RE: [EXTERNAL] Re: Questions about Reservations/Scheduling

["MARTINEZ, ARIEL" <AM...@hostos.cuny.edu>]

Hi Josh,

Thanks for following up with this information. I think that the Block Reservation functionality will work well for our use case scenario since it will ensure that there are resources available for students during their scheduled class time and it will be good for an entire semster as defined in the start / end dates. While they will still need to make a reservation, I think it is still a good process that avoids the possibility of students using resources outside of their class time.

Thanks again,

Ariel  

-----Original Message-----
From: Josh Thompson <jo...@ncsu.edu> 
Sent: Monday, December 21, 2020 4:35 PM
To: user@vcl.apache.org
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: Questions about Reservations/Scheduling

WARNING: This email originated outside the Hostos campus. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Never provide login credentials, financial or sensitive details in response to an email or by clicking on a link. Report suspicious emails to: reportspam@hostos.cuny.edu


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Hi Ariel,

1) Sort of, and only for Linux - There is a fairly old "Lab" module that brokers access to Linux systems.  It only controls who can log in via ssh.  It doesn't do anything to actually install the lab computers.  We recently wrote an updated version of that for use here at NCSU.  However, we have't done anything to generalize it to make it available to ASF at this point.  VCL is very modular and writing your own version of this would not be too difficult if you wanted to try that.

2) If you are using LDAP authentication against AD, you can follow the steps under "Mirroring LDAP User Groups" on this page:

https://vcl.apache.org/docs/ldapauth.html

to get the AD groups into VCL.  The only way to limit the time users can make reservations is by using the schedules assigned to computers.  Schedules work on a weekly basis.  The schedule controls when the computer is available to anyone, not just specific groups.  So, having 2 groups with 2 different schedules for the same computers is not supported.  If that's what you are wanting, you could probably do it in a hacky sort of way by having multiple entries for the same computers and assigning different schedules to them.
However, you would have to be really careful that the schedules never overlapped.  If they did overlap, you could run into weird problems where multiple reservations could be assigned to the same actual computer at the same time.

3) Nothing exists to do that currently.  There are Block Allocations which are close.  Block Allocations preload a set of computers and make them available to only a specific user group for reservations during time windows.  That allows the users in the group to be able to quickly make a reservation without having to wait on the full deployment time.  We've found having the computers ready and set aside for reservations by the desired group works better than actually making the reservations for the users for a number of reasons.

Josh

On Friday, December 18, 2020 2:06:12 PM EST MARTINEZ, ARIEL wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Just a few questions, and sorry if these are documented already, but 
> can VCL do any of the following?
>
>
>   1.  Can VCL manage reservations on physical lab computers?
>   2.  Can reservation privileges be limited to specific AD Groups at 
> specific times? 3.  Is there a possibility to automatically create 
> reservations on a recurring basis for an AD Group?
>
> Thanks
>
> ________________________________
> This email may contain confidential material. If you were not an 
> intended recipient, please notify the sender and delete all copies. 
> Eco-Tip: Think green before you print.

- --
- -------------------------------
Josh Thompson
VCL Developer
North Carolina State University

my GPG/PGP key can be found on pool.sks-keyservers.net

All electronic mail messages in connection with State business which are sent to or received by this account are subject to the NC Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.
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Re: [EXTERNAL] Re: Questions about Reservations/Scheduling

[Henry Schaffer <he...@ncsu.edu>]

Ariel,
On Tue, Dec 22, 2020 at 11:05 AM MARTINEZ, ARIEL <AM...@hostos.cuny.edu>
wrote:

> Hi Josh,
>
> Thanks for following up with this information. I think that the Block
> Reservation functionality will work well for our use case scenario since it
> will ensure that there are resources available for students during their
> scheduled class time and it will be good for an entire semster as defined
> in the start / end dates. While they will still need to make a reservation,
> I think it is still a good process that avoids the possibility of students
> using resources outside of their class time.
>

  My understanding is that the Block Reservation as described at
https://vcl.ncsu.edu/get-help/documentation/requesting-a-blockclassroom-allocation/

allocates resources for the specific group of users and so works for your
use case scenario. It doesn't keep users in that group from using resources
(which they are authorized to use) whenever they make a reservation -
within or outside of their class time.

--henry

>
> Thanks again,
>
> Ariel
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Josh Thompson <jo...@ncsu.edu>
> Sent: Monday, December 21, 2020 4:35 PM
> To: user@vcl.apache.org
> Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: Questions about Reservations/Scheduling
>
> WARNING: This email originated outside the Hostos campus. Do not click
> links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the
> content is safe. Never provide login credentials, financial or sensitive
> details in response to an email or by clicking on a link. Report suspicious
> emails to: reportspam@hostos.cuny.edu
>
>
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
>
> Hi Ariel,
>
> 1) Sort of, and only for Linux - There is a fairly old "Lab" module that
> brokers access to Linux systems.  It only controls who can log in via ssh.
> It doesn't do anything to actually install the lab computers.  We recently
> wrote an updated version of that for use here at NCSU.  However, we have't
> done anything to generalize it to make it available to ASF at this point.
> VCL is very modular and writing your own version of this would not be too
> difficult if you wanted to try that.
>
> 2) If you are using LDAP authentication against AD, you can follow the
> steps under "Mirroring LDAP User Groups" on this page:
>
> https://vcl.apache.org/docs/ldapauth.html
>
> to get the AD groups into VCL.  The only way to limit the time users can
> make reservations is by using the schedules assigned to computers.
> Schedules work on a weekly basis.  The schedule controls when the computer
> is available to anyone, not just specific groups.  So, having 2 groups with
> 2 different schedules for the same computers is not supported.  If that's
> what you are wanting, you could probably do it in a hacky sort of way by
> having multiple entries for the same computers and assigning different
> schedules to them.
> However, you would have to be really careful that the schedules never
> overlapped.  If they did overlap, you could run into weird problems where
> multiple reservations could be assigned to the same actual computer at the
> same time.
>
> 3) Nothing exists to do that currently.  There are Block Allocations which
> are close.  Block Allocations preload a set of computers and make them
> available to only a specific user group for reservations during time
> windows.  That allows the users in the group to be able to quickly make a
> reservation without having to wait on the full deployment time.  We've
> found having the computers ready and set aside for reservations by the
> desired group works better than actually making the reservations for the
> users for a number of reasons.
>
> Josh
>
> On Friday, December 18, 2020 2:06:12 PM EST MARTINEZ, ARIEL wrote:
> > Hello,
> >
> > Just a few questions, and sorry if these are documented already, but
> > can VCL do any of the following?
> >
> >
> >   1.  Can VCL manage reservations on physical lab computers?
> >   2.  Can reservation privileges be limited to specific AD Groups at
> > specific times? 3.  Is there a possibility to automatically create
> > reservations on a recurring basis for an AD Group?
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > ________________________________
> > This email may contain confidential material. If you were not an
> > intended recipient, please notify the sender and delete all copies.
> > Eco-Tip: Think green before you print.
>
> - --
> - -------------------------------
> Josh Thompson
> VCL Developer
> North Carolina State University
>
> my GPG/PGP key can be found on pool.sks-keyservers.net
>
> All electronic mail messages in connection with State business which are
> sent to or received by this account are subject to the NC Public Records
> Law and may be disclosed to third parties.
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> A803AJsHlzzVQcuvlx9HzA/JpzQp2R382ACfd3b9s4VvOMA7W3Fep8+SbdcECJA=
> =AH9O
> -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
>
>
>
>