Posted by jstoller on March 20, 2008 at 6:07pm
Create a new installation/site administration mechanism for Drupal. I should be able to configure any number of sites for my Drupal installation, right from the installer, through a simple GUI, without ever needing to manually copy files. The installer should be able to create the appropriate folders and files in the sites directory for me. I also should be able to return to the installer at any time to add additional sites to my installation, or to reconfigure existing sites.
Comments
Would this be a functional
Would this be a functional extension to installer profiles?
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Let me know your thoughts on this.
STRAY PROPOSAL?
This is a stray proposal that was probably inserted as a comment to the existing one. How to fix this?
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This sounds a lot like the
This sounds a lot like the Multisite manager module on drupal.org. It's stable for 5 and being ported to 6 but allows sites to spawn others automatically. Doesn't sound like a full blown SoC project but definitely agree it should be worked into the install mechanism some how.
Ex Uno Plures
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http://drupal.psu.edu/
I'm really looking for a
I'm really looking for a complete replacement of the Drupal installer. Something that could find its way into core. Not an add on module. Modules require an existing Drupal installation, which is too late in the process, in my opinion.
If the multisite capabilities I've mentioned above are not enough meat for a SoC project, then I'm sure a perusal of the feature request issue queue will reveal a host of other desires for Drupal's installer that could bulk up a proposal.
Here's one more addition. After setting up Drupal, I should be able to return to the installer and change the database settings for any of my sites. When I do that, the installer should give me the option of moving my existing database tables to the new database, or starting over with clean tables. If I choose to move the data, it should copy the contents of my old tables to the new tables and delete the old tables automatically. If rather than change databases, all I do is change the prefix I use for my data tables, then it should be able to rename the tables automatically. If the database settings I specify point toward existing tables, the installer should recognize that. I should then give the option of using the data already in those tables, or deleting that data and either starting fresh or copying over the data from this site's previous tables (if applicable). Of course, if I ever try to configure a site with the same database settings as another existing site, Drupal should recognize that and prevent it.
In a similar vein, I should be able to change the URL for an existing site in the Drupal installation. When I do, the installer should automatically rename all the files associated with that site in the sites directory.
Ultimately I'm looking for a simple GUI that even non-technical users can use to easily setup and manage the most complex multisite Drupal configurations, without ever having to resort to using a command line terminal, or phpMyAdmin, or manually moving files in the sites directory. A one-stop-shop for Drupal site administration.
There are a lot of excellent
There are a lot of excellent ideas here. However given that this is complex core functionality, which also overlaps with usability and some serious security concerns (installer always having write access to code folders) I don't think it is appropriate for a SoC project.
I do like the database management parts though, and perhaps this could be turned into a SoC project, as an addition to the Multisite module. This stuff is actually reasonably meaty, requiring a lot of thought and testing. Multisite functionality is certainly an area that could use a lot of love.
Drupal Instance Management
Maybe these discussions could lead to an idea for a separate application called the Drupal Multi-Site manager which works on the system administration level using the existing UNIX/MySQL permissions and can talk to apache etc. directly, therefore not compromising security on the site level. It is important that a system like this uses the existing Drupal multisites structure.
A "Drupal Instance Management" Webmin module maybe?
Maybe the guys at Bryght can provide some feedback here.
Cheers,
-K
Now you're talking!
If I have valid UNIX/MySQL authentication credentials, there's nothing this application would let me do that I couldn't accomplish in other ways, so security does seem like less of an issue. It just makes it a lot easier for a server administrator to deploy and manage a Drupal installation.
Status???
This has been labeled as a "Student Proposal," but I am not a student and did not propose it for myself to complete. I was hoping it would find its way onto the official project ideas list, where a student might pick it up and run with it. Has a student taken up the challenge and I am just not aware of it?
I have modified the status
I have modified the status to reflect that it is a community proposal
Isn't Hostmaster2 supposed
Isn't Hostmaster2 supposed to do this?
Not exactly...
I wasn't aware of Hostmaster2 until just now, but after a quick perusal of the wiki, it doesn't look like it quite fulfills this need. For one thing, HM2 requires the user to have complete control over their server, preventing its use in shared hosting environments. I'm very interested in what HM2 has to offer, but it seems like it's really meant for use in a large enterprise settings where multiple Drupal installations—and not just multiple sites within an installation—must be managed.
Drupal needs an installer/site manager that can be packaged with every distribution. Something that will work on any platform Drupal itself will work on, including shared hosting environments. All that being said, if someone takes up this proposal, I would absolutely recommend that they draw on Hostmaster2 for inspiration.
This application will not only make it easier for Drupal pros to manage their installations, but will also reduce the barrier to entry for less technical users. This in turn will help increase Drupal's installed base. And the more people you can get to start using Drupal, the more people you'll ultimately have contributing back to the community. And then the world will be a happier place. ;-)
Now, this is just a random thought, but if this administration application—included with every Drupal installation—was really good at managing the sites within that installation, and if it included an API of its own, then perhaps something like Hostmaster2 could tie into that API to help it manage multiple Drupal installations. However, that discussion is completely tangential to the proposal in question here.
Pick a specific area
Please see this thread on the developer mailing list about various multi-site modules available. Hosting multiple instances of drupal and/or deployment is a large issue to tackle and is out of the scope of SoC. Try reading through the available documentation to find a specific issue to take on while trying to leverage the work of others. Here are two possibilities (I'm sure there's many, many more ideas out there...):
I think you misunderstand my
I think you misunderstand my request here. I'm not proposing that a SoC student create software to deploy and manage multiple instances of Drupal (ala Hostmaster). I agree that this would be well beyond the scope of SoC. Nor would it solve the problem I am looking to solve.
If you look back at my initial post, all I'm suggesting is that someone extend the existing Drupal 6 installer so that it can be used to create multiple sites, of varying specificity, within a single Drupal installation. Further, this installer should automatically create folders and settings files in the sites directory for each of these sites. That's it. Everything else is icing on the cake.
It was suggested that this alone may not be enough for a SoC proposal (??), so I suggested that additional features could be included, like the ability to automatically move database tables when the configuration for an existing site is changed in the installer. This I leave up to any student willing to take up the challenge and write a proposal based on this discussion.
I should point out that this suggestion was born from the real sense of frustration I felt the first time I tried to install my own copy of Drupal, using the D6 installer. As a champion for the user experience, I see this as a big problem that should be addressed.