Re: [cobalt-developers] RaQ replacements

["rackAID" <marketing@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

For ensim, we have a resource site listed here:
http://www.ensimlinks.com
may have a few links to useful sites.....

Also, the discussion forums at rackshack:
http://forum.rackshack.net
has a lively ensim section.

My own experiences with Ensim over the last 2 years:

Major issues with Ensim.
Updates are not as easy as Raqs.  Many major updates fail if you have
modified default Ensim RPMs.
The update process is improving as Ensim has changed how the updates are
handled.  If updates fail and you are not familar with Ensim, then I suggest
finding someone who is.  Ensim's major issue is with an update failing and
your control panel getting stuck in "maintenance" mode -- where it does not
start up.  Also, IMHO, there is not enough logging done by the updates to
pinpoint the issue in an efficient manner.

Updating ensim modified rpms with plain redhat rpms can cause server to
fail.  This is a major problem with people who use up2date to blindly update
their servers.  You can use up2date but you should select the rpms to
update.

Considerations:
Ensim come pre-installed with Tomcat JSP.  You can install ASP on the server
but if you are going to run both the JSP and ASP servers make sure you have
plenty o' RAM.  1GB is reccomended.

Ensim's site layout is a chroot enviroment, which is good for security but
means certain binaries my have to be installed on a per domain basis if you
want clients to have command line access to them.  A common one is
ImageMagick.  For example, you can install at the server level and scripts
can use ImageMagick, but your clients will not have direct access to IM's
binaires unless you copy them and their requirements into the domain.

Ensim uses SquirrelMail by default.  Due to sendmail modifciations
installing alternative webmail clients can be difficult.

I have seen issues with getting MailMan type software installed on ensim due
to its sendmail config.



Jeff

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Raq Admin" <raq@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <cobalt-developers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, June 07, 2003 1:11 PM
Subject: Re: [cobalt-developers] RaQ replacements


> John -
>
> Interesting information.  I notice that you reference majority of concern
> with Plesk.  Do you have the same feedback about Ensim?  We are looking at
> purchasing and testing Ensim.  I am off to view your link below.
>
> Thanks
> GNH
>
> At 05:30 PM 6/7/2003 +0200, you wrote:
> >Hi John,
> >
> > > What about moving some of the older RaQ4rs to Linux servers using
Ensim
> > > control panels?
> >
> >I worked a little with Ensim and Plesk boxes and from my security minded
> >perespective there is one crucial problem:
> >
> >You take a basic linux installation (RedHat, Debian, or whatever you
prefer)
> >and put the control panel on top of it. Plesk then installs its own
mailer
> >daemon, own web server, it's own MySQL and so on.
> >
> >Now what do you do in regards to security updates? Sure, Plesk provides
> >security patches for all the software it brings aboard. But updating the
> >underlying OS is up to you.
> >
> >On a RedHat box you then need to be really careful with "up2date" when
you
> >fetch your patches for the OS. Or you risk that your Plesk installation
(or
> >parts of it) might get toasted once you install needed RedHat updates.
> >
> >All the Plesk boxes I've seen so far had horrible security leaks half a
year
> >down the road, because the underlying OS was either never updated, or not
> >updated properly.
> >
> >An interesting alternative (aside from the Qbalt project) could be
EnGarde
> >Secure Linux:
> >
>
>http://store.guardiandigital.com/html/eng/products/software/esp_overview.sh
tml
> >
> >I'll be trying it out within the next two weeks, but I like their
security
> >minded approach. However, the price tag on it is almost as impressive as
the
> >feature list.
> >
> >--
> >
> >With best regards,
> >
> >Michael Stauber
> >
> >_______________________________________________
> >cobalt-developers mailing list
> >cobalt-developers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >http://list.cobalt.com/mailman/listinfo/cobalt-developers
>
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