VirtualApplianceNetworkConfigurationSpec

Summary

Provide a mechanism for performing basic configuration of virtual appliances.

Release Note

This section should include a paragraph describing the end-user impact of this change. It is meant to be included in the release notes of the first release in which it is implemented. (Not all of these will actually be included in the release notes, at the release manager's discretion; but writing them is a useful exercise.)

It is mandatory.

Rationale

The initial configuration of virtual appliance is challenging, in particular setting up network.. DHCP may not be available, and even if it is, there is no immediately obvious way to discover the address given to the new virtual appliance. We need a mechanism to configure the network setup as well as a way to see its configuration if it was automatically configured via DHCP.

User stories

  1. Arne is a home user with a DSL router that configures clients via DHCP. He has downloaded a virtual appliance from an ISV. He configures his hypervisor to bridge the virtual appliance's network to his LAN. The virtual appliance gets an IP address over DHCP. Arne looks at the console of the virtual machine and see the IP address of the appliance, and proceeds to use it.
  2. Brian is an experienced UNIX and network admin. He has download a virtual appliance from an ISV. He loads the virtual appliance into his hypervisor, notes the MAC address that virtual appliance has been given, and configures his DHCP server to give it a particular IP and adds this IP to his DNS. He then proceeds to use the appliance using the hostname he assigned to it.
  3. Charles is a UNIX admin in the same company as Brian. Charles does not have privileges to configure the DHCP server, and the DHCP server ignores unknown clients. Charles is just playing with a virtual appliance, so he doesn't want to bother Brian to make changes to the DHCP server, so he wants to statically configure the virtual appliance's network. He opens the console of the virtual appliance and uses the intuitive interface to give the appliance a statically configured IP, gateway, and DNS.

Design

You can have subsections that better describe specific parts of the issue.

Implementation

This section should describe a plan of action (the "how") to implement the changes discussed. Could include subsections like:

UI Changes

Should cover changes required to the UI, or specific UI that is required to implement this

Code Changes

Code changes should include an overview of what needs to change, and in some cases even the specific details.

Migration

Include:

  • data migration, if any
  • redirects from old URLs to new ones, if any
  • how users will be pointed to the new way of doing things, if necessary.

Test/Demo Plan

It's important that we are able to test new features, and demonstrate them to users. Use this section to describe a short plan that anybody can follow that demonstrates the feature is working. This can then be used during testing, and to show off after release. Please add an entry to http://testcases.qa.ubuntu.com/Coverage/NewFeatures for tracking test coverage.

This need not be added or completed until the specification is nearing beta.

Unresolved issues

This should highlight any issues that should be addressed in further specifications, and not problems with the specification itself; since any specification with problems cannot be approved.

BoF agenda and discussion

Use this section to take notes during the BoF; if you keep it in the approved spec, use it for summarising what was discussed and note any options that were rejected.

CategorySpec

VirtualApplianceNetworkConfigurationSpec (last edited 2009-06-04 09:33:16 by 0107ds1-abv)