The Los Task Request System - Summary
This project is not part of the GNU Project.
<img src="/download/los/los_logo.png" alt="Los logo"><h2>The Los Task Request System</h2>
<b>The Los Task Request System</b> is a system for automating common system administration requests. To illustrate the problem Los aims to solve, consider this script:
USER: I need common thing X.<br>ADMIN: OK. For that, you need to tell me A, B, and C.<br>USER: A is foo, B is bar, and D is baz.<br>ADMIN: Hi again. I need to know about C, not D.<br>USER: OK. C is quux.<br>ADMIN: I need to know more specifically about C. What size quux?<br>USER: Um... five.<br>ADMIN: OK, I see. No problem, I'll choose a sane value for you.
(ADMIN eventually gets around to doing X, if she remembers it, etc. Like always, it's boring and tedious and worth putting off. USER wonders why it had to take so bloody long.)
Los combines web forms, scripting, and cryptographic signatures to automate this dreary process. The user enters task data into a web form, which both explains the nature of the information required and checks for common input mistakes. Their data is sent to the sysadmin over e-mail; there, after a review, the admin can cryptographically sign the data and send it on to a script that automatically executes the task.
<h3>Features:</h3><ul>
<li>All the information for a task--from collection to execution--is kept in a single XML file.
<li>Los is extensible--it's possible to add custom form elements and input filters to the system.
<li>Los has a secure design--users cannot make changes to the system and have no access to the part of Los that does. Only the cryptographic signature of a sysadmin can invoke the Los executor.
</ul>
Los was presented as a refereed paper at LISA 2002 in Philadelphia.
Registration Date: Fri 02 Aug 2002 06:23:46 AM UTC
License: Modified BSD License
Development Status: 5 - Production/Stable
posted by stepleton, Sun 10 Nov 2002 06:04:02 AM UTC - 0 replies
Los is one of the two papers that won Best Paper at LISA '02 in Philly! Greetings to everyone visiting after seeing the presentation or the paper. Unfortunately, Los has no docs at the moment, but work is underway to correct this problem. You can download the manual in progress from the files section.
posted by stepleton, Sat 19 Oct 2002 05:00:53 AM UTC - 0 replies
The 1st August 2002 release of the Los Task Request System is now available to everyone. This is the system that is presently (as of 19 October 2002) in use at the SCCS and is considered stable. Los is ready for new features, so please download, try, and improve. In other news, manual for Los is in the works; hopefully it will be ready by LISA '02.
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