Software center

Software center#

The Software Center page displays and manages applications available from all configured repositories.

Application information#

Ogni applicazione è rappresentata da una carta che mostra il suo nome, il livello di certificazione e la categoria. Clicca sul nome dell’applicazione per visualizzare informazioni dettagliate come screenshot, autore, ultima versione, immagini dei container e link alla documentazione, codice sorgente e tracciatore di bug.

Alcune applicazioni possono includere ulteriori Termini e Condizioni; se presenti, leggerle con attenzione.

Suggerimento

For detailed information about the installed core components refer to Core updates.

Levels of certification#

Le applicazioni sono certificate ai seguenti livelli:

  • Level 1/5: L’applicazione è ospitata da un repository personalizzato (o non fa parte di alcun repository) e non è certificata.

  • Level 2/5: L’applicazione è ospitata dal repository nethforge` e certificata dalla comunità NethServer.

  • Level 3/5: L’applicazione è ospitata dai repository default` o ``subscription ed è certificata da Nethesis.

  • Level 4/5: L’applicazione è sviluppata e mantenuta dagli sviluppatori di Nethesis.

  • 5/5. L’applicazione è sviluppata e mantenuta dagli sviluppatori Nethesis ed è coperta dal supporto Nethesis.

I livelli di certificazione sono determinati in base ai seguenti fattori:

  1. Repository: To be listed in a public repository, an application must undergo a review process. Being listed in a public repository establishes the base certification level of the application.

  2. Origin Il registro di immagine del contenitore che ospita l’applicazione identifica la persona o l’organizzazione che la distribuendo. Attualmente, i registri riconosciuti sono ghcr.io/nethserver` e ghcr.io/nethesis.

  3. Support: Se il cluster ha un abbonamento attivo e il supporto a pagamento è disponibile per l’applicazione (se incluso nel piano di abbonamento corrente o no). Vedere Subscription per ulteriori informazioni.

Install applications#

To install a new application, click the Install button of the application card.

  • If your cluster has multiple nodes, you will also need to select the target node.

  • Some applications – like Samba, Nextcloud, and Mail – may require large disk space and support additional volume selection, if the target node provides one, as explained in section Configure additional volumes.

    The volume selector displays the volume mount directory, the filesystem label and space usage.

To install more applications of the same type, click on the Instances link within the application’s card. Then, select Install new instance. Note that in some cases, installation on certain cluster nodes may be restricted due to application policies or node resource limitations.

Configure additional volumes#

Applications that host a large amount of data may not fit the default volume where the node’s root filesystem usually resides.

When NS8 is installing an application that has such special data requirements on a node that provides one or more additional volumes the system administrator can decide which one to use, or choose the default volume.

The additional volume must be configured before the application is installed.

Avvertimento

The additional volume setup procedure may lead to data-loss. It requires some Linux command line experience, hence it is highly recommended to test this procedure on a non-production system.

When configuring an additional volume on a NS8 node, observe the following check list:

  • Make sure the volume is not already mounted elsewhere. Multiple mount points for the same disk may lead to SELinux relabeling issues. The following command briefly lists existing mountpoints:

    findmnt --real

  • If the volume does not exist yet, format it with xfs or ext4 filesystems. Their features and defaults match NS8 expectations.

    Use lsblk to list the block devices (disks or partitions) available on the node, and the mkfs command to create a new file system on one of them. Be careful, formatting the wrong device will destroy your data.

  • Set a filesystem label (e.g. LABDISK0) to easily recognize the volume. It may also simplify the /etc/fstab or Systemd .mount unit configuration. Related commands are xfs_admin, e2label, tune2fs.

  • Mount the volume under /mnt or /srv base paths. They are commonly used for this purpose. For example, create a mountpoint directory and mount the volume on it

    mkdir /srv/disk0
mount /dev/disk/by-label/LABDISK0 /srv/disk0

  • Make sure the volume is mounted automatically at boot time. Append a /etc/fstab entry for the mounted volume

    findmnt -no SOURCE,TARGET,FSTYPE,OPTIONS /srv/disk0 >> /etc/fstab

    A reboot test is then highly recommended.

The NS8 cluster leader node, where Software center runs, needs a few minutes to record the configuration change and present the additional volume selection next time an application that supports it is installed.

For advanced use cases, where an application does not enable the automatic volume selection, it is still possible to assign an arbitrary volume following Redirect Podman named volume mount points.

Installed applications#

Once an application has been installed, click on the Instances link within the application’s card. You can perform various actions on each instance by clicking on its three-dots menu:

  • Update to testing version: This action is visible only when a testing version is available. Carefully review the pre-release documentation or consult the app developer before proceeding.

  • Add to favorites: Pin the application at the top of the application drawer.

  • Edit instance label: Add a custom name to the instance.

  • Clone: Clone the application. See Clone and move.

  • Move: Move the application to another node. See Clone and move.

  • Restart instance: stop all application components and start them again, similar to a system reboot but limited to the application.

  • Uninstall: Remove the application and all related data.

The Applications page is an alternative and comprehensive place where the applications installed in the cluster can be managed.

Installed applications are also listed in the application drawer, by clicking on the application drawer menu in the top-right corner of the screen.

Software repositories#

An NS8 software repository is an index of applications and a collection of their metadata.

You can access the list of configured repositories in several ways:

  • In the Settings page: click the Software repositories card.

  • In the Software Center page: click the Software repositories item in the three-dots menu at the top-right corner.

NS8 includes a default set of software repositories, some enabled and others disabled:

  • default: Contiene applicazioni sviluppate e mantenute principalmente dagli sviluppatori NethServer. Traccia anche aggiornamenti per moduli NS8 core e il nucleo stesso.

  • nethforge: A repository of applications built and maintained by the NethServer community. It is initially disabled.

  • subscription: Added and enabled when the cluster has an active subscription. It overrides the contents of the default repository with an update schedule managed by Nethesis. See Subscription for details.

To add a custom repository, click on the Add repository button and fill in the required fields:

  • Name: A unique name for the repository.

  • URL: The public URL of the repository. It must be a valid NS8 repository.

  • Status: Check this option to enable the repository.

Si noti che se la stessa applicazione è elencata in più repository, quella dal repository con la priorità più alta sarà considerata. La priorità dei repository è determinata dall’ordine alfabetico dei nomi dei repository, con quelli successivi nell’alfabeto (ad esempio, «Z») che hanno una maggiore priorità rispetto a quelli precedenti (ad esempio, «A»).

You can refresh the metadata by clicking on the Reload repositories button.

Updates#

Se i repository abilitati contengono un aggiornamento per un’istanza di applicazione installata o per qualsiasi componente core, viene visualizzato un messaggio di avviso nella parte superiore della pagina del centro software. Puoi vedere se ci sono aggiornamenti disponibili anche accedendo alla pagina Cluster status`.

NethServer 8 can handle two different types of updates:

Operating system updates are demanded to the underlying Linux distribution.

If you have an active subscription, available updates are applied automatically as described in Aggiornamenti programmati.

Core updates#

NS8 consists of the core and several modules. Each core component has its own version number, and the Software Center will display a warning when an update is available.

You can review the components currently installed on each node of the cluster at any time. To do this, click on the three-dots menu in the top-right corner of the Software Center page, then select Core apps. Click on Update core to apply the updates.

Core module updates are always applied altogether to avoid version mismatches.

Application updates#

The list of available updates is listed inside the Updates tab of Software center. The software center displays a card for each application with available updates.

You can apply all application updates by clicking the Update all apps button.

By clicking the Review and update button on the application card, you will see all module instances that require an update. You can update each instance separately by clicking on the Update button. If you prefer to update all instances of the same module, just click Update all instances button.