Returning Customers — Login
Call 1.866.720.0208 or contact us
TOC
- 1. ServerTemplates and RightScripts
- 2. Deployments
- 3. Credentials
- 4. Permissions
- 4.1. admin
- 4.2. actor
- 4.3. observer
- 4.4. designer
- 4.5. library
- 4.6. server_login
- 4.7. sub_account_manager
- 4.8. publisher
- 4.9. enterprise_manager
- 4.10. lite_user
- 4.11. billing
- 5. See also
Are you new to AWS and EC2? If so, please read Amazon Web Services (AWS) to become familiar with some common terms and definitions before reading the RightScale Basics section.
ServerTemplates and RightScripts
Our experience using EC2 to host our own site has led us to develop tools custom built for AWS. Designing the best tools requires thinking about old concepts in new ways. For example, we have done away with the old concept of launching images from a ready-configured state. Instead, we've found that it is far superior to launch bare instances and configure everything post-launch via code that we call RightScripts. This allows us to create modular server images that are highly customizable and easily replicated. If you are not convinced, read the Configuring servers with RightScripts blog entry.
As a result, we developed ServerTemplates. Along with specifying all of the normal EC2 stuff to launch an instance (ami, ssh-key, security group, etc.) ServerTemplates also allow you to designate any number of RightScripts that you want to run at boot time, upon demand, when decomissioning servers, or even when an event is triggered. We created RightScripts to make it even easier. RightScripts allow you to specify packages that you want to install before a script is executed and even allow you to upload and attach files directly to scripts. The Dashboard automatically recognizes and allows you to enter values for any variable that is capitalized. These "variables" are called "Inputs" in the RightScale Dashboard. We provide a convenient and centralized way to manage Input parameters to all of the RightScripts in a ServerTemplate. We also make it easy to use runtime values such as local IP's and EC2 meta-data.
Check out our YouTube video on ServerTemplates:
To see more videos, go to our RightScale channel on YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/RightScale.
Deployments
We also created the concept of deployments. A deployment defines a cluster of machines that are associated with each other. You are able to specify global parameters that all of the instances inherit. This makes it really easy to add additional components without the need for extra configuration. The combination of these three tools allows you to deploy and maintain deployments of servers quickly and easily.
To see more videos, go to our RightScale channel on YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/RightScale.
Credentials
The RightScale Credential Store gives you a simple and secure way to store passwords and other valuable information. You can easily use these stored credentials through RightScripts and deployments. You no longer have to remember your passwords or worry about your information being viewed by others.
Permissions
Sometimes you may want to let other people access your account, but you don't necessarily want everybody to have the same permissions. The Dashboard allows you to invite people to access your account and also specify their permissions. We have implemented the following access permissions:
For a complete matrix of what you can/cannot do inside the Dashboard based on your user role privileges, see User Role Privileges.
admin
Administrative control of the RightScale Account. An account can have multiple users with 'admin' privileges. Only 'admins' can send and receive account invitations. Only an 'admin' can add/change public/private cloud infrastructures and credentials, modify user permissions, and accept sharing group invitations.
actor
Ability to manage all cloud related activity. In the Dashboard, you'll need 'actor' privileges in order to perform any actions located under the Clouds menu. Create, edit, delete cloud objects like EC2 SSH Keys and security groups, as well as perform actions on those launch, terminate, and manage server instances, manage deployments, etc. However, you can only view/edit the SSH keys that you created yourself.
observer
Ability to view the RightScale account. If users do not have at least 'observer' role privileges, they will not be able to login into the Dashboard and view the account.
designer
Ability to create ServerTemplates, RightScripts, and Macros. Ability to view the object libraries.
library
Ability to import objects from the library to your local view (collection). The ability to view the library requires the 'designer' role.
server_login
Ability to log into servers. See FAQ 115.
sub_account_manager
Ability to create and manage sub-accounts.
publisher
Ability to create sharing groups and share RightScale objects (ServerTemplates, RightScripts, and Macros) with other users. If you have a RightScale partner account, you can publish RightScale objects so that they appear in the library under their respective Partners tab.
enterprise_manager
(Enterprise only) Manages all accounts within the enterprise. Send account invitations and grant user role privileges across all accounts in the enterprise. The master enterprise account must have at least one 'enterprise_manager' user. An 'enterprise_manager' can also grant the same privileges to another user. See Enterprise.
lite_user
(Enterprise only) A 'lite_user' will have limited access inside the Dashboard. A lite user cannot design or create things inside the Dashboard such as ServerTemplates, RightScripts, Alert Escalations, etc. Lite users will not be able to see the following menu items in the Dashboard: Clouds, RightScripts, RightGrid, Alert Escalations, and Account information. Lite users will only see the Info tab of a Macro, and the Info and Clouds tabs of a ServerTemplate. A 'lite_user' cannot have 'admin' role privileges and vice-versa. See Enterprise.
billing
The ability to view cloud usage estimates within a RightScale account. For example, if you do not want someone to view any sensitive pricing information, do not grant the user the 'billing' role. You will need the 'billing' role to view actual cost usage estimates (Report -> Usage Estimate) or the Deployments Budget Estimates under Manage -> Deployments -> View Dashboard.