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SEAL Systems announces configuration management tool
As part of its platform strategy, SEAL Systems has developed a new configuration tool with which all PLOSSYS® Output Solutions can be equipped in future. The PLOSSYS® Configurator is part of the PLOSSYS® product family, with which SEAL Systems has been realizing individual output management solutions for its customers for over 40 years.
Configure all PLOSSYS® Output Solutions via one tool
PLOSSYS® Configurator concentrates and standardizes the configuration, which was previously spread across various solution components and was therefore often time-consuming, in one place. With the new tool, solutions can be put together according to requirements and the settings for operating the solution can also be made. In the medium term, the PLOSSYS® Configurator will replace all previous configuration tools from SEAL Systems. The software is at an advanced stage of development, with a closed beta program starting in the summer. The PLOSSYS® Configurator will also be available independently of PLOSSYS® solutions as a separate product.
One for all
“PLOSSYS® Configurator is part of the SEAL platform strategy that we have been consistently pursuing since 2020 in order to make our solutions modular. One of the key points of the strategy is to outsource cross-sectional functions to central platform services and concentrate the actual output management functions in lean microservices. Following a standardized client framework, centralized log management and shared system monitoring, the next step is now the Configurator: a centralized configuration.”
Thomas Wiesenbacher – CTO SEAL Systems
With PLOSSYS® Configurator, SEAL Systems has now created a powerful tool that covers all aspects of solution configuration, both for SaaS operation and for locally installed projects (private cloud and on-premises). The software deliberately takes a different approach to other configuration systems.
Descriptive configuration languages (DSLs), which are widely used for defining and configuring infrastructures (Infrastructure as Code), are ideal for use in GitOps operations, but are application-specific and text-based. Managing multiple aspects of a solution with different DSLs quickly becomes a juggling act with a flood of cryptic text files.
Web-based administration systems with plugins for various applications offer a graphical user interface, but focus on the configuration of individual software components and infrastructure elements. The correct configuration of the solution in all its aspects is therefore the responsibility of the user. At the same time, this makes it difficult to assign rights at a functional level (e.g. for certain solutions).
onfiguration databases, on the other hand, usually focus on the management and documentation aspect of configurations in an ITSM context, for example to establish auditability of IT landscapes. The technical configuration of the actual systems is usually not part of the CMDB.
PLOSSYS® Configurator controls complex solutions
PLOSSYS® Configurator concentrates on the technical configuration of solutions for the user; it also covers the most important aspects of a configuration database.
- User-friendly configuration without in-depth knowledge of the individual technical modules
- Simple assignment of rights across the various components
- Creation of the technical configurations of all software components using descriptive configuration languages
The tool thus represents a solution-oriented fusion of configuration management databases, web admin tools and technical configuration languages into a single tool that is ideal for defining the control of complex solutions.
This is PLOSSYS® Configurator
How it works: Separation of the functional and technical configuration
To offer this function, the PLOSSYS® Configurator separates the functional and technical configuration from each other. A server core based on a graph database works with plug-ins in the form of lean data models in which the technical view of the configuration is stored.
Across multiple models: Traceability of all changes and shared version management for seamless rollbacks
These models are based on ERM and JSON schema and contain hardly any functionality of their own; basic programming experience is sufficient to create such models. The Configurator can manage several models in parallel, and models can also be linked to each other – for example, to link the printer configuration from one model with a defined output solution from another model.
Several separate instances of each model can be managed in the Configurator and assigned access rights, making the tool multi-client capable. All data is subject to shared version management, which enables the staging of configuration changes from the development system to the test system to the production system, as well as seamless rollback in case of an error. A detailed audit view also allows all changes to be tracked precisely.
Translation, linking, activation – systems do the work
Systems translate the functional configurations from the models into technical configuration languages. Systems are also implemented as plug-ins for the Configurator server and offer various export functions to apply all or only selected aspects of a configuration to a technical target system – for example, to test only a new queue configuration.
The technical configurations that need to be created to activate a specific part of the configuration are also stored in the systems. Multiple instances of systems can also be used simultaneously, for example to configure dev, test and production systems separately; multiple systems can be combined into system groups, for example to configure all test systems or all systems at a specific location simultaneously. Version management offers several release levels and can therefore be used in such a way that configuration changes can only be exported to production systems with a specific release level.
Simple configuration via GUI and API
PLOSSYS® Configurator interface is implemented as a web application and offers two views: a form view and a wizard that guides the user step-by-step through the configuration process. It does not matter at which point the configuration is started – the wizard is multi-level and allows even complex configurations to be conveniently edited in a single process. This means that even less experienced users can find their way through extensive configurations. The form view, on the other hand, is aimed more at experienced users who want to access individual aspects of the configuration efficiently. Of course, the user interface is multilingual and can be used with different color schemes. It is also possible to adapt it to your own corporate design.
All PLOSSYS® Configurator functions are available via API, so that the configuration process can also be further automated if required.
Also for SaaS solutions
In future, the PLOSSYS® Configurator will also act as a single source of truth for the SEAL SaaS offering. The complexity of the various configurations of infrastructures, platforms, components and applications poses a considerable challenge, particularly in the SaaS sector; quite a few SaaS providers report a veritable configuration hell that can ultimately only be managed to a limited extent with various tools for individual aspects. As an upstream instance, the PLOSSYS® Configurator can bring together the various configuration aspects, consolidate them in a database and generate the required configuration data and languages from them in order to implement the configuration technically.
The generated technical configurations are first stored in a SaaS catalog – such as a GitHub repository – and the automated provisioning and deployment process then takes care of transporting and implementing the configuration in the SaaS operating environment. To do this, it relies on the established configuration tools for the various aspects involved. The PLOSSYS® Configurator does not intervene directly in SaaS operations at any time. This strict technical separation of configuration and operation means that the SaaS instances remain protected – manual intervention is neither necessary nor technically possible. At the same time, all configurations remain centrally in one place, access rights can be assigned according to business principles and the necessary flexibility for the operation of individualized SaaS solutions is provided.
Fit for the future
When SEAL Systems started developing its cloud-native component line 10 years ago with PLOSSYS® 5 (now PLOSSYS® Output Engine), it was already foreseeable that PLOSSYS® solutions would be offered by SEAL Systems as SaaS services in the long term. It was equally clear that the classic “one-size-fits-all” SaaS approach would not work for SEAL Systems solutions; the functional spectrum of output management is too wide and the solutions too different. Moreover, SEAL Systems’ great strength has always been its ability to respond to individual requirements with customized solutions – this strength was to be retained at all costs.
This presented us with the challenge of setting up, operating and maintaining thousands of individual (or at least individualized) solutions in a highly efficient manner. The traditional approach from the projects of the previous 30 years would not have been able to cope with this task. Instead, what was needed was a tool that could centrally manage the configurations of all solutions and automatically convert them into technical parameters that could be used to control the software components used. This requirement gave rise to the PLOSSYS® Configurator, which took five years to develop.