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CAcert Testserver Management System
Contents
Overview
To assist software testers in building test environments the Software-Assessment project came to the conclusion, that testers needs an administrative console, so they can build up their testing environment
Using the TestManager you can currently:
- Create assurance entries for your own account, to increase your Assurance points, with menu item "Automated Assurance"
- Increase your Experience Points by automatic Assurance of other accounts, with menu item "Batch Assurance"
- You can give yourself an "Administrative Increase". In reality you normally won't get such an increase unless there are very special circumstances, but on the testserver you're able to check what would happen.
- You can set special flags on your account unsing the menu item "Set Flags". Normally Support does this if you are entitled to do some special things:
- "Support Engineer" gives you the same access to the database as an Support Engineer.
- "Code Signing" lets you create a certificate with code signing flag set
- "Organisation Assurer" enables you to create Organisation accounts, and assign (Organisation-)domains as well as Organisation Admins to them
"TTP admin" allows you to enter TTP-assisted Assurances
"Board member": Gives you the special access of Board Members of CAcert Inc. (ToDo: This allows to do what?)
- "TVerify" is now obsolete. In earlier days it did allow you to promote users to Assurer Status based on their status in the "Thawte Web-of-Trust", which has been suspended by Thawte many years ago.
"Lock Account" lets you try how it feels if you get your account locked. This mostly happens as the first state of the "Delete My Account"-Procedure, but may also happen as a result of another Arbitrator decision.
- "Block Assurer" lets you still use your account to create certificates, but does not allow you to assure other people. In reality this flag may be set as a result of an Arbitration, for example if it turns out that you were too careless during your Assurances...
Read mails which are sent by the testsystem to your account's address. The testsystem does not send mails related to your account to your real mail address, for example adter you entered an Assurance. Instead the mails are stored in the mail system and you can access them with the TestManager's "Mail" menu.
Links
Operating system was set up by Wytze according to the current live web db machine. Source code comes from an repository, which holds a copy of the source code taken from the tarball. It is intended to continuously import every new tarball into the repository to enable developers to work more conveniently. The whole process of development, testing and release is WIP and will be posted shortly.
1.
Main Page Access
2.
Secure Area
3.
TestManager Console
Instructions for the beginning
To connect to the Testserver Mgmt System, you first need to create an account under link 1. http://test.cacert.org like under the CAcert main website.
With the account created under 1. you're now able to login into the Testserver Mgmt System console under https://mgr.test.cacert.org:14843/login
First check for Mail and open the mail from "Support" (From field is clickable to open and display the msg) with the subject "[CAcert.org] Mail Probe" to verify your created account
- once your account is verified, you can work with the testserver and the testserver mgmt system.
Before you can start testing, you have to set your environment for testing patches (see below Menu System)
- to be able to assure someone (here you need assurance points, assurer challenge passed flag set, and so on)
- to be able to act as Support Engineer (here you need to set the addtl. flag Admin)
reconnect to link 1. http://test.cacert.org and start testing
See also Software/TestTeam/WelcomePack/03-WorkingWithTestserverAndMgmtSystem. Covers the same topics, by another author.
More detailed description of the Menu System
Top Right
Mail - View and manage your emails rcvd for your email address in the test system
Manage Account - switch to the Manage your Account View
Left Sidebar (Manage Account)
Automated Assurance - here you can set regular Assurances over your account (0-35 pts each)
- for more than 35 points, the assurances are splitted into multiple assurances to reach the points level you've set. i.e. Set 100 points, you will receive 3 assurances: 2 x 35 pts + 1 x 30 pts
Administrative Increase - you can add i.e. 150 pts in one step with the Administrative Increase function. This Assurance will display as a single Administrative Increase assurance. This relates to the former known Super-Assurer program. This can be done also manualy with the Board flag set.
Assurer Challenge - If this flag is not set, you cannot Assure someone
Set Flags - Set various flags to reach the level for testing. i.e. Tests for a Support Engineer patch, needs the Admin flag to be set, so you can access the menues for a Support Engineer
Technical Details and Setup
The Testserver Management System is created with the http://framework.zend.com/. It directly accesses the testserver database for most of its features, including user authentication.
Sources
The software of the TestManager is archived in the repositories cacert-testmgr on GitHub, and cacert-mgr on git.cacert.org.
ca_mgr database
The TestManager runs its own database, which consists of the following tables:
- front_session: It looks like session specific data is stored there
- system_config: This includes several configuration settings, including the IMAP server and account credentials used to handle the mails sent by the testserver
- system_resource: Unknown. Is currently empty
- system_role: Contains the roles "User" and "Admin". More details are unknown.
- system_role_has_system_resource: Unknown. Currently empty.
- system_user: Seems to contain some admin users, including DNs for certificate login. Details unknown.
A "basic" database is created by the script dbadm/ca_mgr.mysql from the repository. Of course the system_config records have to be adjusted to the system environment.
Access parameters to this database are stored in manager/application/configs/applöication.ini (this is a softlink to application.ini.ca-mgr1).
Proposed Structure / Sitemap of Testserver Mgmt System
I assume that this paragraph contains discussions about what should be possible with the TestManager. I'll keep this for historic reference, but assume that this is not considered to be a specification or a manual. Maybe you'll get some ideas on what to develop next... Bernhard Fröhlich
- Testserver Mgmt system
- can someone build a sitemap ?
- discussion
- action items
- add points / remove points
- change flags
- assurer challange
- one main point: Account handling
- own account actions
- own assurances increase
- edit own flags
- index actions
- Start page (overview, help, infos)
- login/logout
- Configuration / My Account (register cert)
- Admin
- action items
- Language files from Translingo ?
- gettext ?
- Controller: relates to permissions
- top menu inserts if permissions are set
- Submenu definitions
- Configuration
- load own certs
- Mail (User)
- display own mails
- delete own mails
- Mail (Admin)
- display all mails
- delete all mails
- Account handling
- add points
- administrative increase
- add assurance points
- set flags
- assurer challenge
- add points
- Configuration