Contents
i) Introduction
ii) License
1 Getting Started
1.1 System Requirements
1.2 The Configuration file
1.3 User Configuration
1.4 Running the program for the first time
2 The Main Menu
3 User Administration (Option 1)
4 Main Site Editing (Option 2)
5 Disk Quotas (Option 3)
6 Server Admin (Option 4)
7 Rebuild Database (Option 5)
10 System Administration
10.1 System Administration - add user
10.2 System Administration - Remove user
10.3 System Administration - Edit user
10.4 System Administration - Show Users installed on system
10.5 System Administration - Return to main menu
10.6 System Administration - Sync users with server
11 Help
12 Files
13 Documentation Authors
i) Introduction
Welcome to the Manipulate User Guide. Manipulate was originally written by me, Ben Tasker for use with the system behind benscomputer.no-ip.org. I have tried to make the software as portable and adaptable as possible. Writing documentation is not exactly my speciality, however if anyone wants to contribute then feel free to email me at btasker@gmail.com similarly if anyone wants to change/adapt/improve the program I would be interested to see what you do to it.
Remember the program is licensed under GPL version 2 so you are free to do more or less what you want with it as long as you fulfil the requirements of the GPL.
Return to Top
ii) License
Return to Top
GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
Version 2, June 1991
Copyright (C) 1989, 1991 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.
Preamble
The licenses for most software are designed to take away your
freedom to share and change it. By contrast, the GNU General Public
License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change free
software--to make sure the software is free for all its users. This
General Public License applies to most of the Free Software
Foundation's software and to any other program whose authors commit to
using it. (Some other Free Software Foundation software is covered by
the GNU Lesser General Public License instead.) You can apply it to
your programs, too.
When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not
price. Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you
have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge for
this service if you wish), that you receive source code or can get it
if you want it, that you can change the software or use pieces of it
in new free programs; and that you know you can do these things.
To protect your rights, we need to make restrictions that forbid
anyone to deny you these rights or to ask you to surrender the rights.
These restrictions translate to certain responsibilities for you if you
distribute copies of the software, or if you modify it.
For example, if you distribute copies of such a program, whether
gratis or for a fee, you must give the recipients all the rights that
you have. You must make sure that they, too, receive or can get the
source code. And you must show them these terms so they know their
rights.
We protect your rights with two steps: (1) copyright the software, and
(2) offer you this license which gives you legal permission to copy,
distribute and/or modify the software.
Also, for each author's protection and ours, we want to make certain
that everyone understands that there is no warranty for this free
software. If the software is modified by someone else and passed on, we
want its recipients to know that what they have is not the original, so
that any problems introduced by others will not reflect on the original
authors' reputations.
Finally, any free program is threatened constantly by software
patents. We wish to avoid the danger that redistributors of a free
program will individually obtain patent licenses, in effect making the
program proprietary. To prevent this, we have made it clear that any
patent must be licensed for everyone's free use or not licensed at all.
The precise terms and conditions for copying, distribution and
modification follow.
GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION
0. This License applies to any program or other work which contains
a notice placed by the copyright holder saying it may be distributed
under the terms of this General Public License. The "Program", below,
refers to any such program or work, and a "work based on the Program"
means either the Program or any derivative work under copyright law:
that is to say, a work containing the Program or a portion of it,
either verbatim or with modifications and/or translated into another
language. (Hereinafter, translation is included without limitation in
the term "modification".) Each licensee is addressed as "you".
Activities other than copying, distribution and modification are not
covered by this License; they are outside its scope. The act of
running the Program is not restricted, and the output from the Program
is covered only if its contents constitute a work based on the
Program (independent of having been made by running the Program).
Whether that is true depends on what the Program does.
1. You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Program's
source code as you receive it, in any medium, provided that you
conspicuously and appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate
copyright notice and disclaimer of warranty; keep intact all the
notices that refer to this License and to the absence of any warranty;
and give any other recipients of the Program a copy of this License
along with the Program.
You may charge a fee for the physical act of transferring a copy, and
you may at your option offer warranty protection in exchange for a fee.
2. You may modify your copy or copies of the Program or any portion
of it, thus forming a work based on the Program, and copy and
distribute such modifications or work under the terms of Section 1
above, provided that you also meet all of these conditions:
a) You must cause the modified files to carry prominent notices
stating that you changed the files and the date of any change.
b) You must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that in
whole or in part contains or is derived from the Program or any
part thereof, to be licensed as a whole at no charge to all third
parties under the terms of this License.
c) If the modified program normally reads commands interactively
when run, you must cause it, when started running for such
interactive use in the most ordinary way, to print or display an
announcement including an appropriate copyright notice and a
notice that there is no warranty (or else, saying that you provide
a warranty) and that users may redistribute the program under
these conditions, and telling the user how to view a copy of this
License. (Exception: if the Program itself is interactive but
does not normally print such an announcement, your work based on
the Program is not required to print an announcement.)
These requirements apply to the modified work as a whole. If
identifiable sections of that work are not derived from the Program,
and can be reasonably considered independent and separate works in
themselves, then this License, and its terms, do not apply to those
sections when you distribute them as separate works. But when you
distribute the same sections as part of a whole which is a work based
on the Program, the distribution of the whole must be on the terms of
this License, whose permissions for other licensees extend to the
entire whole, and thus to each and every part regardless of who wrote it.
Thus, it is not the intent of this section to claim rights or contest
your rights to work written entirely by you; rather, the intent is to
exercise the right to control the distribution of derivative or
collective works based on the Program.
In addition, mere aggregation of another work not based on the Program
with the Program (or with a work based on the Program) on a volume of
a storage or distribution medium does not bring the other work under
the scope of this License.
3. You may copy and distribute the Program (or a work based on it,
under Section 2) in object code or executable form under the terms of
Sections 1 and 2 above provided that you also do one of the following:
a) Accompany it with the complete corresponding machine-readable
source code, which must be distributed under the terms of Sections
1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or,
b) Accompany it with a written offer, valid for at least three
years, to give any third party, for a charge no more than your
cost of physically performing source distribution, a complete
machine-readable copy of the corresponding source code, to be
distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium
customarily used for software interchange; or,
c) Accompany it with the information you received as to the offer
to distribute corresponding source code. (This alternative is
allowed only for noncommercial distribution and only if you
received the program in object code or executable form with such
an offer, in accord with Subsection b above.)
The source code for a work means the preferred form of the work for
making modifications to it. For an executable work, complete source
code means all the source code for all modules it contains, plus any
associated interface definition files, plus the scripts used to
control compilation and installation of the executable. However, as a
special exception, the source code distributed need not include
anything that is normally distributed (in either source or binary
form) with the major components (compiler, kernel, and so on) of the
operating system on which the executable runs, unless that component
itself accompanies the executable.
If distribution of executable or object code is made by offering
access to copy from a designated place, then offering equivalent
access to copy the source code from the same place counts as
distribution of the source code, even though third parties are not
compelled to copy the source along with the object code.
4. You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Program
except as expressly provided under this License. Any attempt
otherwise to copy, modify, sublicense or distribute the Program is
void, and will automatically terminate your rights under this License.
However, parties who have received copies, or rights, from you under
this License will not have their licenses terminated so long as such
parties remain in full compliance.
5. You are not required to accept this License, since you have not
signed it. However, nothing else grants you permission to modify or
distribute the Program or its derivative works. These actions are
prohibited by law if you do not accept this License. Therefore, by
modifying or distributing the Program (or any work based on the
Program), you indicate your acceptance of this License to do so, and
all its terms and conditions for copying, distributing or modifying
the Program or works based on it.
6. Each time you redistribute the Program (or any work based on the
Program), the recipient automatically receives a license from the
original licensor to copy, distribute or modify the Program subject to
these terms and conditions. You may not impose any further
restrictions on the recipients' exercise of the rights granted herein.
You are not responsible for enforcing compliance by third parties to
this License.
7. If, as a consequence of a court judgment or allegation of patent
infringement or for any other reason (not limited to patent issues),
conditions are imposed on you (whether by court order, agreement or
otherwise) that contradict the conditions of this License, they do not
excuse you from the conditions of this License. If you cannot
distribute so as to satisfy simultaneously your obligations under this
License and any other pertinent obligations, then as a consequence you
may not distribute the Program at all. For example, if a patent
license would not permit royalty-free redistribution of the Program by
all those who receive copies directly or indirectly through you, then
the only way you could satisfy both it and this License would be to
refrain entirely from distribution of the Program.
If any portion of this section is held invalid or unenforceable under
any particular circumstance, the balance of the section is intended to
apply and the section as a whole is intended to apply in other
circumstances.
It is not the purpose of this section to induce you to infringe any
patents or other property right claims or to contest validity of any
such claims; this section has the sole purpose of protecting the
integrity of the free software distribution system, which is
implemented by public license practices. Many people have made
generous contributions to the wide range of software distributed
through that system in reliance on consistent application of that
system; it is up to the author/donor to decide if he or she is willing
to distribute software through any other system and a licensee cannot
impose that choice.
This section is intended to make thoroughly clear what is believed to
be a consequence of the rest of this License.
8. If the distribution and/or use of the Program is restricted in
certain countries either by patents or by copyrighted interfaces, the
original copyright holder who places the Program under this License
may add an explicit geographical distribution limitation excluding
those countries, so that distribution is permitted only in or among
countries not thus excluded. In such case, this License incorporates
the limitation as if written in the body of this License.
9. The Free Software Foundation may publish revised and/or new versions
of the General Public License from time to time. Such new versions will
be similar in spirit to the present version, but may differ in detail to
address new problems or concerns.
Each version is given a distinguishing version number. If the Program
specifies a version number of this License which applies to it and "any
later version", you have the option of following the terms and conditions
either of that version or of any later version published by the Free
Software Foundation. If the Program does not specify a version number of
this License, you may choose any version ever published by the Free Software
Foundation.
10. If you wish to incorporate parts of the Program into other free
programs whose distribution conditions are different, write to the author
to ask for permission. For software which is copyrighted by the Free
Software Foundation, write to the Free Software Foundation; we sometimes
make exceptions for this. Our decision will be guided by the two goals
of preserving the free status of all derivatives of our free software and
of promoting the sharing and reuse of software generally.
NO WARRANTY
11. BECAUSE THE PROGRAM IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO WARRANTY
FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN
OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES
PROVIDE THE PROGRAM "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED
OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS
TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE
PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING,
REPAIR OR CORRECTION.
12. IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING
WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY AND/OR
REDISTRIBUTE THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES,
INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING
OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED
TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY
YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER
PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Return to Top
1 Getting Started
As the System Requirements show below Gnu Privacy Guard is a requirement. However you do not necessarily have to use a PGP Card and reader, you can if you wish generate an encryption key that is stored on your hard drive. The benefits of using a card is a) you can take that key wherever you go and b) no-one can use the system as you without your card and PIN. The benefits of not usign a card are that you do not need to buy a card and reader ;-)
Return to Top
1.1 System Requirements
The program is a BASH script, therefore the most obvious prerequisite is a BASH shell.
In order to use the system you will require
1.2 Configuring the program
Variables;
ORG_NAME
SORG_NAME
SPEECH_SYNTH
LOCAL_ACCOUNTS
MACHINE_HOSTNAME
IDENTITY_FILE
BACKUP_DIR
REMOTE_BACKUP_DIR
WEB_EDITOR
TEXT_EDITOR
WEBDOCS_DIR
RDB_LOCATION
QUOTA_FS
HTTPD_NAME
FTPD_NAME
SSHD_NAME
APACHE_ROOT
FTP_ROOT
SSH_ROOT
WEB_BROWSER
The program is comprised of a BASH script. To run the system it is necessary to edit the file .config to suit you system. Information on each variable is shown below.
ORG_NAME=
ORG_NAME defines the organisations name to display in the program. This is displayed predominantly on the main menu
SORG_NAME=
The Speech Synth can have problems pronouncing some organisation names. For example benscomputer.no-ip.org should be entered as
"benscomputer.no I.P. .org"
SPEECH_SYNTH=
This variable defines the command and any options used to tell the Text to speech synthesiser to read from stdin. for Festival this is
"festival --tts"
LOCAL_ACCOUNTS=
This variable tells the system whether the system being configured ( i.e. the webserver ) is the system that the program is being run on. Valid values are either Y or N If the webserver is the same system that the program is being run on the value should Y if the webserver is on a remote system the value N should be used.
MACHINE_HOSTNAME=
This variable defines the address of the remote machine (where applicable) it can be a machine name or an IP address. If the variable LOCAL_ACCOUNTS=Y this will be ignored. Alternatively LOCAL_ACCOUNTS can be set to N and this can be set to localhost. This removes the need for sudo privileges.
IDENTITY_FILE=
If LOCAL_ACCOUNTS is set to N then the system will use SSH to access the remote system. The system is configured to use an Identity file, this is usually an RSA key pair. This defines the path to the identity file it can be either relative ( identities/id_rsa ) or a full path
(/usr/share/identities/id_rsa )
BACKUP_DIR=
This variable is only of use when using the program on the system which the webserver runs on. It defines the directory to which users home dirs will be backed up to when users are removed (in accordance with accepted best practice)
REMOTE_BACKUP_DIR=
This variable is the same as above but is only used when the webserver is a remote system. This should be a full path
.
WEB_EDITOR=
This defines the default HTML editor, please note that if the program runs in the background (i.e. returns control to the command line) then this will cause problems in the system. The text editor kate is known to do this.
TEXT_EDITOR=
This defines the default Text Editor, please note that if the program runs in the background (i.e. returns control to the command line) then this will cause problems in the system. The text editor kate is known to do this.
WEBDOCS_DIR=
This defines the document root for the webserver. For Apache this is defined in the httpd.conf file. This can potentially be any directory, although the intention is for it to point at the document root. This should be a full path.
RDB_LOCATION=
If the variable LOCAL_ACCOUNTS is set to N then privileged users will be given the option to sync with the server. This variable defines the directory (on the remote server) in which the database should be stored. It should be a full path and should have a trailing slash
QUOTA_FS=
If you have quotas enabled on the system (whether remote or local) this defines the filesystem on which it is active (e.g. /dev/hda1)
HTTPD_NAME=
FTPD_NAME=
SSHD_NAME=
These variables define the name of the daemons providing the HTTP, FTP and SSH services respectively. The variable should be set to the name/command used by the init scripts at boot. In order to find these out look in /etc/init.d and example for HTTPD would be apache2
APACHE_ROOT=
Defines the path to the HTTPD configuration file. For Apache2 this is /etc/apache2/httpd.conf
FTP_ROOT=
Defines the path to the FTP Daemons configuration file. For Proftpd this is usually /etc/proftpd/proftpd.conf
SSH_ROOT=
Defines the Path to the SSH Daemons configuration file. For OpenSSH this is /etc/ssh/sshd_config
WEB_BROWSER=
Defines the web browser to use. If you accessed this help file from option 9 in the program then it is configured correctly ;-)
Return to Top
1.3 User Configuration
Some of the settings in the user configuration file are simply overrides of settings set in the configuration file, however user attributes are also set, and some important security requirements are defined. With the exception of the Default user it is highly recommended that you use the built in menu to create and edit users.
The template for the default user can be found at example/user
The variables in the user file can be found below. It is important before configuring the default user that GnuPG is set up. A guide on how to do this can be found here
Example user file;
#!/bin/bash
usrname="shifty_ben"
authnum="10001"
checksum="10001"
ADMIN_USER=Y
ENABLED=Y
APACHE_ENABLE=Y
FTP_ENABLE=Y
SSH_ENABLE=Y
USER_ADMINISTRATOR=Y
QUOTA_ADMINISTRATOR=Y
SYNC_RIGHTS=Y
FRONT_PAGE=Y
WEB_EDITOR=nano
TEXT_EDITOR=nano
The user file is in essence a BASH Script, so it is very important that #!/bin/bash remains present.
usrname=
This defines the username, and should match the filename of the user file.
authnum=
This defines the authorisation code, this code ideally should be unique.
checksum=
This is used to help prevent a malicious user from tampering with the users credentials. The checksum should be the same as the authnum
ADMIN_USER=
This defines whether the user is an Administrator, this relates simply to the program and not to the system as a whole. Admin users are able to add and remove users to the control module
ENABLED=
This Defines whether the user account is active or not. This is most useful for temporarily deactivating an account (perhaps for an employees holiday) to prevent misuse of the account.
APACHE_ENABLE=
This defines whether the user is able to administer the HTTPD server this includes editing the configuration files, and restarting the HTTPD service.
FTP_ENABLE=
This defines whether the user is able to administer the FTP server including editing of configuration files and restarting the FTPD service.
SSH_ENABLE=
This defines whether the user is able to administer the SSH server, including editing of configuration files and restarting the SSHD service.
USER_ADMINISTRATOR=
This defines whether the user is able to add and remove users from the servers system (as opposed to the manipulate program)
QUOTA_ADMINISTRATOR=
Defines whether the user is able to administrate Disk Quotas
SYNC_RIGHTS=
Defines whether a user has the privileges to sync the user database with the remote server (Where Applicable)
FRONT_PAGE=
Defines whether a user is able to edit/create webpages on the webserver (through the manipulate program) This is aimed most specifically at the Servers default page in its Document root directory, however can be used for any pages.
WEB_EDITOR=
Simple overrides the WEB_EDITOR variable in the configuration file. Useful for setting this variable on a per user basis, however if it is not needed the variable should be removed from the file. The argument for this should be the command needed to open the HTML editor
TEXT_EDITOR=
Overrides the TEXT_EDITOR variable in the configuration file. Useful on a per user basis. Argument should be a command
The users file should have a filename exactly the same as their username, and then should be encrypted using GnuPG so that only they and an Administrator can decrypt it. This file should then be moved to .users/
Return to Top
1.4 Running the program for the first time
You should be in the installation directory of the program. Running
ls
should display these results;
AUTHORS INSTALL LICENSE TODO documentation example identities manipulate users
Having ensured that your PGP card reader is present, and your PGP card is inserted into it ( assuming you have chosen this option over a cardless keyring ) run the program by executing the command
./manipulate
You will then see the login screen
Enter your username (If this is the first time you have run the program then you will most likely have just set this user up)
When prompted enter the code for your GnuPG keyring.
Once you have been authenticated you will be taken to the main menu
The options that appear will be dependant on the settings defined in your user configuration file.
Return to Top
2 The Main Menu
Breakdown of Available Options
1) User Administration
2) Main Site Editing
3) Disk Quotas
4) Server Admin
5) Rebuild Database
6) Quit
7) Sync with Server
8) System Administration
9) Help
1) User Administration
This allows the user to Administer System users, the program currently supports adding, editing and removing users. It does not currently support setting the UID of users however, and will only display the uid in user information if it has been added manually. This is intended to be rectified when option 5) is implemented.
2) Main Site Editing
This shows the user a list of files in the webservers Document root, and gives them the option to open one in a HTML editor.
3) Disk Quotas
This allows the user to set and edit Disk usage quotas for the users currently activated in the system
4) Server Admin
This allows the user to edit the configuration of, and restart HTTP/FTP/SSH servers. More functionality will be implemented in the next release
5) Rebuild Database
This functionality has not yet been implemented. It will automatically generate a database of all users in the webhosting group.
6) Quit
Suprisingly this exits the system ;-)
7) Sync with Server
This connects to the remote server (If available) and downloads/uploads the user database
8) System Administration
This allows System Administrators to add users the the control system (i.e. the program) to edit, remove and disable users and also to perform several other essential tasks
9) Help
Loads this file :-)
Return to Top
3 User Administration
Upon entering the User administration menu you will see the name of all users the system is currently aware of. Enter the users name and press return. The system will show you the details of the user and then ask whether you wish to edit the user, the default is No so anything you enter except y or mainmenu will be seen as No. To return to the main menu simply enter mainmenu
Having said y you will see a menu offering the options you can change. These are fairly self explanatory. You are uanable to change the user name or UID. Currently the UID may not be displayed, as the system does not currently support automatic user databse building. this should be implemented by version 1.
Return to Top
4 Main Site Editing
This allows you to edit any HTML page in the root directory of the webservers documents directory. This in mainly intended for editing the Front Page (usually Index.html) but any page in this directory can be loaded. The system will load the page in the configured HTML editor. Personally I use nano but this can be anything you want.
Upon selecting this option you will see a listing of all files in the root directory. Currently this includes non HTML files, this will however be corrected in version 0.2
simply enter the filename of the file you wish to edit or mainmenu to return to the main menu. The file you choose will be opened in your editor.
Return to Top
5 Disk Quotas
This allows administration of Disk Usage Quotas (where implemented). Option 1 will display the quotas of the user you select. After entering option 1 or 2 you will be shown a list of available users and prompted to enter the user name of the user you are interested in. Currently the system does not support listing the quota of all users at once. This will be implemented before version 1 is released.
Option 2 allows you to set/Edit quotas for the user you select. It will allow you to set both a hard and soft limit.
Option 3 will return you to the main menu
Return to Top
6 Server Admin
This menu allows you to edit configuration files, and also to restart certain services, currently these are limited to SSH, FTP and HTTPD however during subsequent releases more services will be included, and where the system is being used on a remote machine a restart option will be made available.
Using Options 1, 2 or 3 will open the configuration file for that service in a Text Editor.
Options 3, 4 and 5 will restart the relevant service
Option 7 Returns you to the main menu
Return to Top
7 Rebuild Database
This option is currently not implemented. This will be rectified in releases 0.2 and 0.3
Return to Top
8 Quit
This option exits the system ;-)
Return to Top
9 Sync With Server
This Option is only available if the program is being used to configure a remote system. Having selected this from the main menu you will be asked whether you want to
(D)ownload
(U)pload
or return to (M)ain Menu
to choose an option just enter the first letter so main menu would be m ;-)
Currently there is no function to show you the last time the server was updated and by who. This will be added into the next release.
Return to Top
10 System Administration
This allows Administrators to administer the manipulate system. A menu will be shown giving options on what can be done.
1) add user
2) Remove user
3) Edit user
4) Show Users installed on system
5) Return to main menu
6) Sync users with server
Return to Top
10.1 System Administration - Add user
This is used to add a user to the manipulate system. From the the system administration menu choose option 1
when prompted enter the new user name
enter a unique auth code, this can be letters or numbers or both. Spaces are also fine. The user will not have to know or remember this so make it as complex as possible.
System Admin? (N/y) -- this option defines whether they are authorised to access the System Administration menu. For most users this should be N
Answer the remaining questions as necessary. If you do not wish to define a text or web editor for the user leave that option blank.
The System will then display your choices, and ask if this is correct. The dafult response is N a lowercase y must be entered in order to confirm the new user.
Return to Top
10.2 System Administration - Remove User
Warning: Changes made here are permanant. If you make a mistake you will have to re-add the user.
enter the user you wish to remove. A list of available users is shown.
confirm the deletion with a lowercase y any other response will abort the process
Return to Top
10.3 System Administration - Edit User
This option allows you to edit the settings for users of the control module. You can for example disable a user ytemprarily by setting N for enable. After selecting a user (again the users are listed) and confirming your PGP pin (for security) you will be shown a menu of which settings can be changed. Selecting any option except 10, 11 or 12 will toggle the setting. 10 and 11 require a command to be entered for the relevant editor and 12 will return you to the system admin menu
Return to Top
10.4 Show users installed on system
Unsurprisingly this option simply lists all the users currently installed on the system
Return to Top
10.5 Return to Main Menu
This returns you to the main menu, funny really.
Return to Top
10.6 Sync users with server
This option is only available if running the program on a remote system. As with Ordinary syncing a log of last sync is not currently implemented, but will be in the next releases.
You will be given the option to upload or download.
This option is only really of use when laptops change hands regularly within an organisation, or when one system will be used by all or many of the users available. Otherwise it is not usually desirable to have all users active on each system.
Return to Top
11 Help
Displays this file :-D
Return to Top
12 Files
This is simply an explanation of the files and directories in the programs root directory
.config - this file is the configuration file for the program
.syncs - contains any synchronisations that are made
.tmp - a folder for the programs temporary files
.users - contains the user files for manipulate users.
AUTHORS - This file contains the name and (optionally) the contact details of anyone who has contributed to the code
INSTALL - This file contains brief installation instructions
LICENSE - This file contains the License this software is released under
TODO - This file contains a list of the tasks that need completing
documentation - This directory contains the documentation (including this file)
example - This directory contains example configuration files. Currently the only one is a user file
identities - This directory is intended to contain the relevant files for logging onto a remote server via SSH
manipulate - This is the program :-)
users - this constitutes the user database for system users (not manipulate users)
Return to Top
13 Documentation Authors
If you contribute to this Documentation then please add your name here. If you have contributed to the project with code then please add your name to the file AUTHORS
Ben Tasker (Original Author)
Return to Top
i) Introduction
ii) License
1 Getting Started
1.1 System Requirements
1.2 The Configuration file
1.3 User Configuration
1.4 Running the program for the first time
2 The Main Menu
3 User Administration (Option 1)
4 Main Site Editing (Option 2)
5 Disk Quotas (Option 3)
6 Server Admin (Option 4)
7 Rebuild Database (Option 5)
10 System Administration
10.1 System Administration - add user
10.2 System Administration - Remove user
10.3 System Administration - Edit user
10.4 System Administration - Show Users installed on system
10.5 System Administration - Return to main menu
10.6 System Administration - Sync users with server
11 Help
12 Files
13 Documentation Authors
i) Introduction
Welcome to the Manipulate User Guide. Manipulate was originally written by me, Ben Tasker for use with the system behind benscomputer.no-ip.org. I have tried to make the software as portable and adaptable as possible. Writing documentation is not exactly my speciality, however if anyone wants to contribute then feel free to email me at btasker@gmail.com similarly if anyone wants to change/adapt/improve the program I would be interested to see what you do to it.
Remember the program is licensed under GPL version 2 so you are free to do more or less what you want with it as long as you fulfil the requirements of the GPL.
Return to Top
ii) License
Return to Top
GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
Version 2, June 1991
Copyright (C) 1989, 1991 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.
Preamble
The licenses for most software are designed to take away your
freedom to share and change it. By contrast, the GNU General Public
License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change free
software--to make sure the software is free for all its users. This
General Public License applies to most of the Free Software
Foundation's software and to any other program whose authors commit to
using it. (Some other Free Software Foundation software is covered by
the GNU Lesser General Public License instead.) You can apply it to
your programs, too.
When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not
price. Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you
have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge for
this service if you wish), that you receive source code or can get it
if you want it, that you can change the software or use pieces of it
in new free programs; and that you know you can do these things.
To protect your rights, we need to make restrictions that forbid
anyone to deny you these rights or to ask you to surrender the rights.
These restrictions translate to certain responsibilities for you if you
distribute copies of the software, or if you modify it.
For example, if you distribute copies of such a program, whether
gratis or for a fee, you must give the recipients all the rights that
you have. You must make sure that they, too, receive or can get the
source code. And you must show them these terms so they know their
rights.
We protect your rights with two steps: (1) copyright the software, and
(2) offer you this license which gives you legal permission to copy,
distribute and/or modify the software.
Also, for each author's protection and ours, we want to make certain
that everyone understands that there is no warranty for this free
software. If the software is modified by someone else and passed on, we
want its recipients to know that what they have is not the original, so
that any problems introduced by others will not reflect on the original
authors' reputations.
Finally, any free program is threatened constantly by software
patents. We wish to avoid the danger that redistributors of a free
program will individually obtain patent licenses, in effect making the
program proprietary. To prevent this, we have made it clear that any
patent must be licensed for everyone's free use or not licensed at all.
The precise terms and conditions for copying, distribution and
modification follow.
GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION
0. This License applies to any program or other work which contains
a notice placed by the copyright holder saying it may be distributed
under the terms of this General Public License. The "Program", below,
refers to any such program or work, and a "work based on the Program"
means either the Program or any derivative work under copyright law:
that is to say, a work containing the Program or a portion of it,
either verbatim or with modifications and/or translated into another
language. (Hereinafter, translation is included without limitation in
the term "modification".) Each licensee is addressed as "you".
Activities other than copying, distribution and modification are not
covered by this License; they are outside its scope. The act of
running the Program is not restricted, and the output from the Program
is covered only if its contents constitute a work based on the
Program (independent of having been made by running the Program).
Whether that is true depends on what the Program does.
1. You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Program's
source code as you receive it, in any medium, provided that you
conspicuously and appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate
copyright notice and disclaimer of warranty; keep intact all the
notices that refer to this License and to the absence of any warranty;
and give any other recipients of the Program a copy of this License
along with the Program.
You may charge a fee for the physical act of transferring a copy, and
you may at your option offer warranty protection in exchange for a fee.
2. You may modify your copy or copies of the Program or any portion
of it, thus forming a work based on the Program, and copy and
distribute such modifications or work under the terms of Section 1
above, provided that you also meet all of these conditions:
a) You must cause the modified files to carry prominent notices
stating that you changed the files and the date of any change.
b) You must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that in
whole or in part contains or is derived from the Program or any
part thereof, to be licensed as a whole at no charge to all third
parties under the terms of this License.
c) If the modified program normally reads commands interactively
when run, you must cause it, when started running for such
interactive use in the most ordinary way, to print or display an
announcement including an appropriate copyright notice and a
notice that there is no warranty (or else, saying that you provide
a warranty) and that users may redistribute the program under
these conditions, and telling the user how to view a copy of this
License. (Exception: if the Program itself is interactive but
does not normally print such an announcement, your work based on
the Program is not required to print an announcement.)
These requirements apply to the modified work as a whole. If
identifiable sections of that work are not derived from the Program,
and can be reasonably considered independent and separate works in
themselves, then this License, and its terms, do not apply to those
sections when you distribute them as separate works. But when you
distribute the same sections as part of a whole which is a work based
on the Program, the distribution of the whole must be on the terms of
this License, whose permissions for other licensees extend to the
entire whole, and thus to each and every part regardless of who wrote it.
Thus, it is not the intent of this section to claim rights or contest
your rights to work written entirely by you; rather, the intent is to
exercise the right to control the distribution of derivative or
collective works based on the Program.
In addition, mere aggregation of another work not based on the Program
with the Program (or with a work based on the Program) on a volume of
a storage or distribution medium does not bring the other work under
the scope of this License.
3. You may copy and distribute the Program (or a work based on it,
under Section 2) in object code or executable form under the terms of
Sections 1 and 2 above provided that you also do one of the following:
a) Accompany it with the complete corresponding machine-readable
source code, which must be distributed under the terms of Sections
1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or,
b) Accompany it with a written offer, valid for at least three
years, to give any third party, for a charge no more than your
cost of physically performing source distribution, a complete
machine-readable copy of the corresponding source code, to be
distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium
customarily used for software interchange; or,
c) Accompany it with the information you received as to the offer
to distribute corresponding source code. (This alternative is
allowed only for noncommercial distribution and only if you
received the program in object code or executable form with such
an offer, in accord with Subsection b above.)
The source code for a work means the preferred form of the work for
making modifications to it. For an executable work, complete source
code means all the source code for all modules it contains, plus any
associated interface definition files, plus the scripts used to
control compilation and installation of the executable. However, as a
special exception, the source code distributed need not include
anything that is normally distributed (in either source or binary
form) with the major components (compiler, kernel, and so on) of the
operating system on which the executable runs, unless that component
itself accompanies the executable.
If distribution of executable or object code is made by offering
access to copy from a designated place, then offering equivalent
access to copy the source code from the same place counts as
distribution of the source code, even though third parties are not
compelled to copy the source along with the object code.
4. You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Program
except as expressly provided under this License. Any attempt
otherwise to copy, modify, sublicense or distribute the Program is
void, and will automatically terminate your rights under this License.
However, parties who have received copies, or rights, from you under
this License will not have their licenses terminated so long as such
parties remain in full compliance.
5. You are not required to accept this License, since you have not
signed it. However, nothing else grants you permission to modify or
distribute the Program or its derivative works. These actions are
prohibited by law if you do not accept this License. Therefore, by
modifying or distributing the Program (or any work based on the
Program), you indicate your acceptance of this License to do so, and
all its terms and conditions for copying, distributing or modifying
the Program or works based on it.
6. Each time you redistribute the Program (or any work based on the
Program), the recipient automatically receives a license from the
original licensor to copy, distribute or modify the Program subject to
these terms and conditions. You may not impose any further
restrictions on the recipients' exercise of the rights granted herein.
You are not responsible for enforcing compliance by third parties to
this License.
7. If, as a consequence of a court judgment or allegation of patent
infringement or for any other reason (not limited to patent issues),
conditions are imposed on you (whether by court order, agreement or
otherwise) that contradict the conditions of this License, they do not
excuse you from the conditions of this License. If you cannot
distribute so as to satisfy simultaneously your obligations under this
License and any other pertinent obligations, then as a consequence you
may not distribute the Program at all. For example, if a patent
license would not permit royalty-free redistribution of the Program by
all those who receive copies directly or indirectly through you, then
the only way you could satisfy both it and this License would be to
refrain entirely from distribution of the Program.
If any portion of this section is held invalid or unenforceable under
any particular circumstance, the balance of the section is intended to
apply and the section as a whole is intended to apply in other
circumstances.
It is not the purpose of this section to induce you to infringe any
patents or other property right claims or to contest validity of any
such claims; this section has the sole purpose of protecting the
integrity of the free software distribution system, which is
implemented by public license practices. Many people have made
generous contributions to the wide range of software distributed
through that system in reliance on consistent application of that
system; it is up to the author/donor to decide if he or she is willing
to distribute software through any other system and a licensee cannot
impose that choice.
This section is intended to make thoroughly clear what is believed to
be a consequence of the rest of this License.
8. If the distribution and/or use of the Program is restricted in
certain countries either by patents or by copyrighted interfaces, the
original copyright holder who places the Program under this License
may add an explicit geographical distribution limitation excluding
those countries, so that distribution is permitted only in or among
countries not thus excluded. In such case, this License incorporates
the limitation as if written in the body of this License.
9. The Free Software Foundation may publish revised and/or new versions
of the General Public License from time to time. Such new versions will
be similar in spirit to the present version, but may differ in detail to
address new problems or concerns.
Each version is given a distinguishing version number. If the Program
specifies a version number of this License which applies to it and "any
later version", you have the option of following the terms and conditions
either of that version or of any later version published by the Free
Software Foundation. If the Program does not specify a version number of
this License, you may choose any version ever published by the Free Software
Foundation.
10. If you wish to incorporate parts of the Program into other free
programs whose distribution conditions are different, write to the author
to ask for permission. For software which is copyrighted by the Free
Software Foundation, write to the Free Software Foundation; we sometimes
make exceptions for this. Our decision will be guided by the two goals
of preserving the free status of all derivatives of our free software and
of promoting the sharing and reuse of software generally.
NO WARRANTY
11. BECAUSE THE PROGRAM IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO WARRANTY
FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN
OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES
PROVIDE THE PROGRAM "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED
OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS
TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE
PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING,
REPAIR OR CORRECTION.
12. IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING
WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY AND/OR
REDISTRIBUTE THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES,
INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING
OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED
TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY
YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER
PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Return to Top
1 Getting Started
As the System Requirements show below Gnu Privacy Guard is a requirement. However you do not necessarily have to use a PGP Card and reader, you can if you wish generate an encryption key that is stored on your hard drive. The benefits of using a card is a) you can take that key wherever you go and b) no-one can use the system as you without your card and PIN. The benefits of not usign a card are that you do not need to buy a card and reader ;-)
Return to Top
1.1 System Requirements
The program is a BASH script, therefore the most obvious prerequisite is a BASH shell.
In order to use the system you will require
- Gnu Privacy Guard - a guide to setting this up can be found here
- A text to speech synthesiser is highly recommended
- If using on a network then an SSH client and server are necessary
- A text Editor
- A HTML Editor
- A web browser
- sudo access (without password) to the commands adduser deluser quotastats setquota quota
1.2 Configuring the program
Variables;
ORG_NAME
SORG_NAME
SPEECH_SYNTH
LOCAL_ACCOUNTS
MACHINE_HOSTNAME
IDENTITY_FILE
BACKUP_DIR
REMOTE_BACKUP_DIR
WEB_EDITOR
TEXT_EDITOR
WEBDOCS_DIR
RDB_LOCATION
QUOTA_FS
HTTPD_NAME
FTPD_NAME
SSHD_NAME
APACHE_ROOT
FTP_ROOT
SSH_ROOT
WEB_BROWSER
The program is comprised of a BASH script. To run the system it is necessary to edit the file .config to suit you system. Information on each variable is shown below.
ORG_NAME=
ORG_NAME defines the organisations name to display in the program. This is displayed predominantly on the main menu
SORG_NAME=
The Speech Synth can have problems pronouncing some organisation names. For example benscomputer.no-ip.org should be entered as
"benscomputer.no I.P. .org"
SPEECH_SYNTH=
This variable defines the command and any options used to tell the Text to speech synthesiser to read from stdin. for Festival this is
"festival --tts"
LOCAL_ACCOUNTS=
This variable tells the system whether the system being configured ( i.e. the webserver ) is the system that the program is being run on. Valid values are either Y or N If the webserver is the same system that the program is being run on the value should Y if the webserver is on a remote system the value N should be used.
MACHINE_HOSTNAME=
This variable defines the address of the remote machine (where applicable) it can be a machine name or an IP address. If the variable LOCAL_ACCOUNTS=Y this will be ignored. Alternatively LOCAL_ACCOUNTS can be set to N and this can be set to localhost. This removes the need for sudo privileges.
IDENTITY_FILE=
If LOCAL_ACCOUNTS is set to N then the system will use SSH to access the remote system. The system is configured to use an Identity file, this is usually an RSA key pair. This defines the path to the identity file it can be either relative ( identities/id_rsa ) or a full path
(/usr/share/identities/id_rsa )
BACKUP_DIR=
This variable is only of use when using the program on the system which the webserver runs on. It defines the directory to which users home dirs will be backed up to when users are removed (in accordance with accepted best practice)
REMOTE_BACKUP_DIR=
This variable is the same as above but is only used when the webserver is a remote system. This should be a full path
.
WEB_EDITOR=
This defines the default HTML editor, please note that if the program runs in the background (i.e. returns control to the command line) then this will cause problems in the system. The text editor kate is known to do this.
TEXT_EDITOR=
This defines the default Text Editor, please note that if the program runs in the background (i.e. returns control to the command line) then this will cause problems in the system. The text editor kate is known to do this.
WEBDOCS_DIR=
This defines the document root for the webserver. For Apache this is defined in the httpd.conf file. This can potentially be any directory, although the intention is for it to point at the document root. This should be a full path.
RDB_LOCATION=
If the variable LOCAL_ACCOUNTS is set to N then privileged users will be given the option to sync with the server. This variable defines the directory (on the remote server) in which the database should be stored. It should be a full path and should have a trailing slash
QUOTA_FS=
If you have quotas enabled on the system (whether remote or local) this defines the filesystem on which it is active (e.g. /dev/hda1)
HTTPD_NAME=
FTPD_NAME=
SSHD_NAME=
These variables define the name of the daemons providing the HTTP, FTP and SSH services respectively. The variable should be set to the name/command used by the init scripts at boot. In order to find these out look in /etc/init.d and example for HTTPD would be apache2
APACHE_ROOT=
Defines the path to the HTTPD configuration file. For Apache2 this is /etc/apache2/httpd.conf
FTP_ROOT=
Defines the path to the FTP Daemons configuration file. For Proftpd this is usually /etc/proftpd/proftpd.conf
SSH_ROOT=
Defines the Path to the SSH Daemons configuration file. For OpenSSH this is /etc/ssh/sshd_config
WEB_BROWSER=
Defines the web browser to use. If you accessed this help file from option 9 in the program then it is configured correctly ;-)
Return to Top
1.3 User Configuration
Some of the settings in the user configuration file are simply overrides of settings set in the configuration file, however user attributes are also set, and some important security requirements are defined. With the exception of the Default user it is highly recommended that you use the built in menu to create and edit users.
The template for the default user can be found at example/user
The variables in the user file can be found below. It is important before configuring the default user that GnuPG is set up. A guide on how to do this can be found here
Example user file;
#!/bin/bash
usrname="shifty_ben"
authnum="10001"
checksum="10001"
ADMIN_USER=Y
ENABLED=Y
APACHE_ENABLE=Y
FTP_ENABLE=Y
SSH_ENABLE=Y
USER_ADMINISTRATOR=Y
QUOTA_ADMINISTRATOR=Y
SYNC_RIGHTS=Y
FRONT_PAGE=Y
WEB_EDITOR=nano
TEXT_EDITOR=nano
The user file is in essence a BASH Script, so it is very important that #!/bin/bash remains present.
usrname=
This defines the username, and should match the filename of the user file.
authnum=
This defines the authorisation code, this code ideally should be unique.
checksum=
This is used to help prevent a malicious user from tampering with the users credentials. The checksum should be the same as the authnum
ADMIN_USER=
This defines whether the user is an Administrator, this relates simply to the program and not to the system as a whole. Admin users are able to add and remove users to the control module
ENABLED=
This Defines whether the user account is active or not. This is most useful for temporarily deactivating an account (perhaps for an employees holiday) to prevent misuse of the account.
APACHE_ENABLE=
This defines whether the user is able to administer the HTTPD server this includes editing the configuration files, and restarting the HTTPD service.
FTP_ENABLE=
This defines whether the user is able to administer the FTP server including editing of configuration files and restarting the FTPD service.
SSH_ENABLE=
This defines whether the user is able to administer the SSH server, including editing of configuration files and restarting the SSHD service.
USER_ADMINISTRATOR=
This defines whether the user is able to add and remove users from the servers system (as opposed to the manipulate program)
QUOTA_ADMINISTRATOR=
Defines whether the user is able to administrate Disk Quotas
SYNC_RIGHTS=
Defines whether a user has the privileges to sync the user database with the remote server (Where Applicable)
FRONT_PAGE=
Defines whether a user is able to edit/create webpages on the webserver (through the manipulate program) This is aimed most specifically at the Servers default page in its Document root directory, however can be used for any pages.
WEB_EDITOR=
Simple overrides the WEB_EDITOR variable in the configuration file. Useful for setting this variable on a per user basis, however if it is not needed the variable should be removed from the file. The argument for this should be the command needed to open the HTML editor
TEXT_EDITOR=
Overrides the TEXT_EDITOR variable in the configuration file. Useful on a per user basis. Argument should be a command
The users file should have a filename exactly the same as their username, and then should be encrypted using GnuPG so that only they and an Administrator can decrypt it. This file should then be moved to .users/
Return to Top
1.4 Running the program for the first time
You should be in the installation directory of the program. Running
ls
should display these results;
AUTHORS INSTALL LICENSE TODO documentation example identities manipulate users
Having ensured that your PGP card reader is present, and your PGP card is inserted into it ( assuming you have chosen this option over a cardless keyring ) run the program by executing the command
./manipulate
You will then see the login screen
Enter your username (If this is the first time you have run the program then you will most likely have just set this user up)
When prompted enter the code for your GnuPG keyring.
Once you have been authenticated you will be taken to the main menu
The options that appear will be dependant on the settings defined in your user configuration file.
Return to Top
2 The Main Menu
Breakdown of Available Options
1) User Administration
2) Main Site Editing
3) Disk Quotas
4) Server Admin
5) Rebuild Database
6) Quit
7) Sync with Server
8) System Administration
9) Help
1) User Administration
This allows the user to Administer System users, the program currently supports adding, editing and removing users. It does not currently support setting the UID of users however, and will only display the uid in user information if it has been added manually. This is intended to be rectified when option 5) is implemented.
2) Main Site Editing
This shows the user a list of files in the webservers Document root, and gives them the option to open one in a HTML editor.
3) Disk Quotas
This allows the user to set and edit Disk usage quotas for the users currently activated in the system
4) Server Admin
This allows the user to edit the configuration of, and restart HTTP/FTP/SSH servers. More functionality will be implemented in the next release
5) Rebuild Database
This functionality has not yet been implemented. It will automatically generate a database of all users in the webhosting group.
6) Quit
Suprisingly this exits the system ;-)
7) Sync with Server
This connects to the remote server (If available) and downloads/uploads the user database
8) System Administration
This allows System Administrators to add users the the control system (i.e. the program) to edit, remove and disable users and also to perform several other essential tasks
9) Help
Loads this file :-)
Return to Top
3 User Administration
Upon entering the User administration menu you will see the name of all users the system is currently aware of. Enter the users name and press return. The system will show you the details of the user and then ask whether you wish to edit the user, the default is No so anything you enter except y or mainmenu will be seen as No. To return to the main menu simply enter mainmenu
Having said y you will see a menu offering the options you can change. These are fairly self explanatory. You are uanable to change the user name or UID. Currently the UID may not be displayed, as the system does not currently support automatic user databse building. this should be implemented by version 1.
Return to Top
4 Main Site Editing
This allows you to edit any HTML page in the root directory of the webservers documents directory. This in mainly intended for editing the Front Page (usually Index.html) but any page in this directory can be loaded. The system will load the page in the configured HTML editor. Personally I use nano but this can be anything you want.
Upon selecting this option you will see a listing of all files in the root directory. Currently this includes non HTML files, this will however be corrected in version 0.2
simply enter the filename of the file you wish to edit or mainmenu to return to the main menu. The file you choose will be opened in your editor.
Return to Top
5 Disk Quotas
This allows administration of Disk Usage Quotas (where implemented). Option 1 will display the quotas of the user you select. After entering option 1 or 2 you will be shown a list of available users and prompted to enter the user name of the user you are interested in. Currently the system does not support listing the quota of all users at once. This will be implemented before version 1 is released.
Option 2 allows you to set/Edit quotas for the user you select. It will allow you to set both a hard and soft limit.
Option 3 will return you to the main menu
Return to Top
6 Server Admin
This menu allows you to edit configuration files, and also to restart certain services, currently these are limited to SSH, FTP and HTTPD however during subsequent releases more services will be included, and where the system is being used on a remote machine a restart option will be made available.
Using Options 1, 2 or 3 will open the configuration file for that service in a Text Editor.
Options 3, 4 and 5 will restart the relevant service
Option 7 Returns you to the main menu
Return to Top
7 Rebuild Database
This option is currently not implemented. This will be rectified in releases 0.2 and 0.3
Return to Top
8 Quit
This option exits the system ;-)
Return to Top
9 Sync With Server
This Option is only available if the program is being used to configure a remote system. Having selected this from the main menu you will be asked whether you want to
(D)ownload
(U)pload
or return to (M)ain Menu
to choose an option just enter the first letter so main menu would be m ;-)
Currently there is no function to show you the last time the server was updated and by who. This will be added into the next release.
Return to Top
10 System Administration
This allows Administrators to administer the manipulate system. A menu will be shown giving options on what can be done.
1) add user
2) Remove user
3) Edit user
4) Show Users installed on system
5) Return to main menu
6) Sync users with server
Return to Top
10.1 System Administration - Add user
This is used to add a user to the manipulate system. From the the system administration menu choose option 1
when prompted enter the new user name
enter a unique auth code, this can be letters or numbers or both. Spaces are also fine. The user will not have to know or remember this so make it as complex as possible.
System Admin? (N/y) -- this option defines whether they are authorised to access the System Administration menu. For most users this should be N
Answer the remaining questions as necessary. If you do not wish to define a text or web editor for the user leave that option blank.
The System will then display your choices, and ask if this is correct. The dafult response is N a lowercase y must be entered in order to confirm the new user.
Return to Top
10.2 System Administration - Remove User
Warning: Changes made here are permanant. If you make a mistake you will have to re-add the user.
enter the user you wish to remove. A list of available users is shown.
confirm the deletion with a lowercase y any other response will abort the process
Return to Top
10.3 System Administration - Edit User
This option allows you to edit the settings for users of the control module. You can for example disable a user ytemprarily by setting N for enable. After selecting a user (again the users are listed) and confirming your PGP pin (for security) you will be shown a menu of which settings can be changed. Selecting any option except 10, 11 or 12 will toggle the setting. 10 and 11 require a command to be entered for the relevant editor and 12 will return you to the system admin menu
Return to Top
10.4 Show users installed on system
Unsurprisingly this option simply lists all the users currently installed on the system
Return to Top
10.5 Return to Main Menu
This returns you to the main menu, funny really.
Return to Top
10.6 Sync users with server
This option is only available if running the program on a remote system. As with Ordinary syncing a log of last sync is not currently implemented, but will be in the next releases.
You will be given the option to upload or download.
This option is only really of use when laptops change hands regularly within an organisation, or when one system will be used by all or many of the users available. Otherwise it is not usually desirable to have all users active on each system.
Return to Top
11 Help
Displays this file :-D
Return to Top
12 Files
This is simply an explanation of the files and directories in the programs root directory
.config - this file is the configuration file for the program
.syncs - contains any synchronisations that are made
.tmp - a folder for the programs temporary files
.users - contains the user files for manipulate users.
AUTHORS - This file contains the name and (optionally) the contact details of anyone who has contributed to the code
INSTALL - This file contains brief installation instructions
LICENSE - This file contains the License this software is released under
TODO - This file contains a list of the tasks that need completing
documentation - This directory contains the documentation (including this file)
example - This directory contains example configuration files. Currently the only one is a user file
identities - This directory is intended to contain the relevant files for logging onto a remote server via SSH
manipulate - This is the program :-)
users - this constitutes the user database for system users (not manipulate users)
Return to Top
13 Documentation Authors
If you contribute to this Documentation then please add your name here. If you have contributed to the project with code then please add your name to the file AUTHORS
Ben Tasker (Original Author)
Return to Top