alphaWorks : Remote System Management Tool : Overview

alphaWorks : Remote System Management Tool : Overview: "Remote System Management Tool

An integrated environment for remote system management, including file systems, users, and processes on any UNIX or Windows server.

What is Remote System Management Tool?

Remote Server Management Tool is an Eclipse plug-in that provides an integrated graphical user interface (GUI) environment and enables testers to manage multiple remote servers simultaneously. The tool is designed as a management tool for those who would otherwise telnet to more than one server to manage the servers and who must look at different docs and man pages to find commands for different platforms in order to create or manage users and groups and to initiate and monitor processes. This tool handles these operations on remote servers by using a user-friendly GUI; in addition, it displays configuration of the test server (number of processors, RAM, etc.). The activities that can be managed by this tool on the remote and local server are divided as follows:

* Process Management: This utility lists the process running on UNIX and Windows® servers. One can start and stop processes. Along with process listing, the utility also provides details of the resources used by the process.

* User Management: This utility facilitates creation of users and groups on UNIX servers; it also provides options for listing, creating, deleting, and modifying the attributes of users and groups.

* File Management: This utility acts as a windows explorer for any selected server, irrespective of its operating system. One can create, edit, delete, and copy files and directories on local or remote servers. Testers can tail the remote files.

How does it work?
This Eclipse plug-in was written with the Standard Widget Toolkit (SWT). The tool has a perspective named Remote System Management; the perspective consists of test servers and a console view. The remote test servers are mounted in the Test Servers view for management of their resources (process, file system, and users or groups).

At the back end, this Eclipse plug-in uses the Software Test Automation Framework (STAF). STAF is an open-source framework that masks the operating system-specific details and provides common services and APIs in order to manage system resources. The APIs are provided for a majority of the languages. Along with the built-in services, STAF also supports external services. The Remote Server Management Tool comes with two STAF external services: one for user management and another for proving system details.