A closer look at INMP

My last blog entry was set up a little bit hastily, so here is a more detailed look at INMP:

Managers of internetworks are often required to work with several devices at once-naturally, having several SSH windows open at once is not practical and contribute to screen clutter.  Unfortunately, for users of Linux-based OS, there is no suitable program which can perform these functions.  The built in terminal programs such as Gnome Terminal do not allow it to spawn a tab from within itself-thus making it impossible to automate the tab generation process.

Rather than needing to rely on some third-party software, to a bunch of scripts from another third party, the ideal solution is to have one program to manage the entire process-this is the goal of the INMP.

Currently, the program is a series of Perl scripts which are executed from the RoxTerm terminal program.  Currently, the scripts are set up to work on the Cisco networking pods at RPI.  As the software continues to grow, however, it will be a simple fix to allow it to connect to any router or switch.  Currently existing scripts connect to the devices, run some initialization commands, and dump the running-configuration of all devices into a text file.  There is also a script to restore data from the text file to the devices, though this is currently buggy.  (i.e, it does not work.)

Getting these scripts working completely and bug free is the initial goal, as they will form the background of the final application.  The final application will feature a Perl-built GUI featuring tabbed windows so that one can manage multiple devices at once.  The program will support both Telnet and SSH connections, though in a real, corporate environment, Telnet should never be used.