1005 Tour the Digital Rebar UX

5 Minutes introductory

Learn How to Navigate the UX

Review and describe all UX area and components for managing Digital Rebar Business ROI The RackN Portal for Digital Rebar is a comprehensive front end for Infrastructure as Code features of the platform.

Prerequisites

Additional Labs:

• 1001

Concepts

• ux

How to Navigate the UX

General Layout

1. Starting here

2. The Nav Tree on the left handles selecting components of the system to operate on. There are collapsible sections for related components. These will be explore individually in the next sections of this lab.

   The bottom of the Nav Tree has general version info and helpful cut and paste buttons for support information.
   
   Nav Bar Elements (from top to bottom)
   
   * Id of currently viewed DRP Endpoint
   * Events viewer icon (megaphone icon) that opens dialog to see events
   * UX Views Role (if ux-views plugin is loaded) that selects views that alter the UX layout.
   * Database issues, visible if there are issues with the database.
   * Alerts notification bar, visible if alerts are pending.
   * Navigation links to elements.
   * General version info and support helpers at the bottom of the list
   

3. The Control Bar at the very top of the page (black background) has site-wide operations Common elements (from left to right)

   * UX selector if not on stable (fire icon)
   * RackN icon links to RackN [home page](https://rackn.com/)
   * Endpoint selector - a dropdown of endpoints the UX has visited.
   * Search bubble to search the ux and docs for items
   * Labs button to connect to the lab subsystem.
   * User button of the currently logged in user.  Directs to the User's object in the UX.
   * Logout button
   

Left Navigation Sections

1. System Section Controls and Support for the Digital Rebar Endpoint

   The [Overview](ux://overview) page provides live updated system level information.  This page has four dynamically updated Sections:
   
   * Cluster Cost determined using the [inventory cost calculation](ux://tasks/inventory-cost-calculator) task.
   * Pool Activity (requires [Pools](ux://pools) to be configured) shows machine allocation in defined pools.
   * Machine Stages shows active states for all managed machines
   * Runtime Statistics (if enabled) shows a whisker distribution for work performed by Digital Rebar
   
   The [Alerts](ux://alerts) page provides Operational alerts for the system
   
   The [Plugins](ux://plugins) page provides Installed binary extensions to enhance Digital Rebar
   
   The [Info & Preferences](ux://system) page provides System Wizard, Health Check and Configuration.  This page provides key insights about the system.
   
   The [License Manager](ux://license) page provides Check and update RackN Entitlements.  Use this page to update expired or changed licenses.
   
   The [Inbox](ux://inbox) page provides Communicate with RackN.  Note that this is a "drop box" and not a real-time chat.  Please use [Slack](https://rackn.com/slack) if you want chat features.
   

2. Resources Section Infrastructure Managed by Digital Rebar

   The [Machines](ux://machines) page provides Virtual and physical infrastructure including Servers, Storage and
   Switches.  This is one of the most used pages in the UX and provides both comprehensive inventory and easy operational control.
   
   The [Clusters](ux://clusters) page provides Life-cycle management for groups of machines.
   
   The [Resource Brokers](ux://resource_brokers) page provides Interface for requesting with machine resources through pools and
   external system.
   
   The [Pools](ux://pools) page provides Elastic groups of machines with automatic in/out provisioning
   operations.
   
   The [Racks](ux://racks) page provides Track physical machine placement and equipment manifests
   
   *Note: requires installation of the [Racks](ux://catalog/racks) plugin!**
   

3. Services Section Operations performed on machines by Digital Rebar

   The [Jobs](ux://jobs) page provides Logs generated during Workflow and Work Order operations
   
   The [Work Orders](ux://work_orders) page provides Requests for operations to be performed on resources running in
   Work Order mode
   
   The [Triggers](ux://triggers) page provides Initiate Operations based behaviors or external events
   
   The [Blueprints](ux://blueprints) page provides Reusable templates used to create Work Orders based on IaC patterns
   
   The [Trigger Providers](ux://trigger_providers) page provides Interfaces for timers and external triggers
   

4. Multi-Site Section Tools for managing distributed control plane of Digital Rebar servers

   The [Endpoints](ux://endpoints) page provides Remote subscribed Digital Rebar servers
   
   The [Version Sets](ux://version_sets) page provides Collections of IaC content to be assigned to managed Endpoints
   

5. Networking Section Procides DHCP related utilities.

   *Note: DHCP services are mainly used for Bare Metal provisioning use cases*
   
   The [Subnets](ux://subnets) page provides Network Interfaces enabled for DHCP
   
   The [Leases](ux://leases) page provides IP addresses assigned by the DHCP system
   
   The [Reservations](ux://reservations) page provides IP addresses pre-allocated for the DHCP system
   

6. Provision Section IaC components for provisioning automation

   The [Boot Environments](ux://bootenvs) page provides Information needed during Network Booting different operating
   systems.
   
   Most BootEnvs support Bare Metal Provisioning and need supporting ISOs; however, several are general purpose
   
   * [discovery](ux://bootenvs/discovery) is the Digital Rebar discovery environment
   * [sledgehammer](ux://bootenvs/sledgehammer) is the O/S for discovery when needed
   * [local](ux://bootenvs/local) uses the local O/S
   * [ignore](ux://bootenvs/ignore) tells Digital Rebar to not take action
   
   The [Contexts](ux://contexts) page provides Containerized Agents managed by Digital Rebar.  Of these, the [drpcli-runner](ux://contexts/drpcli-runner) is needed to provide a reliable default.  Others are loaded as needed for specialized task handling.
   
   The [Params](ux://params) page provides Variables defined for Digital Rebar automation.  Digital Rebar does NOT require operators pre-define Params before using them; however, best IaC practice is to define and document all used parameters.
   
   The [Profiles](ux://profiles) page provides Allows grouping and nesting of Params.  The [global Profile](ux://profiles/global) is a special profile that is always included in every param expansion.
   
   The [Raid](ux://raid) page provides Definition for RAID systems
   

7. Control Section IaC Automation control flow components

   The [Pipelines](ux://pipelines) page provides Combination of configuration and workflow chains for end-to-end
   processes
   
   The [Workflows](ux://workflows) page provides Multi-step automation process for machine configuration
   
   The [Stages](ux://stages) page provides Subcomponent of a Workflow enabling reusable components and
   parameters
   
   The [Tasks](ux://tasks) page provides Operational unit of work for Stages and Work Orders
   
   The [Templates](ux://templates) page  provides Reusable module used by other IaC components to keep code DRY
   

8. IaC Artifacts Section Atomic components stored and managed by Digital Rebar

   The [Catalog](ux://catalog) page provides Inventory, install, download, upgrade and remove Content Bundles.  This view also can sequence and perform Digital Rebar upgrades including of the Endpoint.
   
   The [Contents](ux://content_browser) page provides Graphical navigation of all installed content grouped by Content
   Bunndle. This view can help find and understand how IaC components are bundled together.
   
   The [Boot ISOs](ux://isos) page provides Installation Media used for Network Booting with BootEnvs.
   
   *Note: ISOs are mainly used for Bare Metal provisioning use cases*
   
   The [Files](ux://files) page provides DRPCLI and general purpose file storage needed for IaC automation
   

9. Endpoint Admin Section Endpoint Operational Controls

   The [Logs](ux://logs) page provides Digital Rebar operational history
   
   The [Users](ux://users) page provides Authorized Operators of Digital Rebar
   
   The [Roles](ux://roles) page provides Enables groups of users to be given specific permissions
   
   The [Tenants](ux://tenants) page provides Groups of Users with resource restricted access
   
   *Note: the following items require installation of the [UX Views](ux://catalog/ux-views) plugin!*
   
   The [UX Views](ux://ux_views) page  provides Role configuration for specialized UX overrides and behaviors
   
   The [UX Config](ux://ux_config) page provides User configuration for UX overrides and behaviors
   
   *Note: the following item requires installation of the LDAP plugin!*
   
   The [Identity Providers](ux://identity_providers) page provides External authentication (SAML, Active Directory, etc)