Webmin module vs XigmaNAS extension

[tschettervictor]

I recently started playing around with Webmin installed on stock FreeBSD. Since XigmaNAS is an appliance OS, would it be more practical to simply write a Webmin module if folks want to have a GUI?

One would have to know Perl (I don’t) but I think the overall experience might be better.

See https://github.com/JRGTH/bastille-manager-webmin-module for reference.

Thoughts?

[olevole]

webmin is another level of abstraction.

And what don't you like about the 'native' framework from XigmaNAS ? It is self-sufficient enough for building forms and is probably supported. If for some reason webmin stops working on XS, it will automatically block the virtual environment management module.

ps: I won't say anything bad about webmin - I used it more than 15 years ago and I liked it ;)

[tschettervictor]

I’m ok with XigmaNAS if cbsd can be made to work properly with it (including embedded version)

I was just thinking along the lines of having more control over a server. Webmin gives that control and customization.

You can also install a full XigmaNAS installation which allows you to install additional packages (including Webmin)

Just wanted to know your thoughts. Thanks.

[olevole]

In terms of development efforts, it seems there is no difference

I see that there are pros and cons:

• already mentioned above, this is an additional layer that is not a basic part of Xigma

• can be used without Xigma anywhere where webmin works

BTW: I recently discovered /usr/ports/sysutils/buildah - It integrates easily with cbsd and can be used to run images as well as generate images. It seems like this could give a semblance of docker to XigmaNAS:

bash 
# buildah from --name img docker.io/dougrabson/freebsd14-minimal:latest
Trying to pull docker.io/dougrabson/freebsd15-minimal:latest...
Getting image source signatures
Copying blob 77a9400dd283 done   |
Copying blob 9fd8373ff323 done   |
Copying blob 193f6d37dc31 done   |
Copying blob ceefb323aafc done   |
Copying config 3d2d085d0a done   |
Writing manifest to image destination
img

# cbsd jcreate jname=img interface=0 ip4_addr="172.22.9.14" mnt_start=/tmp/img.mount astart=0
Please wait: this will take a while...
Execute mnt_start script: /tmp/img.mount...
664dc2b178de5de777a970c22ef98a3a7a4766ae331d7bae5e72dbd72faade70
...
jcreate done in 7 seconds

# cbsd jstart img
Execute mnt_start script: /tmp/img.mount...
664dc2b178de5de777a970c22ef98a3a7a4766ae331d7bae5e72dbd72faade70
create epair: epair2:vlan20
set resource limit: [ ]
Starting jail: img, parallel timeout=5
eth0
late_start in progress...
ELF ldconfig path: /lib /usr/lib /usr/lib/compat
32-bit compatibility ldconfig path:
...
Sun Nov 24 00:28:40 CET 2024
jstart done in 3 seconds

# cbsd jlogin img
Custom login command:   /usr/sbin/jexec 82 /usr/bin/env -i -U root sh
img# ps ax
  PID TT  STAT    TIME COMMAND
10570  0  SNJ  0:00.05 sh
10646  0  RN+J 0:00.00 ps ax
img#

Can also be used for generation of jail images + bsd-apps (marketplace).

[tschettervictor]

I was thinking of using either XigmaNAS or vanilla BSD with Webmin on top. I was not suggesting using them together.

Ultimately it’s up to you where you want to focus your development on. If it’s on a Webmin module then it can work on any BSD system. But if it’s on XigmaNAS, then it would require XigmaNAS as the base OS.

[olevole]

Most likely, writing a module for webmin will be a different task.

In fact, I have not yet fully studied the XigmaNAS API and what additional benefits it can provide. For example, getting a list of pools

[tschettervictor]

Sounds good.

I’m assuming you are doing your tests using the Embedded version?

[tschettervictor]

Have you seen Appjail?
It has pre built jail images that get created and uploaded, and can be deployed in a manner similar to docker-compose using Appjail-director.

I don’t think its feasible to do separate projects. It would be far better if all of us could focus our efforts on one image system.

@DtxdF is very active and helpful.

[DtxdF]

I don’t think it feasible to do separate projects. It would be far better I all of use could focus our efforts on one image system.

CBSD just rocks. It would be great if AppJail could use CBSD images and vice versa, so users of both projects would benefit.

Of course, this is off-topic of this issue.

[olevole]

I’m assuming you are doing your tests using the Embedded version?

Haven't tried it yet. I'd like to stabilize the version for full installation first. I haven't been able to devote enough time to it yet.

[olevole]

Have you seen Appjail? It has pre built jail images that get created and uploaded, and can be deployed in a manner similar to docker-compose using Appjail-director.

I don’t think it feasible to do separate projects. It would be far better I all of use could focus our efforts on one image system.

@DtxdF is very active and helpful.

Yes I heard about the Appjail ( however, I haven't had a chance to test it yet ). It is quite problematic to combine Appjail + CBSD projects, but I see no problem in having support for the same image format. By the way, cbsd supports two formats - its own and OCI: CBSD can use official docker/OCI images from docker registry (e.g. docker.io) thanks to buildah. So if the Appjail (@DtxdF ?) also supports OCI, this problem is already solved ;-)

[tschettervictor]

Maybe @DtxdF could share an image built using appjail with you and see how it imports into CBSD.

[DtxdF]

Maybe @DtxdF could share an image built using appjail with you and see how it imports into CBSD.

I think implementing the OCI standard could help, plus FreeBSD released OCI images, so I think this could be leveraged by jail managers.

[DtxdF]

Maybe @DtxdF could share an image built using appjail with you and see how it imports into CBSD.

But hey @olevole, if you have time, yes, I can share you an image and explain how it works. I think it would be easy to integrate the AppJail image format into your project.

The only problem I see with it is that 30% of the work is done at build-time and the rest at run-time, which has nothing to do with the image format. I think the way AppJail currently generates the InitScript after importing an AppJail image is not portable, but I think we can create a small .subr file to make it portable.

What do you guys think?