Berkeley Lab Software Distribution Site NLIT Dan Pulsifer - Engineering May 11 th, 2008

2 Abstract The Software Distribution site is a Web-based software and license management system developed through a collaboration between the IT and Engineering Divisions. This system enables end-users to download free software as well as purchase licenses for common applications, transfer licenses among co-workers or workstations, and track their own licenses for historical purposes. This is done interactively to allow instant access to new software titles or versions. All licenses are linked to the end users and their workstations by asset/DOE number. The system also performs administrative functions such as tracking licenses for audit purposes, software usage and consolidating expensive one-off software purchases into a once per month "true-up" expense with most of our vendors.

3 Business Requirements Manage LBNL’s software assets: o Display data in a Web-based interface o Serve Cross Platform audience (Linux, Mac, and Windows) o Manage licenses at an individual as well as global level o Provide different access levels for users and support staff o Maintain Audit Trail of all site access Minimize acquisition and support costs o Provide ability to purchase commercial software o Automate account validation and recharge process

4 Milestones Decision to create in-house application – July 2006 Site Go Live date (free applications only) – Dec 2006 Software for Sale– March, 2007 License Transfers among users/computers - Dec 2007 Site Statistics: o 40,000 successful logins (4300 unique logins) o 30,000 individual software downloads o Have sold about $300,000 worth of software ‣ 1700 applications have been purchased

5 Technologies Used Operating System o Runs on CentOS Linux within a virtualized environment (Vmware ESX) Web Interface o Apache Web Server (shared environment – 16 sites) o PHP for dynamic content o LDAP authentication Data Management o MySQL back-end o Using an Active Directory DFS for software file storage

6 System Architecture VMWare ESX Host (Clustered) Other VM CentOS 5.1 VM Apache / PHP Software Site Inventory Site 14 Other Sites Core Libraries Account Number DOE Number Validation Account Number DOE Number Validation Software DFS Share Software DFS Share LBNL Recharge Systems LBNL Recharge Systems LBNL LDAP System

7 Software Organization A “parent application” is defined as the Vendor and Application Name (e.g. Mozilla Firefox) Child versions consist of Platform, Version and Architecture (e.g. Windows Intel) Parent Application Vendor Application Name Parent Application Vendor Application Name Child Versions Platform Version Number Architecture Child Versions Platform Version Number Architecture Mozilla Firefox Windows Intel Mac Universal Linux Intel Adobe Acrobat Standard 8.0 Upgrade Professional 8.0, Full Standard 8.0, Universal

8 End User Features Allow downloads of the latest versions of official laboratory software and utilities Provide suggestions of free or open source software solutions for common issues (PDF printer, 7-zip) Allow instant purchases (with required approval mechanisms) of software for end users Provide the ability to track licenses that have been purchased (instead of producing retail boxes on demand) Allow individuals to transfer licenses to other computers / individuals

9 Administrative Features Validation of account numbers and DOE asset numbers Automate monthly recharges Consolidate expensive individual purchases into a once-per-month true-up (with vendor support) o A true-up scenario is one that allows LBNL to sell software that we do not own yet from certain vendors o At the end of each recharge cycle (once per month), we buy licenses in bulk from a central vendor

10 Administrative Features (cont.) Provide an audit trail of license usage by tying the end-user and their computer (via asset tag) to each license o Follow LBNL’s standard procedure for asset approvals Track trends in software usage and popularity Show purchased licenses in our inventory system Delegate permissions on the site for application/content management as well as license management/tracking 10

11 Future Direction Secondary License Usage (some of our licenses allow usage on secondary computers or notebooks) Concurrent License Usage Information o We already have a separate site for tracking FlexLM, MELs that needs to be integrated Further integration with our inventory management system Possible integration with our asset management system (triggered events on change)

12 Demonstration Basic Overview of application organization Upload of new software Purchasable Software Dept/Div Software category My Software History Transfer Licenses Software Statistics License Management Reports

13 Questions Contact Information: o Daniel Pulsifer o Berkeley Lab Software Distribution Site