ViciBox Redux v.3.1.11+ - New ISO and Installer

[Kumba]

As of ViciBox Redux v.3.1.11, there is a new "Preload" ISO in addition to the standard "ISO", as well as an alternative installation method. This post is to detail what those options are:

Standard ISO - This is the regular ViciBox Live CD. This has been the standard ISO build method since v.3.0 of ViciBox. This includes what some might consider "Advanced" installation methods, such as setting up the network, partitioning scheme layout, alternate users, and boot methods. If you have done a ViciBox Redux Install prior to version 3.1.11, then this is what you have used. Most linux savvy users will find this ISO to be their preferred choice.

Preload ISO - In response to a growing number of requests for a simpler OS installation method, we have created a "Preload" ISO. What this will do is present you with a simple screen upon boot where you select the hard-drive that you want to install to. Once you do, it will proceed to wipe, partition, format, and install ViciBox to that drive. When done, the computer will reboot and you will be done with what the standard ISO documentation refers to as "Phase 1". The caveats with this installation ISO is that it defaults the network to "DHCP", the timezone to "US/Eastern", and the partitioning is 4-GB swap and the rest as root on whichever hard-drive you selected. After installation of this ISO, the technician only needs to set the LAN settings and time zone through the 'yast' utility.

No matter which ISO you use to complete the phase-1 (OS Installation), the installed ViciBox is the same. There are no differences once you are logged into the actual OS. Since the "Preload' ISO does not contain the Live CD bootable linux system like the standard ISO, it is not suitable for assisted remote installs, complex or custom installs, or as a rescue CD. It's purpose is to merely turn out phase-1 vicibox setups with as minimal a user interaction as possible.





The second feature added to ViciBox v.3.1.11 is an alternative installer called 'vicibox-express'. This is present under both ISOs and is a simplified installer. The differences between 'vicibox-install' and 'vicibox-express' are detailed blow:

vicibox-install - This is the standard ViciBox Redux installer that allows you to customize the install to your particular needs. This includes things like alternative install directories, external databases, clustering, OS updates, etc. This would be considered an advanced installation method by some. If you have installed ViciBox Redux prior to version 3.1.11, this is the method you used. It is referred to as "Phase-2" in the ViciBox installation documentation.

vicibox-express - This is a simplified installer that installs what we call an "Express" vicidial install. This is an all-in-one machine using the SVN codebase with the firewall enabled. The installer only presents you with a disclaimer and one question asking you if you want to proceed. This installer CAN NOT be used for a clustered or custom setup! It's sole purpose is to provide a way to make ViciDial "just work" for those who are not yet familiar with the extended installation options. Due to the simplification, this installer assumes that the LAN is present on the first ethernet interface (eth0), that you want to install an SVN version of ViciDial, and that this machine is to include the database, webserver, and telephony roles of ViciDial. After this installer succesfully completes, you will have the essentially completed what is referred to as "Phase-2" in the ViciBox documentation.

Because it can not be said enough, the vicibox-express installation method should ONLY BE USED IN A SCENARIO THAT REQUIRES A SINGLE VICIBOX SERVER TO DO EVERYTHING! It should NEVER be used in a multi-server or complex installation. The 'vicibox-express' installer does not include and OS update mechanism, so the "Phase-1.5" would still need to be done after the OS install and prior to running the ViciDial installer.


So, how do you put all the above together? Well, depends what you are doing. Say you are a small Call Center, have less then 15-20 agents, and simply want to make ViciDial work as quickly as possible. The recommended course of action would be:

1) Download the "preload" ISO
2) Burn the ISO to cd-rom
3) Boot the ISO in your new server
4) Select the HD to preload with ViciBox
5) Reboot the server into ViciBox
6) Login with 'root' and 'vicidial' as the password
7) Type 'vicibox-express' and press enter
Read the little tidbit after the install completes to know where to point your browser and how to login
9) Login to ViciDial, and set a SECURE PASSWORD!
10) Enjoy


So there you go. ViciDial in 10-steps or less. Since this is the first version of the installer and preload ISO, there are of course bugs in there somewhere. I will run through the installs later to see what I can find, but as always, I appreciate any bugreports you might find.

The Preload ISO and vicibox-express shall be maintained in tandem with their standard counterparts as consequently share the same version numbers. The preload ISO will contain "-preload" after the version number to identify it from the standard one.

[williamconley]

before you ask: No, I don't have time to volunteer. LOL

but i think it would be cool if the preload had a custom "data capture" (not the yast, but one specifically...: ) designed to capture the HD (list existing, choose one by number), then on the same screen/page/form either accept default DHCP for network OR put in actual network settings, and still on the same form either accept default timezone or type one in.

could all be captured as text and ignored completely if "default" or "DHCP" or "America/New York" is left in each field for instance, or actually set those values during OS-Install.

Of course, they are very easy to change after install, no question. But if it happened inside the preload install ... i bet there would be a lot of call centers that NEVER used the CLI. LOL

Especially if there were log viewer for asterisk/astguiclient log folders showing latest log or historical ones after rollover.

At that point, the installation could easily be "talked through" by almost anyone without the need for "yast" or even logging in for that matter after the installation. this would allow a remote installer to just jump into the box immediately after the preload, and the call center will only have had to fill in ONE form to get that far. Even a non-geek could work that out.

that being said: you still continue to create an ongoing work of art. Excellent.

[Kumba]

You would need to talk to Matt about sponsoring the log rolling web viewer. That's pretty much outside the realm of ViciBox at the moment.

As far as them selecting hard-drives, I don't see where that would benefit most people who would opt to use the preload ISO anyways. The clients we have seen usually have a dedicated machine that they just want it to install on. Most of them are single-hard drive machines or machines with a RAID card. Plus I don't know how to make the installer present a list anyways, so it's all kind of moot.

The preload already presented them with a screen to assign the machine a host name and set the network (which defaulted to DHCP). I enabled the timezone setting as well on firstboot which should round it out nicely. So after it installs, expands the filesystem to the new hard-drive, and boots, it asks for a machine name (or use the random string it came up with), asks for the local region/timezone settings, and then gives you a chance to configure the network or continue using DHCP. It's not all on one screen, but it's simple enough.

[williamconley]

Sounds good. Thanks for all the hard work. Maybe I'll have to do the "one screen" in my Ubuntu ... unless I also don't know how when the time comes. And Ubuntu is stalled this month anyway. LOL

Any thoughts of putting in something like Webmin or Cacti or Nagios?

[skramer]

Kumba,

Wanted to share with you that williamconley suggested we use your ViciBox install. Brilliant Work!

In fact it took us longer to recall how to make a Bootable ISO than it took to create a working VICIBOX......(only minutes from inserting the CD till working Vicidialer was installed) LOL....Once we did all went PERFECTLY and now have a current, stable, well organized Vicidialer

Once again BRILLIANT work, Great Implementation and a big Thank You from US!

[noworldorder]

6) Login with 'root' and 'vicidial' as the password

I have tried many times and cannot login with root and vicidial. A friend of mine had exactly the same experience and we are both stuck