New Features Teaser!

[IWorx-Tim-Pgh]

Hey guys - we're gearing up to get the next version out the door, but I thought I'd take a few minutes to let you know a little of what we've been working on.



Security Improvements

We've upgraded the internal version of PHP to 5.2.x
All input to the system is now handled through a single point, which allows us to validate input much more thoroughly


Visual Enhancements

New theme system is much simpler to create your own theme
Built-in themes are now CSS only - no more tables
Memory graph is much clearer


New Features

Hugely expanded capabilities of the XMLRPC API
SOAP is now supported as well
Most actions can be executed interactively or programmatically via the command line
Line by line validation of user input
New AJAX controls for all services in NodeWorx
SPEED! We've made huge steps forward in speeding things up across the board. On my test box, most pages now render 4-5 times faster than before
Improved memory footprint
SiteWorx users can reset their own password if they forget
Multiple external MySQL servers can be maintained by NodeWorx, and assigned to SiteWorx users when the account is created (one per SiteWorx account)
Dedicated IPs are now dedicated to a SiteWorx account, not just a single domain, so accounts with SSL can have secondary domains.
Mass Transfer Importer now runs in the background, so if you leave, you can come back and it will still be running. Also runs several imports in parallel for faster importing.
cPanel importer now supports new cPanel archive format, plus huge improvements to the scope of what's imported with both new and old format backups.
Integrated suPHP support
New Settings page to control commonly accessed parts of the InterWorx configuration



And that's just some of it! We've made huge improvements to the system as a whole, and we're working on a few other new features that may or may not make it into the next release, but will be coming soon thereafter.

Stay tuned - we'll post more as it gets closer to release. If you have any questions, let us know.

Tim

[sliqua]

Very nice! I'm extremely excited about this upcoming release. :cool:

[Justec]

Visual Enhancements
New theme system is much simpler to create your own theme
Built-in themes are now CSS only - no more tables


Cool, maybe this will pave the way for a 3rd party theme to support iPhone and other mobile devices.


New Features
New AJAX controls for all services in NodeWorx

Haha, I remember when I was joking with Socheat long long ago about getting NodeWorx with some nice AJAX support. Maybe some nice animations of menus and stuff using the cool new JS libraries like JQuery and Scriptaculous


SPEED! We've made huge steps forward in speeding things up across the board. On my test box, most pages now render 4-5 times faster than before

Meaning Iworx (NodeWorx/SiteWorx) loads faster or the websites running on the shared server?


SiteWorx users can reset their own password if they forget

Nice!


Mass Transfer Importer now runs in the background, so if you leave, you can come back and it will still be running. Also runs several imports in parallel for faster importing.

Very cool


Integrated suPHP support

Will this be an option that you turn on or a new default setting? This should be really neat. I remember wanting to setup this apache addon that never made it to a public release called PerChild (http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.0/mod/perchild.html), but I think suPHP should be able to provide a lot of the same features.

[IWorx-Tim-Pgh]

Actually, Justec, I think the extended API will be more useful for a true iPhone app, though the new theme system will certainly make it easier to create a mobile-friendly theme. HTML tables still present a bit of an issue, though with the new MVC architecture we switched to, things are a lot more centralized and it's at least easier to make that rendering customizable. I've been trying to study through the WordPress theming system - though their range of "things to do" is much narrower than ours!

With regard to speed - I mean NodeWorx and SiteWorx are faster. I realize that NW and SW represent very little of a server's load, but every bit helps!

We chose YUI for the scripting library - we're using the current 2.x release. Once we've finalized the setup for the release, we'll be sure to document what utilities will be available to theme designers. So far, I can guarantee the Connection Manager, the Event and DOM stuff, and the Animation tools. We haven't gotten too heavily into the animation side of things - some of our testing with older machines has proved that to be a bit much.

We're working toward not breaking user themes after this release - unfortunately, most custom themes will need to be recreated for the next release, but it's a much simpler process. We've also made it so that the CSS alone can be changed, which will allow custom themes to inherit new behavior and templates, but apply their own CSS and images.

I've made a truly ugly new theme to illustrate what's (technically) possible. I like to think my code is beautiful, so my lame attempts at graphic design don't need to be!

Tim

[bear]

nice
looking forward to the release

[R-n-R]

This will be very nice, especially the suphp.

Question will suphp be server wide, or will the option of siteworx specific option be available?

[ximian]

Hi

My name is Francisco Azevedo and i'm a php developer. I'm trying to integrate a sitebuilder/cms with interworx. The idea is that a cms administrator could do some simple taks (like manage email accounts and see domain properties) in the cms using interworx as backend.

To do this i need interworx help. So my question is, are there interworx apis to:

- add/del/checkstatus/changedetails(quota) of a email account given a domain name?

- check domain properties like maxbandwith/currentbandwith/quota/currentemailaccounts given a domain name?


if there are no apis, how difficult is to implement them and are interworx developers interested in such api creation?


best regards
Francisco Azevedo

[R-n-R]

Tim, this sounds exciting and very positive for InterWorx.



New Features

Hugely expanded capabilities of the XMLRPC API




Tim

I would think this would be a very simple request, but do you think that you could set up to allow the Server Admin to provide a specific URL that the end user will be sent to when they logout of SiteWorx.

I am currently using a billing system with a special plug in that will log in the customer to their SiteWorx account, but when they logout they are sent to the SiteWorx login screen. Being sent back to their account in the Billing System would be sweet.

Thanks for the consideration.

[IWorx-Tim-Pgh]

@R-n-R -

I believe suPHP will be configurable per account - but that's Paul's baby, so I'm not 100%. I'll see if I can get him to stick his head in here later today.

I logged your request in our feature request system.

@ximian

There are currently APIs for adding, deleting, and editing SiteWorx accounts (in the next release). The current release is able to add and delete accounts, I believe. We're still ironing out the details of the "getter" functions - APIs to just retrieve data about an account like you're asking, but that's coming as well.

Tim

[IWorx-Paul]

Yep, suPHP will be per-siteworx account.

Paul

[du-llens]

I really love the specs of this release and can hardly wait for it to be released.
Can any one tell me when this new version with will be released?

[Justec]

I really love the specs of this release and can hardly wait for it to be released.
Can any one tell me when this new version with will be released?

When it's done of course :D

[R-n-R]

Not that it matters a whole lot one way or the other, but this new version....will it be a 3.X version or considered a 4.0?

[IWorx-Tim-Pgh]

You know, we're not sure! The "working" release number is 3.1.0, but sometimes we wax philosophical about bumping to 4 :)

[Justec]

I think if you added cool Javascript stuff and AJAX that alone would be wroth bumping it up to a 4.x :)

Sad that I'm looking forward to this release as much as video game releases :D

[bear]

will APF firewall be up dated in this version ?

is there a rough date when new version will be released ?
Thank you

[IWorx-Tim-Pgh]

I believe it has been, bear, but I'll leave it to Paul for a definitive answer.

I can say that we've updated the structure of the InterWorx rpm significantly, and separated several packages that were previously integrated. This will make updating individual components less of a hassle.

We really don't have a release date, though we're getting closer!

Tim

[R-n-R]

A simple idea. How about the automatic ability to allow Webmail access either by http://www.someonesdomain.com/webmail but ALSO by a subdomain like http://webmail.someonesdomain.com

Reason I am asking for this is some of my customers are asking to keep their web mail on the InterWorx server and their A records for their web site is on another server.

Then in their Controlling DNS Zone all that would need to be done is add webmail.someonesdomain.com and the associated IP address.

Yes there are other ways of doing this but this would help streamline things using their domain name.

Thanks for the consideration.

[R-n-R]

I have another request that would be EXTREMELY helpful trying to find a site in Shell Account Management Page.

How about a Search Feature?

[marco114]

One request I get a lot is a way to view stats publicly, or with an easy to remember url. Another request is the ability to see awstats in a monthly view (all stats together) instead of by day.

[marco114]

oh and I forgot, the only reason I still even have Plesk users, Mailman support! I would really like to get rid of Plesk.

[R-n-R]

Speaking of Mail, if we decide to set up a dedicated Mail server so all mail isn't handled on the IW server (could be another IW server handling mail) have the ability to:

Remove the Mail Options from the SiteWorx Control Panel, and have a link over to where the email server is located.

[sliqua]

Speaking of Mail, if we decide to set up a dedicated Mail server so all mail isn't handled on the IW server (could be another IW server handling mail) have the ability to:

Remove the Mail Options from the SiteWorx Control Panel, and have a link over to where the email server is located.

Actually already have a Feature Request open for this, among other things. :)

It's a pain in the butt having to run ~vpopmail/bin/vdeldomain every time a user moves their mail off-site and in turn have to keep track of that. I'm very excited about a new feature being available to handle this.

[R-n-R]

Actually already have a Feature Request open for this, among other things. :)



Hey cool, this would be the "cats meow" :)

[Justec]

Any more teasers? :)

[IWorx-Tim-Pgh]

Speaking of Mail, if we decide to set up a dedicated Mail server so all mail isn't handled on the IW server (could be another IW server handling mail) have the ability to:

Remove the Mail Options from the SiteWorx Control Panel, and have a link over to where the email server is located.

Done ;)

Actually, we've gone a step or two further with that. In the next release, in addition to being able to control your MX records from SiteWorx, you can also set up an external SMTP server, so the webmail will continue to work!

It's been posted in other threads, but we added RoundCube to the webmail programs.

Nearly every action that you can do in the browser is now possible through the XMLRPC API.

AND! There's now a MUCH more robust CLI system - both interactive and programmatic. You can key in what you want to do, and it'll prompt you to log in, and then step you through things. There are a few things that are a little clumsy in CLI, but I find many actions to be significantly faster on the command line. You need to jump through a hoop, but you can even stay logged in while your shell session is active, or, if you have an API key, you can just add that to your environment and be authenticated that way.

[marco114]

So when do we get it?? need plesk migration really bad!

[bear]

any more news ?

[gareth25]

Has anyone else found FTP slow on their boxes? I always find it sluggish, not sure if it's my firewall but I found ProFTPd faster on a Cpanel box, but that could just be me.

Might be worth Iworx having the ability to switch to another FTP server if the admin wishes, a bit like Cpanel does currently.

[R-n-R]

Has anyone else found FTP slow on their boxes? I always find it sluggish, not sure if it's my firewall but I found ProFTPd faster on a Cpanel box, but that could just be me.

Might be worth Iworx having the ability to switch to another FTP server if the admin wishes, a bit like Cpanel does currently.

Funny you mention this, I was using SmartFTP and uploading to a cPanel box and then moments later I uploaded to a IW box and it was a lot slower. Both the IW and cPanel or on the same pNet in the same data center.

[gareth25]

Interesting... maybe it's worth IWorx looking into that in the new release.

[R-n-R]

I am having a few requests to have not only just "Secondary domains", but for SEO reasons, Secondary Domains that actually reside on a different Server with a different IP address, and maybe even in a totally different Data Center.

Some of the really good SEO geeks have said that having different IP address associated with your different Secondary(aka Addon for cPanel)will give a slight edge with Google as for as ranking/linking is concerned.

So what would be really nice is to be able to set up a Package in NodeWork that would be able to allocated Secondary Domains on another IW server that is totally controlled by the primary SiteWorx account.

Currently I am doing this manually as I have had several clients of mine ask for this capability. Not sure of all the magic would be involved in getting this done on the programming side, but it sure would put IW way out on the cutting edge.

[Phobos]

Can clients finally manage their own DNS zones?

[IWorx-Tim-Pgh]

Phobos - MX records, yes, otherwise, no.

R-n-R - That certainly would be unique! It's not something we've considered, though. It seems like it would be difficult to implement, and extremely difficult to implement well. I think you're on the right track, as you can simply create subdomains as whole SiteWorx accounts. Your clients would then just manage it as though it was an entirely separate domain.

Tim

[R-n-R]

R-n-R - That certainly would be unique!........ It seems like it would be difficult to implement, and extremely difficult to implement well.

Tim

Ahh, yes, that is what separates the great ones from the rest of the pack, being able to do the things that are hard. I am sure you have heard the saying, "anything worthwhile isn't easy to do."
Thanks for the reply Tim

[IWorx-Paul]

Thanks for the feature request, and the tip R-n-R :)

Paul

[Phobos]

What about native ruby on rails support? or at least the ability to change the path of the document root?

[R-n-R]

I would like to add this to the WISH list.

The emails the system sends out, allow the server admin (same for the reseller), via NodeWorx, to control the emails the server sends out regarding bandwidth, disk space and any other automated emails that are sent relating to any service on the server. Maybe this could be set up using tiny_mce? Or to be honest a simple text field to manage the emails would suffice.

Thanks for the consideration.

[IWorx-Paul]

proftpd discussion moved to http://www.interworx.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2931

[paulo]

Feature request:
- Space Report (detailed info about quota/ status of mail users, web space, etc...)

(mail users is the most important, because checking 100 user for the guy that as all que quota :-))

[kacsa]

Paul, when will be released the new version?

[IWorx-Paul]

We're just about to the point that we can accept beta testers for the new release :). If you're interested in helping test, please e-mail me at poehler@interworx.com, and put "BETA TESTING" in the e-mail subject.

Thanks!

Paul

[cabizeid]

I'd like to point out that the below features must be added. Its been a long time coming.

- apache update/compile feauture similar to Cpanel's WHM.
- browser (file managed & editor) inside Nodeworx for quick GUI based system file edits (ie, php.info ,httpd.conf, etc)
- better firewall (CSF)
- enhanced spam protection (like's WHM's)
- auto backup feature (seriously, why is this not here yet?)

If I think of more, I'll post.

[IWorx-Tim-Pgh]

Cabizied -

Apache currently IS updated through the system, using the System Updates command. This is reliant on your upstream providers package repository, however. If you're using a repo that builds/releases more often, you'll get the updates faster. Something like the CentOS repos, however, update rather infrequently.

We've actually added editors for a few conf files, but only those for services that provide a good syntax checker. http, ssh, and ftp are all in the new version, though you can disable this if you'd prefer.

Tim

[gareth25]

Cabizied -

Apache currently IS updated through the system, using the System Updates command. This is reliant on your upstream providers package repository, however. If you're using a repo that builds/releases more often, you'll get the updates faster. Something like the CentOS repos, however, update rather infrequently.

We've actually added editors for a few conf files, but only those for services that provide a good syntax checker. http, ssh, and ftp are all in the new version, though you can disable this if you'd prefer.

Tim

What repository do you advise we use? A lot of my services are not fully up to date (roundcube webmail wont install as a result). I just don't want to cause problems by adding another repository that may update something that Iworx doesnt like.

[EverythingWeb]

If you're trying to install RoundCube into the Interworx instance of apache, it wont work at the moment, as the PHP version is too low ;)

Luckily, according to the first post in this thread, "We've upgraded the internal version of PHP to 5.2.x".. which means Roundcube should work in the new beta version. It may even be included as standard ;)

[IWorx-Tim-Pgh]

Yes it is :)

[EverythingWeb]

Yeah, so I have seen ;) :D

[R-n-R]

Yeah, so I have seen ;) :D
We all have seen ;)

IMHO, if your trying to install RoundCube into 3.x, I personally wouldn't do it, go find another project to place your time and energy into, as this will be coming soon enough.

[mainframe]

Please integrate greylisting support - for example greylite - may be possible to configure by mail domain? Greylisting is very important and simple way to kill a lot of spam - too important to ignore.

[EverythingWeb]

IMHO, if your trying to install RoundCube into 3.x, I personally wouldn't do it, go find another project to place your time and energy into, as this will be coming soon enough.

Actually, we did get it working, although we actually hosted it on the main system apache and aliased it via there, or Proxied it, can't remember, it was a few months back.

We all have seen ;)

You like the Beta then, too? ;)

[R-n-R]

You like the Beta then, too? ;)

Yes, I really like the new 4.0. The Beta seems to be very stable at least from what I have seen. Have a few minor issues, but all worked out, but all in all, very smooth for a Beta.

[EverythingWeb]

I agree. Definately a huge improvement. We've spotted a couple of minor bits and suggested a couple of things, but all in all, excellent job by the Interworx guys ;)

I'm looking forward to getting information on the new API.

[omaticon]

Three things I would REALLY like to see would be a website widget system similar to ModernBill's. If you aren't familiar with this I will be more than happy to explain if asked. The second would be the ability to fully disable a client site. The reality is that e-mail tends to be more important than the websites for many small clients and the bad ones will not pay until e-mail no longer works. One last thing that would be worth looking into in my opinion would be implementing the apache2 event mpm. It is now stable with mod_rewrite & mod_ssl and such. I was going to recompile apache2 to enable this for testing when I realized that you have your own apache rpm in interworx. Is this RPM purely for the administration interface or is it also used for serving pages?

[omaticon]

Disregard the web widgets part. I was working on an awbs template at the time and I was missing the ModernBill widgets. :)

[EverythingWeb]

Is this RPM purely for the administration interface or is it also used for serving pages?

The interworx-apache is purely used for hosting the Interworx web interfaces. The main system apache is only used for serving customer sites.

[bear]

hows beta testing going ?
how long before rc1 ?

[omaticon]

Can any of the interworx guys give us an idea of what previously "unreleased/unmentioned officially to the masses" features we can expect to see? Hopefully, the public release is getting close. I know I am definitely looking forward to the multiple external mysql server support and the improvements in memory usage & speed!

[IWorx-Tim-Pgh]

Well, there shouldn't be too many additional surprises at this point - we're pretty much in a feature freeze, trying to polish up the beta and smooth out a few interface issues.

In fact, the only large "new" feature I can think of is a new importer for migration of Plesk 9 backups.

The beta testing is going quite well, and I can tell you that we're truly approaching release. We're not doing a formal "beta 1, beta 2, rc1, rc2" etc style rollout - the "beta" release has actually already had 37 builds released. Nothing as formal as nightlies, but when we commit a big fix, after the unit tests (about 2700 of them now!) pass, we build and push it to the beta Yum repository.

Tim

[Justec]

Are you still taking early upgrades (aka beta)? Maybe I'll jump in at some point, but since I'm running a production server didn't want to be in the first beta round.

[R-n-R]

Are you still taking early upgrades (aka beta)? Maybe I'll jump in at some point, but since I'm running a production server didn't want to be in the first beta round.

Well from our end the beta version seems to be going very well, and personally I wouldn't have any issues using the current Beta in production, but also keeping in mind, technically it is still Beta. But a very stable one.

[dbmv]

Is there any way to beta/test 4.0? I'm seriously looking into Interworx (due to the demise of Kloxo/LxAdmin .. an importer would be great), before comitting? I'd be running this on several servers, and if I recall correctly, the trial version is limited to one server only, correct?

[Justec]

Is there any way to beta/test 4.0? I'm seriously looking into Interworx (due to the demise of Kloxo/LxAdmin .. an importer would be great), before comitting? I'd be running this on several servers, and if I recall correctly, the trial version is limited to one server only, correct?

I think the trial is limited to 1 site only.

[Poooh]

Please integrate greylisting support - for example greylite - may be possible to configure by mail domain? Greylisting is very important and simple way to kill a lot of spam - too important to ignore.

Hi,

Any future point this might be implemented? It's actually quite easy to install and shouldn't be very difficult for you Interworx guys to get it setup with a possible whilelist (editable by users) and auto-whitelist.

What do you think?

Daniel

[WebXtrA]

In InterWorx-CP, when I changed a password when an user has /usr/sbin/jk_chrootsh as shell (jailkit) the password isn't changed. The workarround for this was (in Nodeworx):
1. changing the shell to /bin/bash
2. changing password
3. changing the shell back to /usr/sbin/jk_chrootsh again

I was wondering if this problem was solved in InterWorx-CP 4.0?

I was also wondering if there is a way to enable the passwd command in the Jailkit so that users can change their own password or if it is possible for them to change their shell password in siteworx (maybe change it allong with the password change of the siteworx user)