App Center
From Univention Wiki
Univention App Center is the simpliest form to install applications on Univention Corporate Server (UCS). In the UCS management system it is the first entry point for their installation. Univention App Center is no app store in a classical point of view as known from iOS or Android and no license management for applications. The sale of licenses, maintenance or support for applications follows the default procedure of the respective vendor.
This article mainly aims at software vendors that want to provide their software in Univention App Center and describes the necessary steps. An overview of the advantages and benefits can be found in a PDF document Univention App Center on the Univention website.
A catalogue with the available applications can be viewed on the Univention website.
Contents |
Requirements
The requirements for providing a software solution in Univention App Center are …
- formally: The certification of the software solution for UCS and sign the Univention Logoprogram "Certified for Univention Corporate Server"
- technically: The packaging of the software solution in the Debian package format
The following items are important for packaging:
- The application has to be installed without any user interaction (unattended). The installation process is not allowed to be interrupted or cancelled which would result in an inconsistent state of the package management.
- The application has to be installed and uninstalled cleanly.
- Recommended: The application is integrated in UCS and the UCS management system.
- Note
- The software vendor is responsible for the maintenance of his application(s). Package updates are provided for Univention App Center in a contemporary way.
Feedback and ideas
Feedback and ideas for Univention App Center as well as wishes for new apps can be submitted in the Univention Forum. The current list of software solutions in the App Center can be found in the App Catalogue.
Next steps
As soon as the software complies to the requirements the following steps are to be taken:
- Collect the meta data for the software for the App Center
- Upload the packages in a file archive
- Test the software solution with Univention Test App Center (information is given by Univention after the upload)
- Give approval for provisioning in the productive Univention App Center towards Univention
The following sections describe the single steps in more detail.
Meta data
Meta data describe what information about the software should be displayed in Univention App Center and how App Center deals with the application, e.g. which conflicts have to be avoided. The required structure of the text file is explained in the article about the .ini file along with an example and can be used as template.
- Product name, version
- Vendor name, website, contact email address
- Description (maximum 500 characters) and short description (maximum 60 characters) in Englisch and optional German (recommended)
- Notification to the vendor about the installation of an application
- Details about conflicts with other applications and system packages
- Details about packages to be installed as well as packages that have to be installed on all master/backup system (e.g. LDAP schema extensions)
- Allowed system roles
Besides the text file and the above mentioned statements, a product logo and a screenshot, if given, are needed:
- product logo in PNG format, size: 50x50 pixels, with transparent background
- Screenshot of the application
Upload
If the meta data (text file, logo and screenshot) and the packages are ready for upload, they can be put into a file archive (.zip or .tar.gz) and uploaded to http://upload.univention.de. If the archive is larger than 150 MB it has to be split into single parts not larger than 150 MB.
A unique upload ID will be displayed after the download that has to be forwarded to Univention. Please send the following information via e-mail to appcenter@univention.de:
- Upload ID for the file archive. Please provide all upload IDs if the archive had to be splitted.
- Grant permission to Univention to distribute the software through Univention App Center
All further communication will be done through the ticket system after the upload.
Approval process
After the package upload, Univention copies them to a test App Center. Information about the settings for the test App Center will be sent by Univention via email. Afterwards, the packages in the App Center are tested by the software vendor and run through several tests for installation and uninstallation at Univention:
- Upon successful tests and approval by the vendor the packages will be copied to a seperate App Center repository, digitally signed and are available.
- Upon unsuccessful tests the vendor is asked for improvement. If updated packages are provided by the vendor, the procudure is started over until the packages pass the tests and the packages are available in Univention App Center.
Notifications
Univention always receives an estranged notification for statistical purposes upon installation and uninstallation of an application in Univention App Center that is only saved at Univention for data processing and will not be forwarded to any third party.
Depending on the guideline of the respective application vendor an updated UCS license key with so-called key identification (Key ID) is required for the installation of an application. In this case, the Key ID will be sent to Univention together with the notification. As a result the application vendor regularly receives a message from Univention with the following information:
- Name of the installed application
- Registered email address
The description of every application includes a respective indication for such cases and is shown before installation.
If your UCS environment does not have such a key at it's disposal (e.g. UCS Free-for-personal-Use Edition) and the vendor requires a Key ID, you will be asked to request an updated license key directly from Univention. Afterwards the new key can be applied.
Installation of an application
The user interacts through a new module in the UCS management system with Univention App Center. An overview shows the available applications. An application is installed with a few clicks. During this process the repository is activated and the application is installed. Every application receives a seperate App Center repository. The packages will be cryptographically signed and checked upon installation on UCS.
Many applications provide a link on the UCS overview page that can be reach by this link: http://server_ip/
If an respective integration, e.g. into the UCS management system, is available, the integration is installed, as well. The kind of integration strongly depends on the software and differs from application to application. For example, in many cases the user accounts in the UCS management are made available for the application.
As soon as an update for an application is available, it is indicated in the App Center and can be run.
Update for application and metadata
If an update for an application is available, the software vendor has to provide the recent packages to Univention. The updated packages go in general through the same procedure as with the initial process described above.
Updates for the application description (.ini file), the product logo, the screenshot or the packages are all submitted to appcenter@univention.de. Please use the upload if a higher amount of data has to be transfered.
