indispenso

README

indispenso

Distribute, manage, regulate, arrange. Simple & secure management based on consensus.

Building

This project requires Go 1.2 or later to compile.

$ go get github.com/RobinUS2/indispenso
$ go test
$ go build

If this completes without errors you have a indispenso binary.

Running

This application is architected with minimal setup and maintenance in mind. All you need is one or multiple seed nodes, and a shared secret.

$ ./indispenso --seeds="indispenso-seed.my-company.com" --secret="my_secret_of_at_least_32_characters"

In order to ensure consistency across nodes this sytem relies on the system clock. Make sure you install something like ntpd to keep your clocks in sync.

Goals

• Easy management of servers, applications and infrastructure
• Secure access and granular permission control
• Decentralized and simple deployment
• One single binary that contains all functionality
• Simple job template management
• Consensus of people can start any job

Background

This project is developed as there are a lot of companies that rely on a handful of people to manage critical infrastructure. Most companies who run critical infrastructure dislike the Bus factor. This is where indispenso comes in and allows people to take actions based upon consenus.

One can for example reboot a service on a server based on a pre-defined template.

Implementation

There are 3 key user roles within indispenso:

Name	Manage templates	Request job	Approve request
Administrator	x	x	x
Requester		x	x
Approver			x

Example use cases

• Manage and issue commands across cluster(s) of servers
• Restart a service on production cluster of servers if two or more developers agree
• Approve a push or change to production servers by IT management
• Allow for a limited, template based management of servers and code to non-technical people
• Role based server management, eg. interns can only restart services, but cannot install new software
• Mobile interface for common server cluster tasks
• Be able to fix things while on the go, without having to use SSH
• Never retype any (bash)commands
• Never make costly mistakes by using wrong parameters
• All changes are logged and available for audit immediately, without having to consolidate and filter logs from multiple servers
• Time based access to servers; after a specified time, access is revoked for an intern or a freelancer
• Overview of who has access to which servers
• Access to servers by two factor authentication, without adding new private keys or modifing configuration
• Issue commands on staging, check if the results are desired and then replay the commands on production

Status

Project development has recently started. Goals are being drafted and background is explained.