SiMU - Lab and Pro

SiMU HD - The iPad revolution for Cisco UCS Management

2012-02-13T10:44:00.000-08:00

It's been in the works for a long time now, too much Mt. Bike riding is to blame for the amount of time it's taken to build this. But, as luck would have it, I "ruptured" my ACL so I have plenty of time to work on it now.

I've also enlisted some help on this project to add a real programmer to the team. Vallard will be doing all the hard stuff. We had a good meeting last week and added a few todo things to the list. Below is a bit of a teaser on what's either their now, or I hope to have available when it's released.

Filtering and sorting options for Faults by severity and job role (LAN, SAN) - Partially Done
Filtering and sorting options for Servers by state. - Done
Saving multiple UCS login information (Usernames and URL)
Locator beacon access from service profile
Power draw of a particular blade
Top 5 resource users of the system with pretty graph - Done
Instantiate a Service Profile from a SP Template - Done
Export information via email

We should be ready for beta testers soon. This version will only be fore an iPad. It will not run on an iPhone.

-Tige and Vallard

SiMU Pro - Released!

2011-01-17T15:20:00.000-08:00

SiMU Pro was released on the iTunes App Store today. SiMU Pro is almost identical to SiMU Lab, with the exception of being able to do SSL encryption. SiMU Pro can securely be used to connect to a production system. As always, please test SiMU with a Read Only username if you are not comfortable with the security and or the testing that I have completed. I make no promises as to the stability or safety of this application. I've done the best I can to make sure it won't do anything unexpected, but that doesn't mean there isn't a problem that either myself or my beta testers didn't find.

A note about the security of SiMU Pro. The application will ignore all warnings of a self signed certificates. Basically, I don't look at certificates at all.

Thanks for using SiMU Pro!

http://tinyurl.com/simupro

Things are going well

2011-01-13T21:28:00.000-08:00

Today my app changed from "Waiting for export compliance" to "waiting for review". I don't want to get my hopes up too much, but that sure seems like I have passed the requirements to export my app with encryption.

I have a ucsm simulator running in a virtual machine at my house now with a dynamic dns hostname pointed to my router with the proper inbound rules to allow the app to be tested by Apple. It only took a day to two last time to test the app.

Once I know for sure that my method of getting encryption export authorization works I'll make a full post of how it's done.

Update: I posted my instructions here in my other blog.
http://tigelane.blogspot.com/2011/01/apple-itunes-export-restrictions-on.html

-Tige

Crossing Fingers

2011-01-12T16:16:00.000-08:00

I finally read a few more obscure sections of the BIS web site, tried calling the person at the bottom of the message I received (he never answered or returned my calls), and finally came to the conclusion that I was rejected because I didn't need to get a CCATS number.

With that in mind I started looking around more and I noticed that I could also submit an ERN number to Apple. I had read a few things about ERN (Encryption Registration Number), and was already investigating how to get this. An ERN number allows you to export standard encryption technology, and report each year on your product (software). This is the notice on the Apple encryption page:

So I went back to the SNAP-R site and found how to do this here:
http://www.bis.doc.gov/encryption/question3_sub.htm

I filled out the short form they wanted and submitted it. I received instant approval. I took that approval and pasted the web screen into a word document along with the information that I was using HTTPS/SSL in the app and submitted the entire thing to Apple.

This is a copy of the message a received back from BIS that I pasted into the document for Apple.

I'll update the blog again when/if I get approval from Apple. Hopefully that will be soon. It in "Waiting for Export Compliance" right now after I uploaded the binary.

Limbo anyone?

2010-12-17T21:37:00.000-08:00

I'm in limbo.. I submitted everything to the government to get my CCATS number on the 3rd of December. On the 8th I got the most cryptic message I have EVER read. Honestly, I have no idea what the heck they told me. From what I can decipher they are telling me that I need to be in compliance with a bunch of stuff. Well, yes that's why I filled all that stuff out. Duh.

Below you can find their letter. Sorry for the pictures, but the PDF they sent is encrypted. Oh, here is a note for you iPhone developers out there. The PDF they send is encrypted, but it does not require a password. If you use Preview on your Mac it will think it needs a password and you won't be able to open the file. Download the Mac Adobe Acrobat Reader and open the files with that. It a secured file, so you can't copy it electronically in text form. Hence the pictures below. Bottom line, Preview can't open this file from the SNAP-R site.

I'll update when you know something. Right now I'm not Denied, so I'll just keep waiting.

A big thank you to Stephen Lombardo who wrote the Mass Market Encryption CCATS Commodity Classification for iPhone Applications in 8 Easy Steps. It's a great resource.

SiMU Pro is getting ready for release!

2010-11-23T12:14:00.000-08:00

SiMU Pro will add encryption (already done) to the application (reviewed by the US government), and will also include recognition of new blades (already done) that have been added. I'm also doing some limited testing with both the new version of the UCSM Emulator, and new versions of UCSM software on systems.

I'm doing a final submission to the government later this week for encryption export, and I should be able to submit the new executable to Apple early next week. At the same time I'll release a version 1.1 of SiMU Lab. This will be updated for new blades (already done).

If all goes well, and I can export SiMU Pro to all countries, then I'll end-of-sale SiMU Lab because it's only reason for existing is for a non-encrypted version. SiMU Pro can operate either with or without encryption.

Have a great week everyone!

Update 3-Dec-2010: I submitted the encryption paperwork today. Let's all cross our fingers! It's going to be a few days before I can submit to Apple. The app needs some minor changes first that I didn't think I was going to do.

SiMU Lab available on the app store!

2010-08-16T22:23:00.000-07:00

It's there! After over 8 months of work I finally have SiMU on the App Store. It still needs to features like SSL primarily, but that's going to take some time due to requiring a test system for Apple to test against, and me getting US government approval.

If you get a change, please install SiMU Lab from the App Store. It's free!

Copy of the email I sent to my beta users:

Everyone,
It's my pleasure to announce that the first version of SiMU was released to the Apple App Store. This would not have been possible without many of your comments, suggestions, and of course finding bugs for me. :) The application is free and available as I write this note. (I just downloaded and installed it myself.

My final ask of you is to download and install the application. It's free, and if I get some downloads on the first day it should help get some recognition on the store.

The first version will not include SSL encryption. I need to resolve two things for that to happen, so it's going to be a little while. You should be able to continue using the Beta version if you need encryption. There are very few, if any bugs fixed in the release that you don't have. There are some cosmetic changes that you may notice.

Thanks everyone! Please download the application tomorrow from your device if you can. I will really appreciate it.

If you search for "cisco ucs" it's the only hit. Or you can follow this link: Link to AppStore

-Tige
tige@tigelane.com

App Store submission

2010-08-11T08:31:00.000-07:00

I've created a build called SiMU Lab. This is a non-encrypted version of SiMU. I'm doing this to get around the problem of exporting encryption out of the country.

The app has been reviewed and rejected because they need a server to connect too. I'll have a virtual lab setup soon for them, so I'm hoping to have it approved in the next 2 weeks. Once that version is accepted I'll work on the encrypted version.

Thanks for your support everyone.

-Tige

The government!

2010-07-23T18:22:00.000-07:00

I've spent the last two weekends and most of the evenings cleaning up SiMU and getting it ready for app store submission. Redoing the icons to be the right size, getting screen shots for iTunes, making sure all my debugging code it removed or turned off, and then I did it. I click the button that says "Add New Application". It asks for the primary language, Done. It asks for the Company Name, Done. Then it asks if I have any encryption in my app... Well, yes it uses SSL, but certainly this can't be what they are referring too. Oh yes it is.

So, now because I use SSL to talk to the UCSM I need to get the government to "approve" my application before I can submit it to Apple. Some people are saying this can take a month or two after I submit.. Pathetic. I'm off to fill out some ridiculous document and submit it (hopefully not via fax) to someone that probably doesn't know anything about this industry. Wish me luck..

I might put out a final beta version based on the release code. We'll see how this goes first.

-Tige

Spaces getting low in Beta

2010-07-09T19:48:00.001-07:00

Well.. I don't know what happened this week, but I had a number of new people ask to get into the Beta. I have only 100 spots to be able to provide beta code, and I have 75 people in now. If you know anyone that wants in, you should let them know soon. As I've said a dozen times now I'm going to work on getting it released to iTunes so I won't have this problem anymore.

I'm on vacation this week from work, but still trying to cover beta requests as I can. Sorry if it took a few days to get you a build.

Happy Independence Day

2010-07-05T17:01:00.000-07:00

I hope you all had a great 4th of July (if you are in the USA that is). Otherwise, hopefully you had a good weekend. I've got a lot of good feedback and fixed a few bugs in the last few weeks, and I think I'm close enough now to focus on getting a iTunes capable release out the door. Once that's done I can spend more time working on features and fixing bugs and not making builds and adding people to the development lists I have to keep track of.

Thanks everyone, have a great week. I'm going to be on vacation all week, but still watching e-mail for issues.

Version 2.6.12

2010-07-02T10:40:00.000-07:00

I've mostly fixed the bug in the protocols vs the settings. If they match it should not be a problem. If they don't match you should get an error, and it should try to make an secure connection. Please let me know if you see any problems.

BTW, you don't need to enter a full URL into the hostname field. Just use the IP address, or hostname. eg. 10.10.20.1 or myucs.mycompany.com

Web Protocol Bug in 2.6.11

2010-07-01T09:15:00.000-07:00

Seenivasan just found a bug in the hostname field on the main page. Security is controlled by the setting on the info screen (i) button in the top right corner. You do not need to type http or https in the hostname field. They will have no effect on the protocol used. The application originally would not use SSL, so I gave an error if you typed "https://hostname" in the field. I since have changed it to use SSL, but I forgot to remove that check.

Please just use the hostname (no http:// or https:// prefix) in the hostname field for UCSM. I've already fixed this for the next version.

Version 2.6.11 is available

2010-06-27T13:47:00.000-07:00

I've added a button tot he info screen that will allow you to turn off SSL. This will allow the software to be used with the UCSM simulator available on the Cisco web site at http://developer.cisco.com/web/unifiedcomputing. This option needs to be turned off each time you run the application. There are some known issues with the simulator that can be found in the forums. There may be more problems, but it's a sim, so you can't really break anything. :)

Unless you want to run unsecured XML over HTTP, there is no reason to upgrade to this version.

-Tige

Minor changes in version 2.6.10

2010-06-08T06:05:00.000-07:00

I'm still cleaning up the code and making some minor cosmetic changes. This includes verifying your device has a network connection prior to connecting to the UCSM.

Version 2.6.9 fixes problems

2010-06-02T09:34:00.001-07:00

Everyone,

Please upgrade to version 2.6.9. There were two major errors (nothing that would hurt your systems) in 2.6.7. One prevented anything from being changed on the Active Server detail screen, and one that displayed the wrong information on the chassis screen if you have more than one chassis. Thanks Gilles for finding the second one.

-Tige

Beta 2.6.7 is ready

2010-05-27T09:18:00.000-07:00

If you have sent me your UUID information as of this post, then you are included in this beta from here out and can use 2.6.7 and any future versions. There are a number of people using OS version 3.1.2 (including mine), so the iPhone version will continue to be built with that being the minimum supported OS. There will continue to be an "iPhone" build around this OS version for as long as possible. The iPad build will be based on OS 3.2, the minimum version for the iPad. If you are using a iPhone with version 3.2 and above, you can use this version if you want. There is no difference in the code, just what the libraries that it was built with.

New in this version:

1. Service profile information and assignment. Yep, you can now assign an existing profile to a blade. You can also unassign one, or change the blade assignment.

2. It's also possible to control the power of the blade from the service profile screen using essentially the same controls that you had from the chassis/blade views.

3. I'm also now sorting the errors by severity, and the service profiles by name.

What's next:

1. More code reuse and cleanup in preparation for App store submittal.

2. Possible inclusion of a Read-Only switch on the settings screen so you could turn off any changes that you might do by mistake (you should use a Read-Only user ID if you are concerned about this).

3. Possible sorting or differentiation of service profiles and templates.

Known issues:

1. Don't put any "carriage returns" in the description of the service profiles. It can't be applied if you try it (not breaks, but it won't be applied and you will get an unknown error 401).

2. If a service profile has it's power setting to "on" and it's tied to a template, and you unassociate it, it will show an error. I think the error is "normal" and doesn't have anything to do with how I'm removing the association, but I need to do more testing to figure out if there is a way to change this.

3. There are no controls of information based on Organization.

Beta 2.6.5 is ready

2010-05-13T17:31:00.000-07:00

Does this feel more like alpha testing? :) It should, I'm basically producing a version for you every time I complete and internally test (hit the three UCS systems I have access too and not crash anything). We have some more screens for the Service Profiles. I have put "Not implemented yet" on the ones that don't work, crazy, I know. You can't see any difference, but I changed how I'm doing all of the work now. What does this mean to you, you say? Well, it means that I might actually get this done in a reasonable amount of time and make it available on the app store.

Let's put it this way, I'm not a programmer, and I'm doing this project because I always wanted to learn how to write an iPhone app, and I thought the XML based UCS manager was just a cool way to do two things at once. So, here we are. The problem is that either I clean my program up, or it will never get into the app store. So, much of the work I'm doing now is just that, cleaning.

You don't see it, but the application is getting much better and cleaner (read less bugs and mistakes) it also makes it easier to implement things. Once I put in the new "stuff" it only took me about 30 minutes to add the "Change Description of a Service Profile". That's REALLY fast compared to how I have been doing it.

The next changes will be turning on/off/resetting the blade from the profile screen, then I'm going to implement associating a profile with a blade, then creating a profile from a template. The changes I have made the past few evenings will make this much easier.

How to install. As long as you have already sent me your UUID info with BetaAssist or some other way, you should be able to download the .zip file from the link above. Unzip it, and drag the simu.ipa file into iTunes. If you have not previously installed, but have contacted me, you need to drag both the provisioning file, and the simu.ipa file into iTunes.

Oh, no iPad release right now for this version. If you need it, tell me and I'll do it.

Thanks everyone!

Beta 2.6.4 is available

2010-05-10T10:20:00.001-07:00

Version 2.6.4 is now available. Get it from the download link above, and see my previous post for information on what's new/changed. I'm also adding a download for the iPad, so if you are using that in the beta, please be sure to get the right version. Technically, an iPhone or iTouch could use either. The main difference is that the iPad version is built for version 3.2 of the OS, and the iPhone version is built for version 3.1.2 of the OS (this is the oldest software that is supported, and what I run on my test iPhone).

Blade modifications update

2010-05-08T11:23:00.000-07:00

New version will be out later this weekend. Have a good Mothers Day everyone.

I just finished a few things including turning blades off/on, and resetting them. I also fixed a few problems that were discovered this week with password and username verification. I was doing my checks against the wrong character list, so that has been changed and all valid usernames and passwords should be accepted by SiMU going forward. The same is true of hostnames and IP addresses (I changed them to standard inputs, but don't know if there was a problem before or not).

Fixes: Username and password verification - working properly now

Additions: All features on the blade edit screen (power on/off, reset, locator led, user label) work.

SiMU will run on an iPad in "iPhone mode", but I will need to compile a new version. I'll start including that on this page once I had a beta tester on the iPad.

Version 2.6.3 Beta

2010-05-03T17:21:00.000-07:00

In preparation for more Read-Write activity I have been revamping the interface a little. This will also make it easier to get into the app store at some point because I was doing things in a not very Apple friendly way. So, get your hands on the new download if you are already setup. If you are new, read the info to the right to get a copy of the software.

There just a few new features in this version. Service profiles can now be drilled into (only one level, screens need to be made so that changes can happen, that will be next). More information is available in the faults detail.

Beta 2.6 Update

2010-04-17T09:45:00.000-07:00

I have been creating special builds for release to the beta customers. I'm changing that now as it's more work than I think is needed. What I'm releasing now is stable code (no major errors), but it may have things that are not fully implemented. Of note in 2.6.2 is the ability to turn on/off a server, or reset the server. I created a quick video that you can view to see it working and where you can click (the ripple effect is not in the application, it just shows you where to press your finger on the screen). View the video here. I've finally had a few things close (work stuff) so I'm going to get back to working on SiMU in my spare time. Spare time has been work time lately... Have a good weekend everyone.

2010-03-23T20:59:00.000-07:00

I'm currently rebuilding a few of the methods so that I can write information to the UCSM. Rather than logging in each time I'm using the XML refresh function and running a timer (based on the timeout for the userID that you used to login). So, now you will stay logged into the UCSM while the application is active. If you exit SiMU the application logs you out prior to terminating so that resources on the system are not tied up. I've also changed it so the userID can have read-write access and if it does you have the ability to modify some settings on the system. I hope to have a usable version out by the end of the weekend. I've also changed how the application checks input to verify that it's valid. I now check every time a character is entered and turn the text red if it's not valid.

Status:

Set the User Label for a blade - Done
Associating a Profile to a blade - I know how to enter it, now I need to build a screen to do it.

-Tige

2010-03-20T09:13:00.000-07:00

I've started to make is so you can make some selective changes to a blade in the application. These features should be available in the next version of the beta software. Because I suck at iPhone programming I'm beginning to think I might have to rewrite the app from scratch at some point. I can save all the logic and code, but the Interface is.. well, not very iPhone like. I think once this version is completed I'll start working on a new "properly" built application and do bug fixes on this version.

Currently I plan on the following being possible:

Power Blade Off and On - Half way there
Reset Blade - not started
Both of the above gracefully or not - logic built
Toggle the Locator LED - Done
Set the User Label for a blade - Done (some logic still needs to be done)
Associating a Profile to a blade - not even started

Have a good weekend everyone.

-Tige

2010-03-11T22:05:00.000-08:00

Saving the data for off-line viewing is turning out to be a little more difficult that I had hoped. So, I'm going to release version 2.5 without that feature because I think showing power supply information, and using a secured connection now is worth the release. I'll figure out what I'm going to do next over the weekend. The release can be downloaded from this link Version 2.5 Beta. Just download, unzip, and drag into iTunes. If you have not already sent me your UUID information you will not be able to install and run the application. Please follow the instructions in "How to be in the Beta" on this page if you would like to be included.

As always, feedback, comments, and feature request are very much appreciated. -Tige

Beta 2.5 Update

2010-03-08T21:14:00.000-08:00

I was able to add all of the Power Supply information into the application this evening. You can now see the PSUs, and drag your finger over them to get information and errors. I looked at writing all of the info so that it could be viewed off-line and it's turning out to be a little more difficult that I thought it would be. I'll have time to look at it more on Tuesday and make a decision as to if I want to spend time doing that, or moving on.

Pictures of the PSU information from the simulator:

Info on version 2.0 Beta

2010-03-07T21:08:00.000-08:00

All of the identified problems from version 2.0 are fixed and I'm working on 2.5 features now. I've got HTTPS (secure connection) working, and I'm now displaying the proper Power Supply Units. Next up is to make them "slidable" like the blades are. I also modified the chassis picture a little to show blanks in the slots rather than just empty. I know that nobody would leave out blanks. The airflow wouldn't work right. ;-)

Anyway, here are a couple of pictures.

SiMU Beta 2.0

2010-03-03T13:50:00.000-08:00

I've got some feedback on beta 2.0. Here are the features I'll be working on as well as the errors I'm correcting. Priority levels are 1-5. The most urgent will be 5.

Item - Priority - Status

Save data so it can be displayed later - 4
Random spelling errors - 5 - Corrected
Some fields are scrollable on the chassis screen that should not be - 5 - Corrected
Touch slider bar shows "Blade 0" when you press it but don't move it. - 4 - Corrected
The "Name" field on the Blade view is the User Label in UCSM. Let me know if you think it should be something different. - 1
Add PSU information - 4 - In process
KVM access. I don't think I can do that, but I can probably get the IP Addresses for the blades - 3
https (secure) connection to manager (version 2.0 is unsecured http) - 5 - Done
The ability to add a server profile - 3
Apply a server profile to a blade - 3
Make errors on the Blade and Chassis screens "clickable" - 4

C'Ya!