rackmonkey

know your racks

RackMonkey 1.2.5 Preview 3

RackMonkey is a web-based tool for managing racks of equipment such as web servers, video encoders, routers and storage devices. Using a simple interface you can keep track of what's where, which OS it runs, when it was purchased, who it belongs and what it's used for. No more searching for spreadsheets or scribbled notes when you need to find a server: RackMonkey can quickly find any device and draw a rack diagram of its location. RackMonkey is free and open source (licensed under the GPL). Take a tour of RackMonkey…

Stable Release: RackMonkey 1.2.4

RackMonkey 1.2.4 was released on 2008-07-20. New features include:

Download 1.2.4 | 1.2.4 Documentation | Change Log | Issues & Bugs | Older releases
MD5 (rackmonkey-1.2.4.tar.gz): 500181007f8d7bf68077fd810138b6a7
SHA256 (rackmonkey-1.2.4.tar.gz): b0dcb83d545755c72fb4a5948cb2e43033e0bfe3283d2b40bc66185ea925c635

Development Release: RackMonkey 1.2.5 RC1

RackMonkey 1.2.5 Release Candidate 1 was released on 2009-06-05. New features since 1.2.4 include:

Download 1.2.5-RC1 | Issues & Bugs
MD5 (rackmonkey-1.2.5-rc1.tar.gz): 7b84584f898b6c853522ea424a92f763
SHA256 (rackmonkey-1.2.5-rc1.tar.gz): 9864d745be8f01f6a379377620ec601728c45be8d9feee3fdd1cd37556255146

System Requirements: RackMonkey server software works on pretty much any Unix or Unix-like system, including FreeBSD, Linux, Mac OS X, NetBSD and Solaris. The interface is web-based and works with a wide range of browsers on Mac, Unix and Windows. For more information see the installation guide.

News

2009-07-01 Sourceforge are making some changes to their download system, so the launch of RackMonkey 1.2.5 will be postponed for a few days. To hear when it's available please join the RackMonkey Announce List.

2009-06-27 Finishing touches are being made to RackMonkey 1.2.5 release. An updated Ubuntu/Debian install document is now in svn and a similar document for Red Hat systems is almost complete. Final release should be in the next few days.

2009-06-13 No major issues have been found with RC1. If you're testing the new Ubuntu install, please check the RC1 issues section for a correction in the naming of one of the packages. The final release of RackMonkey 1.2.5 is scheduled for late June.

2009-06-05 RackMonkey 1.2.5 release candidate 1 (RC1) has been released. Please download and test this release.

2009-06-04 The last of the expected code changes for RackMonkey 1.2.5 RC1 has been made. The remaining work consists of reviewing documentation and completing the POD for the perl modules. RC1 is expected to be released in the next few days.

2009-05-30 RackMonkey 1.2.5 RC1 should be released in the next week. If no issues are found in the fortnight that follows then a production release of 1.2.5 will be created. Thank you to everyone who has provided feedback on the 1.2.5 preview releases.

2009-05-23 RackMonkey 1.2.5 Preview 3 has been released. Changes include the ability to associate applications with multiple devices, configurable rack numbering direction and IE 8 support. The next release will be release candidate 1. A production release of 1.2.5 is expected in June.

2009-05-12 Updating and testing the schema migration scripts for 1.2.5 Preview 3 is taking longer than expected. Preview 3 is still a little way off as a result. If you want to see the changes being made you're welcome to browse the RackMonkey svn repository.

2009-05-09 During the last month I have made a significant number of changes to 1.2.5. Therefore there will be one more preview release of 1.2.5 before moving to a release candidate. Preview 3 will include full support for applications, improved schema, duplicates report, configurable rack numbering direction and many other minor improvements. Note that system requirements have been tightened up a little in 1.2.5 Preview 3: the install document included in the release provides details. I hope to release Preview 3 early next week. Release candidate 1 should follow on pretty quickly as the only major bit of work remaining is updating the documentation.

2009-04-04 RackMonkey 1.2.5 Preview 2 is due for release on Sunday 5th April.

2009-03-28 RackMonkey 1.2.5 Preview 2 is coming along well and is expected to be released in early April. A bug in 1.2.5 Preview 1 prevents the editing or creation of rooms; details of a fix can be found via the issues section.

2009-03-15 RackMonkey 1.2.5 Preview 1 has been released.

2009-03-13 RackMonkey 1.2.5 Preview 1 will be released on Sunday 15th March to coincide with RackMonkey's 5th birthday. RackMonkey had its busiest month ever in February, with over 8,500 page views and total downloads surpassing 3,000.

2009-02-18 Work has restarted on 1.2.5. A preview release will be out in March. More details of included features to follow.

2009-01-14 I've been busier than expected on work projects, so I'm afraid RackMonkey has had to take a back seat for a few months. Rest assured, 1.2.5 is still coming. I should have a better idea of my free time in February. Please accept my apologies for not replying to all mail yet, I should catch up again soon.

RackMonkey Excel export

2008-10-03 RackMonkey 1.2.5 is coming along nicely. Improved CSS for printing has been committed to svn and you can see a sample print of the devices table (PDF). Racks can now be numbered from the top, as well as the bottom. Work also continues on Excel export (see screenshot, right), application and row support. v2 is not forgotten, and I should have an update on its progress in the next few weeks. To stay up-to-date, join the RackMonkey announce list.

2008-09-01 Thanks to a busy few months, RackMonkey has passed 2,000 downloads on SourceForge. You can see more detailed statistics if you're interested.

Rack view in RackMonkey 1.2.5 2008-08-09 Work has began on 1.2.5. A early version of the improved rack view is shown on the left. Planned enhancements include full app and row support, easier deletion of items and basic formatting in notes. Excel export is also currently undergoing testing.

RackMonkey v2 development work is at an early stage. The first features to be added to this release will be recording of network and power information as well as support for a wider range of device sizes (e.g. 1.5U switches). Look out for version 2 in subversion soon. A preview release incorporating these features is planned for late September.

Thanks to everyone who has written to me with comments and suggestions for RackMonkey. My apologies if you haven't received a reply; I am currently working through my mail backlog.


2008-07-25 The roadmaps for 1.2.5 and 1.3 are currently being reviewed. If you have any thoughts on what should be included, please submit a feature request.

2008-07-20 RackMonkey 1.2.4 has been released. See above for information on downloading. I'm still updating some sections of this site to reflect the new version, but full documentation is already available.

RackMonkey is written as one word, not as Rack Monkey, but including the Rack Monkey version may help search engine users find this page. :)

RackMonkey is ©2004-2009 Will Green and licensed under the GPL v2+. RackMonkey and Know Your Racks are trademarks of Will Green.