Novell ZENworks® Architecture
Today and in the Future

Ron Tanner

Product Manager

Novell, Inc.

Ty Ellis

Distinguished Engineer

Novell, Inc.

ZENworks 7 Linux Management

Project goals

significantly advance the features of ZENworks Linux Management

begin to introduce traditional ZENworks capabilities into the Linux offering

make first product use of new web interface (ZENworks Control Center™)

introduce new ZENworks architecture

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
features

New Features:

targeted RPM delivery, and optional catalogs

lock-down policies

full hardware, OS and software inventory

new reporting system

new administration console using just the browser

full imaging capabilities

remote Control

pre-boot services using PXE

management by exception

system-wide messaging

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
new architectural elements

New Architecture:

introduction of an embedded object store

enhanced and expanded database

web-services/SOAP interfaces

browser-based administration console

new daemon with pluggable agents

redundant services (multi-server service)

configurable client redirection to back-end web services

MONO (.NET) runtime

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
features

New Features (from traditional ZENworks perspective)

optional catalogs

new reporting system

new administration console using just the browser

consistent administrative paradigm

enhanced system-wide message logging

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
new architectural elements

New Architecture (from traditional ZENworks perspective)

introduction of an embedded object store

constrained object placement

simplified database schema

web-services/SOAP interfaces

browser-based administration console

pluggable agents

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
basic architecture

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
basic architecture

database

managed

devices

connectivity

ZENworks server

object store

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
basic architecture

managed

devices

connectivity

ZENworks server

object store

database

Database contains:

packages to be delivered

device information and inventory

scheduled actions

system messages

database

managed

devices

connectivity

ZENworks server

object store

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
basic architecture

Server contains:

web services

object store

Object store contains

object for device

object for content

group memberships

assignments

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
basic architecture

database

managed

devices

ZENworks server

object store

Connectivity may be:

LAN

WAN

Internet

connectivity

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
basic architecture

database

connectivity

ZENworks server

object store

managed

devices

Managed devices

any supported device

contains daemon and agents

content cache

registered with ZENworks

ZENworks Birdman
basic architecture

database

managed

devices

connectivity

ZENworks server

object store

managed

devices

database

connectivity

ZENworks server

object store

ZENworks Birdman
basic architecture – device zoom

file system

configuration

daemon

agent

agent

agent

database

managed

devices

connectivity

ZENworks server

object store

ZENworks Birdman
basic architecture – server zoom

persistence

file system

business logic

web service

objects

database

data

model

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
basic walkthrough

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
basic walk-through: terminology

Device = any managed device

Policy = behavior configuration for apps/OS

Bundle = content delivered or acted upon

Setting = system-wide configuration, can be overwritten at container/device level

Zone = system and all registered devices

Control Center = administration console

simplified installation

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
installation

installation goals:

install on server in less than 30 minutes

installation results in a fully functional system with one managed device

inventory, logging, etc. are running

ready for administrator to deliver first application or policy

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
installation

ZENworks installation onto server

back-end services installed

daemon installed

database created

object store created

server registered into zone

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
device installation

ZENworks installation onto device

daemon installed

agents installed

ZENworks server identified

registration with zone and inventory taken

content delivered and acted upon

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
registration

ZENworks device registration:

registration agent sends SOAP call to URL

includes basic information about device

server receives SOAP message and calls data model to register device

data model folows registration rules and creates object

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
admin UI

ZENworks Control Center:

request credentials

open initial page

select devices

JSP calls to Data Model to retrieve device listings from object store

resulting HTML is rendered by browser

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
basic walk-through: Admin UI

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
basic walk-through: Admin UI

ZENworks 7 Linux Manangement
basic walk-through: Admin UI

role-based rights management

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
role-based management

When ZENworks 7 Linux Management is installed an “administrator” account is automatically created.

This administrator account has all rights to the system, including the ability to create additional administrators.

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
role-based management

When an administrator is created, they can be assigned any of the following rights:

create other administrators

modify Zone settings

create/modify/view bundles (container)

create/modify/view devices

create/modify/view policies

create/modify/view reports

settings

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
settings

Settings vs Policies:

previous ZENworks had policies that did ZENworks configuration settings (e.g., inventory policy, remote control policy, etc.)

ZENworks 7 Linux Management has moved these type of policies into settings

policies are now enforceable configurations for non-ZENworks software, including: OS and applications

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
settings

ZENworks 7 Linux Management has system settings that are configuration parameters for the entire zone

most settings can be overwritten at the container or device level

settings are NOT assigned to devices, containers or groups

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
settings

policies

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
policies

There are several policies in ZENworks 7 Linux Management:

Epiphany

Evolution

Firefox

Generic GNOME Policy

Novell Linux Desktop

Remote Execute

Text File Policy

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
policies

policies are assigned to containers, groups or devices

policies will have system requirements

policies will have an effective schedule

policies found that match system requirements will be enforced

policy assignments are ordered

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
policies

If policies 1-3 were identical:

then

3 would win because it is “closest”

1

2

3

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
policies

If policies 1-3 were identical:

then

1 would win because it is “first”

1

2

3

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
policies

If policies 1-3 had different system requirements:

then

the first policy, in order 1-2-3, that meets the device requirements will win

1

2

3

bundles and catalogs

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
bundles + catalogs

There are two types of bundles in ZENworks 7 Linux Management:

RPM bundles

pre-boot bundles

Then there is this other “bundlish” thing:

catalog

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
bundles

bundles are assigned to containers, groups or devices

bundles will have system requirements

bundles will have a delivery schedule

bundles will have launch schedule

all bundles found that match system requirements will be installed

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
policies

If system requirements for bundles 1-3 were identical:

then

1 would win because it is “first”

1

2

3

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
catalogs

catalogs are ordered sets of bundles

catalogs are used for dependency resolution and optional software

catalogs are assigned to containers, groups or devices

catalogs do not have system requirements

catalog assignment do not cause installation

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
catalogs

Catalogs are used for dependency resolution:

when a delivered RPM bundle has requirements that are not already met on the device

dependent RPMs retrieved from catalog are automatically installed on the device

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
policies

If catalog 1 and 2 are associated as shown:

then

the device displays and uses catalogs 1 and 2

1

2

3

c1

c2

reports

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
reports

reports can be easily created and displayed in the ZENworks Control Center

reports are created by selecting objects and values out of the database

reports are table forms and the administrator can arrange columns

sorting and filtering are provided in reports

reports can be exported to CSV, XML or HTML

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
reports

create reports by building tables

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
reports

generate reports to query database

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
reports

export reports to CSV

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
scaling

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
scaling

primary and secondary

Multiple backend servers:

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
complex architecture

database

managed

devices

connectivity

server

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
complex architecture

primary

database

managed

devices

connectivity

server

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
complex architecture

primary

database

managed

devices

connectivity

server

optional

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
complex architecture

primary

database

managed

devices

connectivity

server

optional

server

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
complex architecture

primary

database

managed

devices

connectivity

server

optional

secondary

server

replication

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
complex architecture

primary

database

managed

devices

connectivity

server

optional

secondary

server

replication

TED

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
complex architecture

primary

database

managed

devices

connectivity

server

optional

secondary

server

replication

TED

even more scaling

ZENworks 7 Linux Management
architecture

database

TED

managed

devices

connectivity

into the future

ZENworks
architecture future

ZENworks 7 Linux Management architecture will form the basis of future ZENworks products

web services

only browser-based administration

no eDirectory™ requirement

no Novell Nsure® Identity Manager 2 (IDM2) requirement with AD

quick installation – easy deployment

ZENworks
architecture future

New ZENworks architecture will continue to provide all the benefits of current ZENworks

scalability

performance

identity based (user and workstation)

superior application delivery

policy-driven automation

cross-platform

all the features you love today...

ZENworks
architecture future

primary

database

ZENworks
architecture future

relationships

primary

database

ZENworks
architecture future

satellite

relationships

primary

database

ZENworks
architecture future

satellite

relationships

content

primary

database

ZENworks
architecture future

distribution point

satellite

relationships

content

primary

database

ZENworks
architecture future

distribution point

tiered electronic distribution

satellite

relationships

content

primary

database

ZENworks
architecture future

distribution point

tiered electronic distribution

satellite

relationships

managed devices

connectivity

content

primary

database

ZENworks
architecture future

New ZENworks architecture will be easy to move to and non-disruptive

co-existence with current ZENworks products

planned movement to new system (via agent)

analysis tools to examine existing system

ease the import process

import tools to bring existing ZENworks into new system

ZENworks
architecture future

User association – How'd they do that?

LDAP redirection on back-end services to your chosen corporate directory

no schema changes required

perform read-only operations on corporate directory

reference to users, groups, containers are kept

ZENworks
architecture future

LDAP Directory

ZENworks
architecture future

What goes away?

duplicate application objects

application ditributions (TED/NAL)

corporate schema changes

eDirectory requirement

IDM requirement in AD environment

different ways to manage ZENworks components

ZENworks
architecture future

What goes away?

ConsoleOne® requirement

client requirement on administrator workstation

client requirement for installation

ZENworks
architecture future

Why is this new architecture a GOOD THING?

non-chatty communication

logic on the back-end not on device

efficient content distribution everywhere

flexible architecture, more modular

messaging to central system

consistent logging

simplified inventory schema

new web-based reporting

ZENworks
architecture future

Why is this new architecture a GOOD THING?

all web administration

task-based, role based management

use any supported LDAP authoritative source

simple installation

powerful deployment

OS platform agnostic

Brainshare 2005 TUT 227 -ZENworks future architecture

2003-12-08T12:43:39