Idea: Administer Virtual Machines from Cockpit

[Marek Libra]

Hi,

I would like to hear your opinion on adding Virtual Machine status and management
capability to the Cockpit.

I've already played with this idea for some time. It lead me to a plugin providing
such a functionality, but with dependency on the oVirt (VDSM).
The plugin 
- lists all VMs running on the host, 
- displays some charts, statistics and other VM details 
- plus allows set of actions on them (so far basic - shutdown, restart, console, but can
grow).

With optional access to oVirt's engine, additional cluster-related functionality is
made accessible:
- list of VMs in a cluster, 
- VM run, 
- click-through to other cockpit running particular VM
- ...

In hindsight, there might be a better approach in contributing VM status&management to
the Cockpit upstream, alongside with recent Docker or Kubernetes.

As a starting point, a list of running VMs will be displayed and basic set of actions
provided.
Vision: implement in the Cockpit
- similar functionality as is recently done for the desktop's virt-manager but with
the benefit of revising the User Experience
- allow monitoring&management of cluster VMs, if the host is part of any

This feature would be libvirt-based, not VDSM - so no additional dependencies for
Cockpit.
The VDSM would be preferred service provider, if *optionally* installed on the host.
Similar for oVirt's engine - if accessible then cluster-related functionality is
provided (i.e. cluster VMs list, managed VM migration, run a VM "in a cluster",
cockpit's VM detail click-through, etc.).

Benefit for users: support for VM management out of the box with layered access to
functionality as more advanced VM management tools are installed on a host

Please share your ideas.
Thanks,
Marek

[Stephen Gallagher]

On 03/23/2016 05:06 AM, Marek Libra wrote:
>  Hi,
>  
>  I would like to hear your opinion on adding Virtual Machine status and
>  management capability to the Cockpit.
>   
I've been pitching this for about a year now:
https://github.com/cockpit-project/cockpit/issues/2099


>  I've already played with this idea for some time. It lead me to a
> plugin
>  providing such a functionality, but with dependency on the oVirt (VDSM). The
>  plugin - lists all VMs running on the host, - displays some charts,
>  statistics and other VM details - plus allows set of actions on them (so far
>  basic - shutdown, restart, console, but can grow).
>  
>  With optional access to oVirt's engine, additional cluster-related
>  functionality is made accessible: - list of VMs in a cluster, - VM run, -
>  click-through to other cockpit running particular VM - ...
>  
>  In hindsight, there might be a better approach in contributing VM
>  status&management to the Cockpit upstream, alongside with recent Docker or
>  Kubernetes.
>  
>  As a starting point, a list of running VMs will be displayed and basic set of
>  actions provided. Vision: implement in the Cockpit - similar functionality as
>  is recently done for the desktop's virt-manager but with the benefit of
>  revising the User Experience - allow monitoring&management of cluster VMs, if
>  the host is part of any
>  
>  This feature would be libvirt-based, not VDSM - so no additional dependencies
>  for Cockpit. The VDSM would be preferred service provider, if *optionally*
>  installed on the host. Similar for oVirt's engine - if accessible then
>  cluster-related functionality is provided (i.e. cluster VMs list, managed VM
>  migration, run a VM "in a cluster", cockpit's VM detail click-through,
>  etc.).
>  
>  Benefit for users: support for VM management out of the box with layered
>  access to functionality as more advanced VM management tools are installed on
>  a host
>  
>  Please share your ideas. Thanks, Marek 
>

[Stef Walter]

On 23.03.2016 12:00, Stephen Gallagher wrote:
>  On 03/23/2016 05:06 AM, Marek Libra wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > I would like to hear your opinion on adding Virtual Machine status and
> > management capability to the Cockpit.
> >
>  
>  I've been pitching this for about a year now:
>  https://github.com/cockpit-project/cockpit/issues/2099 
Yup, it's on the ideas page:
https://github.com/cockpit-project/cockpit/wiki/Ideas

> > I've already played with this idea for some time. It lead me
> to a plugin
> > providing such a functionality, but with dependency on the oVirt (VDSM). The
> > plugin - lists all VMs running on the host, - displays some charts,
> > statistics and other VM details - plus allows set of actions on them (so far
> > basic - shutdown, restart, console, but can grow). 
Sounds like a good idea. I would suggest starting simple, and listing
the running machines, providing a shell and browser link to access those
machines (if we know of an address).

And then building it out further into being able to stop, start machines.

But in general this is a nice project, and makes sense for inclusion
into Cockpit.

> > With optional access to oVirt's engine, additional
> cluster-related
> > functionality is made accessible: - list of VMs in a cluster, - VM run, -
> > click-through to other cockpit running particular VM - ...
> >
> > In hindsight, there might be a better approach in contributing VM
> > status&management to the Cockpit upstream, alongside with recent Docker or
> > Kubernetes. 
Yup. I would suggest integrating with local VM access, until and if
there's a common standard system API that provides more clustering info.
Perhaps proving a clickable link in the browser that takes the user to
an oVirt or RHEV-M web interface would be more appropriate here?

> > As a starting point, a list of running VMs will be displayed and
> basic set of
> > actions provided. Vision: implement in the Cockpit - similar functionality as
> > is recently done for the desktop's virt-manager but with the benefit of
> > revising the User Experience - allow monitoring&management of cluster VMs, if
> > the host is part of any
> >
> > This feature would be libvirt-based, not VDSM - so no additional dependencies
> > for Cockpit. The VDSM would be preferred service provider, if *optionally*
> > installed on the host. Similar for oVirt's engine - if accessible then
> > cluster-related functionality is provided (i.e. cluster VMs list, managed VM
> > migration, run a VM "in a cluster", cockpit's VM detail click-through,
> > etc.).
> >
> > Benefit for users: support for VM management out of the box with layered
> > access to functionality as more advanced VM management tools are installed on
> > a host 
You said you played with this already? Do you have a link for us to try
out? Or are you planning on openning an initial pull request in the
cockpit repo?

By the way, I think an idea was floating around about standardizing the
playground and examples directory into something that's installable and
it would contain work in progress, or unfinished modules ... to make it
easier to collaborate, try them out or contribute to them.

Cheers,

Stef

[Marek Libra]

----- Original Message -----
>  From: "Stef Walter" <stefw(a)redhat.com&gt;
>  To: "Development discussion for the Cockpit Project"
> <cockpit-devel(a)lists.fedorahosted.org&gt;
>  Sent: Wednesday, March 23, 2016 3:11:33 PM
>  Subject: Re: Idea: Administer Virtual Machines from Cockpit
>  
>  On 23.03.2016 12:00, Stephen Gallagher wrote:
>  > On 03/23/2016 05:06 AM, Marek Libra wrote:
>  >> Hi,
>  >>
>  >> I would like to hear your opinion on adding Virtual Machine status and
>  >> management capability to the Cockpit.
>  >>
>  > 
>  > I've been pitching this for about a year now:
>  > https://github.com/cockpit-project/cockpit/issues/2099
>  
>  Yup, it's on the ideas page:
>  https://github.com/cockpit-project/cockpit/wiki/Ideas
>  
>  >> I've already played with this idea for some time. It lead me to a plugin
>  >> providing such a functionality, but with dependency on the oVirt (VDSM).
>  >> The
>  >> plugin - lists all VMs running on the host, - displays some charts,
>  >> statistics and other VM details - plus allows set of actions on them (so
>  >> far
>  >> basic - shutdown, restart, console, but can grow).
>  
>  Sounds like a good idea. I would suggest starting simple, and listing
>  the running machines, providing a shell and browser link to access those
>  machines (if we know of an address).
>  
>  And then building it out further into being able to stop, start machines.
>  
>  But in general this is a nice project, and makes sense for inclusion
>  into Cockpit.
>  
>  >> With optional access to oVirt's engine, additional cluster-related
>  >> functionality is made accessible: - list of VMs in a cluster, - VM run, -
>  >> click-through to other cockpit running particular VM - ...
>  >>
>  >> In hindsight, there might be a better approach in contributing VM
>  >> status&management to the Cockpit upstream, alongside with recent Docker or
>  >> Kubernetes.
>  
>  Yup. I would suggest integrating with local VM access, until and if
>  there's a common standard system API that provides more clustering info.
>  Perhaps proving a clickable link in the browser that takes the user to
>  an oVirt or RHEV-M web interface would be more appropriate here?
>  
>  >> As a starting point, a list of running VMs will be displayed and basic set
>  >> of
>  >> actions provided. Vision: implement in the Cockpit - similar functionality
>  >> as
>  >> is recently done for the desktop's virt-manager but with the benefit of
>  >> revising the User Experience - allow monitoring&management of cluster VMs,
>  >> if
>  >> the host is part of any
>  >>
>  >> This feature would be libvirt-based, not VDSM - so no additional
>  >> dependencies
>  >> for Cockpit. The VDSM would be preferred service provider, if *optionally*
>  >> installed on the host. Similar for oVirt's engine - if accessible then
>  >> cluster-related functionality is provided (i.e. cluster VMs list, managed
>  >> VM
>  >> migration, run a VM "in a cluster", cockpit's VM detail
> click-through,
>  >> etc.).
>  >>
>  >> Benefit for users: support for VM management out of the box with layered
>  >> access to functionality as more advanced VM management tools are installed
>  >> on
>  >> a host
>  
>  You said you played with this already? Do you have a link for us to try
>  out? Or are you planning on openning an initial pull request in the
>  cockpit repo? 
Yes: git clone gerrit.ovirt.org:cockpit-ovirt
It's oVirt-based what would be not the case when contributing to the cockpit-project
(as mentioned above).

The project was moved from github to gerrit.ovirt.org a few weeks ago and recently
there's ongoing merge with similar activity.

So far, the idea of building the VM management on top of libvirt and make use of
optionally installed higher-level tools (like oVirt) for enhanced functionality seems like
a better option.

>  
>  By the way, I think an idea was floating around about standardizing the
>  playground and examples directory into something that's installable and
>  it would contain work in progress, or unfinished modules ... to make it
>  easier to collaborate, try them out or contribute to them. 
ok.

> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Stef
> 
> 
> 
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