mars-smart/README.md

SMArT

SMArT is the web-based configuration interface for MARS_NWE, a Novell NetWare 3.x emulator for Linux and FreeBSD.

In the current setup, this repository is integrated into the main mars_nwe project as a Git submodule. It is built, installed, and released as part of the normal MARS_NWE release process rather than as a separate end-user component.

Screenshots

The main menu is the normal entry point after login. It shows the available configuration sections on the left and opens the selected explanation or editor view on the right.

All screenshots in this section use anonymized example values for users, hostnames, printer names and local mountpoints.

Additional UI examples:

Login PAM-based login with SMArT session cookies.	Runtime information Configured paths, service name and project link.
Volume import Detected host mountpoints can be imported as MARS_NWE volumes.	User editor Optional Unix user mapping and bindery group membership.
Print queues CUPS printer selection can prefill the Unix print command.	SMArT settings Bindery server settings and server-name synchronization.
General settings Core MARS_NWE options with synchronized bindery naming.	Advanced sections Only the matching advanced section is displayed for the selected menu item.
Validation errors Invalid input is rejected with a focused error page and a back action.	Service control Start, stop, restart and status output for the configured MARS_NWE service.

A compact maintainer overview of the screenshot set is available as doc/screenshots/screenshot-contact-sheet.png.

Project status and integration

This repository is intended to be embedded into the main mars_nwe Git repository:

• Main project: mars_nwe
• Submodule role: provides the SMArT web UI and helper tools
• Release model: shipped as part of the integrated MARS_NWE release

The build and install rules install the web UI binary, Perl helpers, configuration template, static assets, systemd unit, and PAM file as part of the integrated installation target.

Architecture overview

SMArT consists of three main pieces:

1. nwwebui – a dedicated HTTP/HTTPS frontend service
2. Perl helper scripts – request routing, configuration pages, bindery operations, validation, and service control
3. Small native helpers – PAM login checking and optional user enumeration helpers

The nwwebui service can expose the UI over:

• HTTP on port 9080
• HTTPS on port 9443

Both listeners can run in parallel. HTTPS is recommended for real deployments because the login form transmits credentials. Plain HTTP is still useful for local testing or trusted internal environments.

Major features

HTML login, sessions, and logout

SMArT provides a form-based login page, session cookies, and a logout action. Static assets such as the SMArT logo are served before authentication so the login page can render correctly.

Runtime session files are stored under the WebUI runtime directory, typically:

/run/mars-nwe-webui

PAM authentication with administrator group restriction

Authentication is performed through the PAM service smart using the check_login helper. In addition to a successful PAM login, the user must be a member of the configured Unix administrator group.

The administrator group is configured at build time through the main mars_nwe CMake project:

cmake -DMARS_NWE_SMART_ADMIN_GROUP=root ...

The default is root to preserve the traditional behavior on existing systems. On normal Unix systems the root user has primary group root, so root can still log in. For delegated administration, build with a dedicated group instead:

cmake -DMARS_NWE_SMART_ADMIN_GROUP=nwadmin ...
groupadd nwadmin
usermod -aG nwadmin mario

After installation the effective setting appears in smart.conf as:

$smart_admin_group = 'root';

or, for a delegated build:

$smart_admin_group = 'nwadmin';

Service control page

The start page includes controls for the configured MARS_NWE service:

• start
• stop
• restart
• status

The service name is supplied by the build configuration and can be overridden in smart.conf:

$mars_nwe_service = 'mars-nwe-serv.service';
$smart_systemctl_path = '/usr/bin/systemctl';

Runtime information page

The start page shows the important runtime paths generated by CMake, including:

• main MARS_NWE configuration file
• SMArT configuration file
• WebUI helper/script directory
• MARS_NWE service unit name
• systemctl executable

This helps diagnose packaging or installation path issues without searching through generated files.

Configuration editors and advanced sections

The main menu contains the commonly used configuration areas and advanced sections. Advanced pages are shown only when the selected section is opened, which keeps the menu usable while still exposing low-level MARS_NWE options.

Current sections include, among others:

• setup first
• MARS_NWE service
• general settings
• directories
• precompiled/path settings
• security
• user configuration
• volumes
• devices
• logging
• stations/access control
• users
• groups
• print queues

Import helpers

SMArT can prefill or discover host-side data for common configuration tasks:

• local mount points for volume creation
• Unix users for MARS_NWE user mapping
• CUPS printers for print queue command generation
• IPX interfaces for device configuration

These helpers are meant to reduce manual typing while still leaving the final configuration under administrator control.

Validation and error pages

The apply path validates common input before writing configuration or changing bindery data. Invalid values are shown on a dedicated validation page instead of failing silently or returning an empty HTTP response.

Validation currently covers areas such as:

• volume names and Unix paths
• device/network parameters
• print queue names, print commands, and spool directories
• user names and group names
• invalid bindery characters

Bindery command handling

Bindery operations are executed through checked helper functions instead of silent system() calls. The WebUI logs command start, command success, command failure, and relevant output.

Commands such as nwbocreate, nwbprm, and nwborm are handled through run_bindery_cmd(). Pipe-style nwbpset operations are handled through run_bindery_pipe() using a temporary input file and checked return code.

This improves diagnostics for user, group, and print queue operations. The browser receives a structured error page when a bindery command fails.

Bindery success pages

After successful user, group, or print queue changes, SMArT can show a result page with the number of successful bindery commands. This makes bindery changes visible to the administrator and avoids silent redirects after complex operations.

Optional Unix user mapping updates

Existing MARS_NWE users no longer have their UNIX_USER mapping removed unless the administrator explicitly requests a mapping change. This prevents accidental loss of Unix user assignments when only editing full name, password, or group membership.

Logging

SMArT has two relevant log streams:

• the nwwebui service log
• the Perl frontend log, normally smart.log

Typical paths:

/var/log/mars_nwe/nwwebui.log
/var/log/mars_nwe/smart.log

Perl frontend log level

The Perl frontend log level is configured in smart.conf:

# SMArT Perl logging verbosity.
# Values: error, warning, info, debug, trace
# Default: info
$smart_debug_level = 'info';

Supported values, from quiet to verbose:

• error – only real errors that abort or fail an operation
• warning – errors and warnings about unusual but non-fatal situations
• info – normal operational messages, command start/finish, default
• debug – additional diagnostic information for troubleshooting
• trace – very verbose step-by-step traces, including bindery pipe payloads

Use trace only while debugging a concrete problem. It may include submitted bindery payload data and can produce a lot of log output. After debugging, switch back to info.

nwwebui service log level

The nwwebui service has its own numeric log level:

$nw_log_level  = 'info';

Typical meanings:

• 0 = errors only
• 1 = informational messages
• 2 = debug output

Installed components

Binaries

• nwwebui – dedicated web service frontend
• check_login – PAM authentication and administrator-group helper
• optional host discovery helpers, depending on build options

Native helper tools

• check_login – validates PAM credentials and verifies membership in the configured SMArT administrator group
• smart_userlist – lists local Unix users for the optional bindery-to-Unix user mapping selector

Perl helpers

• smart
• apply.pl
• readconfig.pl
• settings.pl
• static.pl
• control

Configuration and assets

• smart.conf
• static HTML/image assets for the WebUI
• optional mars-nwe-webui.service systemd unit
• PAM file installed as /etc/pam.d/smart
• local Unix user-list helper used by the user editor

Typical runtime paths

The templates use CMake placeholders. In a typical Linux installation, the effective paths are similar to:

• Main MARS_NWE config directory: /etc/mars_nwe
• SMArT config file: /etc/mars_nwe/smart.conf
• Main MARS_NWE server config: /etc/mars_nwe/nwserv.conf
• Helper binaries and scripts, including smart, check_login, smart_userlist and Perl helpers: /usr/libexec/mars_nwe
• Static SMArT assets: /usr/libexec/mars_nwe/static
• Log directory: /var/log/mars_nwe
• Runtime/session directory: /run/mars-nwe-webui
• PID directory: /run/mars_nwe
• TLS certificate: /etc/mars_nwe/server.crt
• TLS private key: /etc/mars_nwe/server.key
• PAM file: /etc/pam.d/smart

Packaging may adjust these paths depending on the target distribution.

smart.conf example

A documented example with standard installation paths:

# Main MARS_NWE configuration
$mars_config = '/etc/mars_nwe/nwserv.conf';
$nonroot_user = 'nobody';
$smart_compact_nwservconf = 0;

# SMArT internal file layout
$smart_conf_path     = '/etc/mars_nwe/smart.conf';
$smart_nwclient_path = '/etc/mars_nwe/.nwclient';
$smart_static_dir    = '/usr/libexec/mars_nwe/static';
$smart_log_path      = '/var/log/mars_nwe/smart.log';
$smart_check_login   = '/usr/libexec/mars_nwe/check_login';
$smart_admin_group   = 'root';

# Perl frontend logging
$smart_debug_level = 'info';

# Service control
$mars_nwe_service     = 'mars-nwe-serv.service';
$smart_systemctl_path = '/usr/bin/systemctl';

# CUPS helper integration
$smart_cups_enable = '1';
$smart_cups_lpstat_path = '/usr/bin/lpstat';
$smart_cups_print_command_template = '/usr/bin/lp -d %p -';

# nwwebui listener settings
$nw_bind_ip    = '0.0.0.0';
$nw_log_level  = 'info';
$nw_daemonize  = 0;
$nw_pid_file   = '/run/mars_nwe/nwwebui.pid';
$nw_log_file   = '/var/log/mars_nwe/nwwebui.log';

$nw_ssl_enable = 0;
$nw_http_port  = 9080;
$nw_https_port = 9443;

$nw_cert_file  = '/etc/mars_nwe/server.crt';
$nw_key_file   = '/etc/mars_nwe/server.key';

Recent SMArT WebUI features

The current WebUI includes several usability and safety improvements:

• HTML login, session cookies and logout handling
• static asset serving before login, so the login page can load the SMArT logo
• service-control pages for start, stop, restart and status actions
• runtime information on the start page, including generated paths and service name
• import helpers for CUPS printers, IPX interfaces, Unix users and local mountpoints
• smart_userlist helper for reliable Unix-user enumeration without parsing page output
• input validation pages for volumes, devices, print queues, users and groups
• stricter bindery object-name validation
• optional Unix user mapping for bindery users
• delete confirmation pages
• bindery command and bindery pipe logging
• success and error pages for bindery operations
• a UNIX_USER guard so existing users are not remapped unless requested
• configurable Perl log verbosity through $smart_debug_level

Build and installation notes

This repository is built as part of the main mars_nwe build. The build system:

• generates smart.conf from the template
• generates the main smart Perl launcher script
• builds nwwebui
• builds check_login
• builds smart_userlist
• installs the PAM file and static UI assets
• installs helper scripts and optional systemd units

Useful build-time settings include:

cmake -DMARS_NWE_SMART_ADMIN_GROUP=root ...
cmake -DMARS_NWE_SMART_ADMIN_GROUP=nwadmin ...
cmake -DMARS_NWE_SYSTEMD_SERVICE=mars-nwe-serv.service ...

The administrator group defaults to root for compatibility. Use a dedicated group such as nwadmin when non-root administrators should be allowed to access the WebUI.

Starting the service

Starting with systemd

A typical installed system uses the mars-nwe-webui.service unit:

systemctl enable --now mars-nwe-webui.service
systemctl start mars-nwe-webui.service
systemctl stop mars-nwe-webui.service
systemctl restart mars-nwe-webui.service
systemctl status mars-nwe-webui.service

The service starts nwwebui with the equivalent of:

/usr/sbin/nwwebui -c /etc/mars_nwe/smart.conf

Starting from the command line

Usage: nwwebui [-h] [-d] [-s] [-c <smart.conf>] [-p <pidfile>] [-l <logfile>]

Options:
  -h, --help            Show this help text and exit
  -d, --daemon          Run in daemon mode
  -s, --stop            Stop the running nwwebui instance
  -c, --config <file>   Use an alternate smart.conf path
  -p, --pidfile <file>  Override PID file path
  -l, --logfile <file>  Override log file path

Examples:

/usr/sbin/nwwebui -c /etc/mars_nwe/smart.conf
/usr/sbin/nwwebui -d -c /etc/mars_nwe/smart.conf
/usr/sbin/nwwebui -s -c /etc/mars_nwe/smart.conf
/usr/sbin/nwwebui -c /etc/mars_nwe/smart.conf -l /var/log/mars_nwe/custom-nwwebui.log

Typical access URLs:

• http://<host>:9080/
• https://<host>:9443/

For production use, HTTPS should be preferred.

Native helper logging

The native helper programs check_login and smart_userlist read their log destination and verbosity from smart.conf when called by the WebUI.

They use the same Perl frontend settings:

$smart_log_path = '/var/log/mars_nwe/smart.log';
$smart_debug_level = 'info';

The generated config.h also provides fallback defaults for these values, so the helpers can still write useful diagnostics when they are executed manually or before smart.conf could be loaded.

check_login logs authentication and authorization results, but never logs the submitted password. smart_userlist keeps its tab-separated user-list output on stdout unchanged and writes diagnostics only to the configured log file.

Unix user discovery helper

The WebUI user editor can assign a MARS_NWE bindery user to a local Unix user. For this selector, SMArT uses the native smart_userlist helper.

smart_userlist enumerates local users through the system user database instead of relying on fragile parsing in the web page itself. This keeps the optional Unix-user mapping UI usable even when the available users come from NSS-backed sources such as local files, LDAP, SSSD or similar site-specific setups.

The helper is installed together with the other SMArT native tools and is normally referenced from smart.conf as:

$smart_userlist_path = '/usr/libexec/mars_nwe/smart_userlist';

If the path is not set explicitly, SMArT falls back to the standard libexec location generated by the build system.

Summary

SMArT is now an integrated part of the mars_nwe release. It includes a dedicated nwwebui service, form-based sessions, PAM authentication with configurable administrator group restriction, service control, validation pages, import helpers, improved bindery command handling, and configurable logging.