# \[ANN\] Linux network appliances managed via Sinatra **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [December 20, 2009, 4:24pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ann-linux-network-appliances-managed-via-sinatra/180500 "2009-12-20T16:24:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gderosa](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@gderosa](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/gderosa)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 4:24pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ann-linux-network-appliances-managed-via-sinatra/180500/1 "2009-12-20T16:24:33Z")
Hi all, just to announce the first release or Ruby “OnBoard”, a web interface based on Sinatra, to manage Linux-based network appliances: routers, firewalls, VPN, DHCP server, transparent proxy and so on. Here’s the website and the Github repo: [http://dev.vemarsas.it/onboard/](http://dev.vemarsas.it/onboard/) > **[GitHub - gderosa/onboard: THIS IS OBSOLETE. See instead...](https://github.com/gderosa/onboard)** > > THIS IS OBSOLETE. See instead https://github.com/vemarsas/onboard - GitHub - gderosa/onboard: THIS IS OBSOLETE. See instead https://github.com/vemarsas/onboard I don’t have knowledge of other similar projects in Ruby (Webmin is in Perl; the web interface of OpenWRT is written in Lua; and Monowall’s one is in PHP) so I hope OnBoard will fill the gap 😉 It’s released under the GPL and it’s sponsored by a small-medium business in Italy, VEMAR sas ([http://www.vemarsas.it/](http://www.vemarsas.it/)) Thanks in advance to anybody for feedback, questions and future contributions! Guido De Rosa ---
**Author:** ![gderosa](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@gderosa](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/gderosa)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 4:37pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ann-linux-network-appliances-managed-via-sinatra/180500/2 "2009-12-20T16:37:04Z")
On 20.12.2009 16:24, Guido De Rosa wrote: > Hi all, > > just to announce the first release or Ruby “OnBoard”, a web interface > based on Sinatra, to manage Linux-based network appliances: routers, > firewalls, VPN, DHCP server, transparent proxy and so on. I like the SSL screen, especially creating a certificate. 🙂 > Thanks in advance to anybody for feedback, questions and future > contributions! Well, the website’s lacking in documentation (What OnBoard is, what it does, and how you do stuff, not to mention installation and administration). Will there be .deb / .rpm packages? What about going down and dirty, like in Webmin (e.g. editing config files directly)? ---
**Author:** ![gderosa](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@gderosa](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/gderosa)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 5:59pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ann-linux-network-appliances-managed-via-sinatra/180500/3 "2009-12-20T17:59:56Z")
Phillip G. wrote: > I like the SSL screen, especially creating a certificate. 🙂 Thanks! It was an important requirement to make OpenVPN setup more user friendly. > Well, the website’s lacking in documentation (What OnBoard is, what it > does, and how you do stuff, not to mention installation and > administration). There’s an About page, and a README file in the source tree, but it’s certainly not enough, I admit. Documentation is one of the most important lacks and a lot of work is certainly required in the near future. For now just try to download it and run in the most obvious way (./start.sh to daemonize or ruby onboard.rb to keep it in the foreground) not before having installed all the dependencies reported in README. And feel free to ask me anything you’ll find unclear: this will help me to write better docs 😉 > Will there be .deb / .rpm packages? Another good question would be: will there be a gem? 😉 Well, packaging is not an hot priority in the next few days but it’s one of the mid-term goals. Some work is required before this e.g.: 1) separation/extraction of a more general system configuration library from the UI; 2) too many hardcoded constants should be turned into user-editable config files 3) source files layout should be more “position-independent” to be packaged safely etc. etc. Needless to say, collaboration with Linux distros developers will be more than welcome! > What about going down and dirty, like in Webmin (e.g. editing config > files directly)? This is a fundamental choice you make at the very start of a project like this. And was not my choice 🙂 OnBoard is not meant as a Webmin clone. It wants to be a sort of little OS in the OS, starting services by its own, having its own internal /etc directory etc. It’s an opinionated choice, I admit 🙂 The idea is: when you uninstall OnBoard you will get the system as it was before. That said, thanks for your interesting opinions and feel free to fork/patch/implement you own ideas. gd ---
**Author:** ![gderosa](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@gderosa](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/gderosa)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 6:09pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ann-linux-network-appliances-managed-via-sinatra/180500/4 "2009-12-20T18:09:33Z")
On 20.12.2009 17:59, Guido De Rosa wrote: > There’s an About page, and a README file in the source tree, but it’s > certainly not enough, I admit. Documentation is one of the most > important lacks and a lot of work is certainly required in the near > future. For now just try to download it and run in the most obvious way > (./start.sh to daemonize or ruby onboard.rb to keep it in the > foreground) not before having installed all the dependencies reported in > README. And feel free to ask me anything you’ll find unclear: this will > help me to write better docs 😉 Certainly. I’m setting up a Linux VM soon, to play around with things like OnBoard. > > Will there be .deb / .rpm packages? > > Another good question would be: will there be a gem? 😉 Well, packaging > is not an hot priority in the next few days but it’s one of the mid-term > goals. Some work is required before this e.g.: 1) separation/extraction > of a more general system configuration library from the UI; 2) too many > hardcoded constants should be turned into user-editable config files 3) > source files layout should be more “position-independent” to be packaged > safely etc. etc. Certainly. And while a gem would be nice, integrating an adminstrative tool with a package management system would make maintenance a lot easier. Nothing beats “sudo apt-get update && apt-get upgrade” in my experience. 😉 > > What about going down and dirty, like in Webmin (e.g. editing config > > files directly)? > > This is a fundamental choice you make at the very start of a project > like this. And was not my choice 🙂 OnBoard is not meant as a Webmin > clone. It wants to be a sort of little OS in the OS, starting services > by its own, having its own internal /etc directory etc. It’s an > opinionated choice, I admit 🙂 The idea is: when you uninstall OnBoard > you will get the system as it was before. That is a quite good idea. And opionated isn’t a problem in itself. 😉 I was more curious about what to expect when installing OnBoard, and not looking for a replacement for Webmin. > That said, thanks for your interesting opinions and feel free to > fork/patch/implement you own ideas. Once I have the time, I’ll take a look. OnBoard is on my GitHub watchlist already. 😉