Pggraph

Remote Datacollector PGGraph Variant - Jun 17, 2008 - Aurynn Shaw - ashaw@commandprompt.com

== Premise ==

PGGraph is a graphing web application built around Postgres' standard statistics gathering, applying bright and shiny visualization around the data.

The standard mechanism of use for PGGraph has, historically, been the "Pull" model, wherein data gathering software has run on our hosting server, cmdalert, and gathered data on demand for use in the graphing end of things.

This has a great many difficulties, the most prominent being that the SSH tunnels that link cmdalert to the client systems are VERY fragile. This would not be a problem, excepting pggraph functions entirely over SSH tunnels.

== Superior Mechanisms ==

The data collection aspect of PGGraph, bridge.py, doesn't really care where it lives. It can be on, literally, any system in the world and correctly connect to both the collection and storage systems and operate correctly.

In this instance, to bypass the issues involved with maintaining SSH tunnels, the data collector script is now being moved to the target, collection system.

As we control the storage server (cmdalert), we can enforce SSL connections, access rights, and provide an easy interface for our data collector to talk to from anywhere in the world.

== Installation ==

Installation of this pggraph variant is somewhat more complex than the "classic" pggraph2, due in part to the present lack of comprehensive installation tools (this will be rectified). As such, the installation overview is such:

 * upload /var/www/pggraph/_main_remote/bridge.py to the customer server

 * Modify config.ini, and upload it to the customer server

 * run install_2.py <schema> <prefix>

 * run install_dir.py, answer the questions (identical to previous installer)

 * SSH to the customer server and run bridge.py /path/to/config