JumpBox Official Blog

Hello,
We’ve done it again, this time traveling across the Atlantic to the country of France to bring you this newest addition to JumpBox Open.

Introducing the JumpBox for GLPI – IT and Asset Management System

GLPI helps you manage and track IT equipment, like computers, software, peripherals, and consumables, and their associated maintenance, documentation, and help desk requests.

GLPI stands for “Gestionnaire libre de parc informatique” (loosely translated as “Free IT Manager”) but with available support for 22 languages you don’t need to “Parlez-Vous Français” to use it. GLPI should prove useful to small and mid-sized in-house IT organizations as well as outside service providers who manage computers, etc. for others. GLPI’s additional benefits include easy management of equipment documentation, including operating procedures, FAQ’s, and lease agreements, help desk functionality that allows users to directly request help desk support, and job tracking and routing. Additionally, GLPI enables multi-user, multi-location use, and features a mail notification system which can deliver help desk requests directly to technicians.

Special Note: GLPI can be combined with another application, OCS Inventory NG,
to enable auto-discovery, inventory visualization, and application deployment to
monitored computers. Would you find that combination useful? Please let us know and we’ll do it!

Find out more about GLPI: From GLPI’s website, the JumpBox for GLPI web page and our

Ramp Up screencast for the JumpBox for GLPI

(Psst, it’s in the post below. Quick before you miss it!)

Our series of screencasts to help you “Ramp Up” and get started quickly with JumpBox applications continues.

Manage JumpBoxes on Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) with Amazon’s new web-based console
Last year we knocked the skin off the ball, crushed the bat over our knee, and trotted the bases throwing up the peace sign when we made our library of JumpBox applications available on EC2, a service which allows you to rent computing power to run your applications. Amazon has recently released a web-based point and click interface that allows you to manage those JumpBoxes on EC2 much easier.

The Amazon Web Services Management Console gives you the ability to start and stop EC2 instances (such as JumpBox AMI’s) and view and perform actions on running on those instances. Upcoming features of the console include the ability to manage Amazon’s S3 data storage service, which is supported by the JumpBox backup system. This new interface means < a href=”http://www.jumpbox.com/jumpbox-open#subscription-plans”>Premium and Plus subscribers, whose subscriptions automatically include access to all JumpBox AMI’s, as well as the general public, who can access the 12 free JumpBox AMI’s, no longer have to download any software or plugins to manage JumpBox instances. JumpBox deployments just keep getting easier.

And now ladies and gentlemen…it’s time for

Updated Applications!!!! (crowd roars!!!)


JumpBox for Joomla 1.5

Joomla! is an award-winning Content Management System (CMS) that will help you build websites and other powerful online applications.

The Joomla! community has updated Joomla! version 1.5.8 to 1.5.9. This is a security release and users are strongly encouraged to upgrade immediately. JumpBox version 1.1.8 (updated from 1.1.7) includes this Joomla! application update.

JumpBox for OpenFire

OpenFire is a real-time collaboration server that enables instant messaging. Based around the open Jabber XMPP protocol, OpenFire provides private and public instant messaging and group chat with support for any client that supports Jabber.

The OpenFire community has update OpenFire from version 3.6.2 to 3.6.3. The release includes fixes to a few minor bugs. JumpBox version 1.1.2 (updated from 1.1.1) includes this OpenFire application update.
JumpBox for Drupal 5.x

Drupal 5.x is a content management system that allows an individual or a community of users to easily publish, manage and organize a wide variety of web content.

The Drupal community has updated Drupal from version 5.14 to 5.15. This release fixes security vulnerabilities and sites are urged to upgrade immediately.
JumpBox version 1.1.9 updated to 1.1.10 includes this Drupal 5.x application update.
JumpBox for Drupal 6.x

The Drupal community has also updated Drupal 6.x, from version 6.8 to 6.9. This release fixes security vulnerabilities and again, sites are urged to upgrade immediately. JumpBox version 1.1.7, updated to 1.1.8 includes this Drupal release.

Premium and Plus subscriptions to JumpBox Open include the ability to use all JumpBox AMI’s on EC2. Here are just a few benefits:

• Use JumpBoxes on EC2 as a lab environment to keep your systems administration investment low while you test the viability of applications.
• Instantly scale your application to meet spikes in traffic or demand. Traffic crash your site? Not likely with a JumpBox on EC2. When your JumpBox’s computing requirements change, Amazon EC2 can instantly respond, providing more power. No compromises, no up-front investment.

Live the simple life out there people. No hardware, no software, no stress.

No wife telling you to cook more often you lazy so and so, no arguing with your daughter to do that darn homework, no going to the pantry to get your hidden box of Mike and Ike’s only to find that your little son found them first. Man, all of them! No going to the… Oh wait. Uh, never mind all that.

You want stress free living? JumpBox Open

Hello World,
Effective monitoring of network infrastructure is one of the most important tasks an IT organization faces. Network downtime costs money, time, productivity, and even reputation. Administrators, are you exposing yourself or your organization to this possibility? Without a robust network monitoring solution you might be. If you’ve shyed from initiating a network monitoring system due to traditional complexity, or time to implementation, we’re here to help.

Introducing the JumpBox for Nagios 3
Nagios 3 monitors your hosts and services, delivering alerts to you via email, cellphone, or pager when problems occur. When Nagios gives you the call, its configurable web interface will provide you with detailed network status information from any internet-enabled browser. No matter where you are, you’ll know just what your network is up against. Nagios 3 provides improved flexibility, ease of use and extensibility, and performance enhancements over Nagios 2, allowing you to manage and monitor large deployments more efficiently. JumpBox Open subscribers can save the time and effort associated with installation, and get straight to configuration. The JumpBox for Nagios 3 deploys in minutes.

If you’re not a subscriber (and why not!), you’re in luck. The JumpBox for Nagios 2 is available as a free download.

Look a few posts below and ‘Ramp Up’ with JumpBox screencasts
We’re producing a series of screencasts that will help you “Ramp Up” and get started quickly with JumpBox applications.  If you’re looking for help managing, sharing, and storing your team’s documents and images, grab a JumpBox for KnowledgeTree, a screencast, and Ramp Up quickly.

Updated JumpBox applications:

JumpBox for Redmine

Keep your projects on track. Redmine is an open source, web-based project management and bug-tracking tool. Redmine supports multiple projects and includes calendar and gantt charts to aid visual representation of projects and their deadlines.

The Redmine community has updated Redmine 0.7.3 to 0.8.0. This new release fixes a number of bugs and adds new features including: a cross-project search engine, cross-project time report, free ticket filtering on calendar and gantt, ticket integration via emails, wiki page protection and hierarchy, and user’s activity view. The JumpBox version 1.1.2 (updated from 1.1.3) includes this release.

For more applications that deploy quickly to enable your organizations success…

(do we have to say it?)

It’s a brand new year!

Integrum Technologies a Ruby on Rails consulting house and home of Gangplank ran into a little trouble with their network and found the JumpBox for Cacti just what they needed to get it resolved.

Have you ever used a JumpBox to solve an unusual problem? If so we’d love to hear about it.

We have a whole bunch of application updates to tell you about. With the transition to the JumpBox platform 1.1 it put us a little behind but we’re getting back on track. Of particular note is that the JumpBox for Trac has been updated to the long awaited Trac 0.11 (see below for more detail.

Other News

• Don’t forget about the JumpBox Open promo that’s running until Friday. Using the coupon code JULY-PROMO you can get 15% off any Open subscription.

Updated Production JumpBoxes

• JumpBox for Trac 1.1.1 (Download)Trac is an advanced tool for tracking software development projects. It provides a simple wiki, issue tracking system and tight integration with the Subversion revision control system.This release has been updated to Trac 0.11 which is a significant update and brings a new template engine, improvements to usability and the incorporation of the WebAdmin plugin. (Trac release notes)
• JumpBox for phpBB 1.1.1 (Download)phpBB is the most widely used Open Source discussion forum system. With a large and highly customisable set of key features coupled with a standards compliant interface, phpBB will grow with, and compliment your website. It’s a great tool for simple things like staying in touch with friends or more complex uses like a large discussion group for a corporate web site.Updated to phpBB 3.0.2 which is primarily a stability and performance release. (phpBB release notes)
• JumpBox for Drupal 6.x 1.1.1 (Download)Drupal is an Open Source, web content management (WCM) system. It provides a simple, intuitive interface that allows an individual or a community of users to easily publish, manage and organize a wide variety of content on a website without programming skills. This JumpBox is for Drupal 6.x.Updated to Drupal 6.3 which is primarily a bug fix release including a fix for a security vulnerability. (Drupal 6.x release notes)
• JumpBox for Drupal 5.x 1.1.1 (Download)Drupal is an open source, web content management (WCM) system. It provides a simple, intuitive interface that allows an individual or a community of users to easily publish, manage and organize a wide variety of content on a website without programming skills.Updated to Drupal 5.8 which is primarily a bug fix release including a fix for a security vulnerability. (Drupal 5.x release notes)
• JumpBox for Moodle 1.1.1 (Download)Moodle is a course management system that allows educators to create online learning communities for their students. It has an open design with a large developer community creating plugins, themes and modules. It’s used all over the world in environments large and small and is one of the better supported Open Source course management systems. The JumpBox for Moodle is a great way to get up to speed with Moodle and requires a minimal investment in time and money.Updated to Moodle 1.9.2 which is primarily a minor bugfix release. (Moodle release notes)
• JumpBox for Wordpress 1.1.1 (Download)Wordpress is the leading open source blogging platform that has rocketed to popularity thanks to its open design and powerful features.Updated to Wordpress 2.6 which adds a number of usability improvements to the user interface to allow you to track changes to posts and to more easily post new content. (Wordpress release notes)
• JumpBox for Mantis 1.1.1 (Download)Mantis is a web-based bug tracking system that has a suite of advanced features including: time tracking, wiki integration, email notifications, RSS, a RESTful interface, Twitter integration, roadmap functionality and preset workflows.Updated to Mantis 1.1.2 which fixes a number of bugs including a few security issues. (Mantis release notes)
• JumpBox for MoinMoin 1.1.1 (Download)MoinMoin is an advanced, easy to use and extensible Wiki Engine with a large community of users. It’s written in Python and has a clean easy to understand user interface. Since it’s a Python program it’s not one of the most popular wikis, but that’s a shame as it has a very clean interface and is a very powerful tool for documentation projects. This makes the JumpBox for MoinMoin even more valuable, because it allows us to expose this great Wiki system to more users who we believe will find it quite valuable.

  Updated to MoinMoin 1.7.0 which adds OpenID authentication, Jabber notifications and a number of framework improvements. MoinMoin 1.7.1 was also just released so another JumpBox update will be coming soon. (MoinMoin release notes)

• JumpBox for Joomla 1.5.x 1.1.1 (Download)Joomla! is arguably the world’s most popular open source content management system for public facing web sites. Joomla 1.5 is a ground-up rework of the Joomla 1.0 code base moving it to a true MVC architecture.Updated to Joomla 1.5.4 which is a maintenance release that fixes several bugs and some security issues. (Joomla 1.5.x release notes)
• JumpBox for PunBB 1.1.1 (Download)PunBB is a lightweight discussion forum that provides the essential features to host a thriving community without the tedious database, web server and application setup. It may have fewer bells and whistles than other forum applications but it has an intuitive user interface and renders XHTML-compliant output.Updated to PunBB 1.2.19 which contains a critical XSS security fix. (PunBB release notes)

Updated Beta JumpBoxes

• JumpBox for Redmine 0.6.6 (Download)Redmine is a project management and issue tracking system for software developers. Redmine provides many of the features in Trac plus support for multiple projects, role based access control, time tracking functionality, Gantt charts, a calendar view and user self-registration support.This release has been updated to Redmine 0.7.3 which is primarily a bug fix release. (Redmine release notes)

I’m looking for interesting Open Source Ruby on Rails applications. I know of a few, and I’m aware of the list on the Rails Wiki but I know there are others around that aren’t listed there. Here’s some that are on my radar.

• Redmine – There’s a JumpBox for this.
• Mephisto
• Typo
• Beast
• Tracks
• BoxRoom

As of today our cozy four-person team has a new member. Introducing Bruce (far right):

Bruce’s trading card reads something like:

Bruce – Linux Applications Specialist: Bruce hails from the other side of the pond originally from a rural area outside of Birmingham, England. He brings the UK perspective to our previously all-Yankee team. Like Austin, Bruce comes to us from the sister project to Google Mars at ASU where he was responsible for managing the large linux clusters that process satellite data and map the moon. Bruce is also studying part-time to get his degree in Physics. When he’s not managing linux servers or crunching Physics equations, Bruce can be found riding his motorcycle and fixing up his recently-purchased condominium in Tempe.

Bruce will be primarily focused on helping us build out the library of Open Source applications for JumpBox and we’re extremely excited to have him on board. Welcome Bruce!