A User-Friendly Web Site Update Tool

Lisa Hamet Bernard

Because I come from the command-line world, I am amazed at the level of dependence on GUI-based administration tools that has evolved in recent years. These interfaces have become so prevalent that many IT staffers with system management responsibilities are loath to use any package without a point-and-click front end. I recently encountered such a scenario with one of my customers.

The Challenge

The organization's Web environment consists of a local development Web server and two load-balanced, ISP-hosted production Web servers, all of which are Unix machines. However, all staff members responsible for Web site content, including the Webmaster, are exclusively Windows and Mac users, not at all comfortable working in the traditional Unix command-line environment.

I needed to enable the Webmaster (a non-root user) to list and selectively deploy files from the development Web server to the production Web servers with the ease of a simple point-and-click interface on his PC. The obvious Unix solution was to use the rsync open source data synchronization tool for its flexibility, reliability, and efficiency. My task was to build a Web interface around it. In this article, I will describe the application I developed, including configuration of the underlying open source tools used.

The Environment

The development and production Web servers are Sun servers running Solaris 8 with Apache 1.3.33. The development Web server is firewalled from external access, and two dedicated T1 lines connect the customer site to the ISP's data center where the production Web servers are hosted. Staffers create and update Web pages using various Windows- and Mac-based packages. The Webmaster regularly reviews all new files contributed to the development Web server and deploys them to production.