I went to check out the description for Ensim 3.0 ServerXchange, and it seems that they advertise the feature of being able to integrate and manage plesk servers.
(Which is probably why rackshack is offering both)

Does anyone know how this works? i.e., By what way do they integrate, what kind of integration is possible, how much you can do, etc...

Thanks,

Peter

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From what i know via server x changed you can create a private server and put plesk on it

Joe

Unless Matt spiced up the option, it is nothing more then being able to register the server into ServerXchange. This is also how the Cobalts are done. By doing this, you can monitor uptime and service, and bandwidth. (Although bandwidth has never been recorded on 20 some Cobalts we added). It does not allow you to create Plesk servers. This would have to be done manually like you do now anyway.

This feature is nice to help you manage all your servers from one platform.

It does allow you to have full plesk fuctionality.

Joe

It does allow you to have full plesk fuctionality.

Of course. And you have full Cobalt functionality. This is because it is still seperate. Ensim creates WP machines. Ensim does not create Cabalt machines or Plesk machines. You first need to load a server with Plesk, then you can register it with SX. I am sure you can easliy integrate the Plesk system with the domain manager module ($1500 extra bucks with Ensim) to manage IPs and accounts. But with the standard SX install, you can only register it, monitor it, and check bandwidth. This is what we have found. Waybe there is more to it we didn't see.

Thanks, as usual, the helpful experts on ensims. :)

So besides,
-service monitoring
-bandwidth and uptime report

what other kinds of integration are possible?

Can it, for example, do

-server restart?
-multi-server software updates?
-mulit-server provisioning(dns on 1 server, db on another, web on another...)?
-user reports/email...?
-other things?

also, any where I can find more info?

Thanks,

Peter

Hey guys.

It is very simple. I install a private server and then all the requied/dependent RPMs from Plesk. I wrapped the Plesk RPM's so all I have is install from the ServerXchange GUI. The whole process from setting up the PS and Installing Plesk (through the Ensim XML CLI) is about 5 minutes.

Plesk running on a private server runs just like on a dedicated! There is no loss in functions...

The best thing is that through ServerXchange 3.0 I can now also install the same Plesk onto dedicated servers and have the same management abilites of the private servers.

what other kinds of integration are possible?

Not much more out of the box. The rest is up to you. Matt always seems to find ways to beef it up. Wonder if he would like to share the code if "It is very simple."? :)

I will say we have not used the new XML options to integrate services or personalize things (we are too busy developing other things). With SX 2.3 it was a nightmare because it was Java. Now it is all web-based and supports XML which is nice.

The XML API sounds interesting, could you post more detail on it?

Peter

Originally posted by ckpeter
The XML API sounds interesting, could you post more detail on it?

Peter

Not really. It is a raw API that you feed XML statements to.

For example you feed the API this code to install a suite on a server. I had to write a perl/shell front end to the API to do what I want. It is not for the novice.

<add>
<suites>
<suite>
<shortname>psadmin</shortname>
<suite_id>260</suite_id>
</suite>
</suites>
<destination>
<ipaddr>10.10.10.10</ipaddr>
</destination>
</add>

Thanks Matt,
So what exactly is this XML API used for? Is it a way to add a feature or a button to the management console?

Thanks,

Peter