MyISAM;

On a single server setup there will be only one record in the server databasetable with all services set to 1 (mail_server, web_server,...). On a multiserver setup, the installer adds a record / row for every server that is part of this installation and sets the capabilities of the server (e.g only web_server = 1 for an apache only server). In the ISPConfig interface, you select "Add Website" and then you can select on which of the servers with the web_server capability the website shall be hosted. If you are a reseller, you may be limited to one server though.

[Spum]

Yes!
There needs to be some way for the frontend to know if the PostgreSQL/etc has been installed.. Perhaps have an "enable/disable features" section where the user can select what features they want installed, and then the script will be executed!