Bug 5008 - Not clear that tlwebadm changes require a restart of services
Summary: Not clear that tlwebadm changes require a restart of services
Status: REOPENED
Alias: None
Product: ThinLinc
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Web Administration (show other bugs)
Version: trunk
Hardware: PC Unknown
: P2 Normal
Target Milestone: 4.19.0
Assignee: Samuel Mannehed
URL:
Keywords: relnotes, tobfa_tester
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2014-02-28 16:42 CET by Aaron Sowry
Modified: 2025-05-12 13:10 CEST (History)
3 users (show)

See Also:
Acceptance Criteria:
MUST * Web Admin must inform the admin which service, if any, needs a restart after a configuration change. * Services must not automatically be restarted after config changes, since it poses a risk for potentially unwanted configuration to be pushed into production. SHOULD * Web Admin should add a way to conveniently restart relevant services after a configuration change. * It should be easy to dismiss the question if wanted. COULD * Web Admin could clarify the changes that do not warrant a service restart.


Attachments

Description Aaron Sowry cendio 2014-02-28 16:42:27 CET
There are some settings which require a restart of ThinLinc services before they take effect, however it is not apparent in the web administration GUI which ones these are. We should have some notification system in place to alert users of this fact; see also bug #4535.
Comment 2 Tobias cendio 2025-04-23 13:07:10 CEST
This has been slightly exacerbated by the fact that the subcluster and agent weight configurations are located on a different page (Cluster) than the one where the master server must be reset (Services) for the settings to take effect.
Comment 10 Samuel Mannehed cendio 2025-05-06 17:27:20 CEST
After internal discussions, we decided that these messages should be made into fixed notification popups rather than being part of the page like they currently are. This makes them less disruptive to the flow of the page and gives us more freedom in how they can be styled.

They should also have a close button that allows the user to dismiss them, similar to how Web Admin popups can be closed.
Comment 21 Samuel Mannehed cendio 2025-05-07 10:52:05 CEST
The current implementation uses transforms to achieve centering for these toasts. This causes one of our autotests to fail. Our experience says that transform-centering sometimes results in blurry elements in webkit browsers, and that we should avoid this technique.
Comment 34 Samuel Mannehed cendio 2025-05-08 17:20:58 CEST
All done, these elements are now referred to as "toasts". Release notes and documentation in the TAG were added. Tested in Chrome on Fedora 41.

> MUST
> * Web Admin must inform the admin which service, if any, needs a restart after a configuration change.
Yep.
> * Services must not automatically be restarted after config changes, since it poses a risk for potentially unwanted configuration to be pushed into production.
A button is presented to the admin, it's up to them.

> SHOULD
> * Web Admin should add a way to conveniently restart relevant services after a configuration change.
Yep, a button that appears after saving, at the bottom of the page, inside a toast.
> * It should be easy to dismiss the question if wanted.
The toast has a close button. It can also be navigated to using keyboard navigation.

> COULD
> * Web Admin could clarify the changes that do not warrant a service restart.
After saving a setting that doesn't require a restart, the following message is an example of what's shown:

  "Default profile removed, changes are active immediately."
Comment 35 Tobias cendio 2025-05-09 11:05:57 CEST
When saving new Application group items on the page Desktop customizer, the name appearing on the toast is the initial item name when entering the details popup. 

For instance, requesting details for the group "Games", and saving it to a new name "Super games", results in a toast saying "Group 'Games' saved".

Same when adding a new group: the name appearing on the toast will always be "New group".
Comment 36 Tobias cendio 2025-05-09 11:15:52 CEST
On the page Profiles/Profile list, saving/deleting a list item results in a toast displaying the profile idenfitication name, not the so-called "Default name" which is the label used by the items in the list. Can seem a bit confusing.

This is however present already in 4.18.0.
Comment 37 Tobias cendio 2025-05-09 14:13:52 CEST
Faced with a crash when attempting to list session details on the Status/Sessions page.
Comment 38 Tobias cendio 2025-05-09 15:32:14 CEST
The issues mentioned in comment #35 to comment #37 were found using server build #4046.

The crash mentioned in comment #37 could not be reproduced with a slightly older build -- in this case #4039.
Comment 39 Tobias cendio 2025-05-09 15:38:30 CEST
The summarizing text at the top of the Status/Licenses page disappears when entering invalid values for custom diagram creation.

Seen with server build #4046 -- could not reproduce with build #4039.
Comment 45 Samuel Mannehed cendio 2025-05-09 17:26:16 CEST
(In reply to Tobias from comment #35)
> When saving new Application group items on the page Desktop customizer, the
> name appearing on the toast is the initial item name when entering the
> details popup. 
> 
> For instance, requesting details for the group "Games", and saving it to a
> new name "Super games", results in a toast saying "Group 'Games' saved".
> 
> Same when adding a new group: the name appearing on the toast will always be
> "New group".
Fixed in r41900.

(In reply to Tobias from comment #36)
> On the page Profiles/Profile list, saving/deleting a list item results in a
> toast displaying the profile idenfitication name, not the so-called "Default
> name" which is the label used by the items in the list. Can seem a bit
> confusing.
> 
> This is however present already in 4.18.0.
Fixed in r41901.

(In reply to Tobias from comment #37)
> Faced with a crash when attempting to list session details on the
> Status/Sessions page.
Fixed in r41902.

(In reply to Tobias from comment #39)
> The summarizing text at the top of the Status/Licenses page disappears when
> entering invalid values for custom diagram creation.
> 
> Seen with server build #4046 -- could not reproduce with build #4039.
Fixed in r41903.
Comment 46 Linn cendio 2025-05-09 17:53:58 CEST
Tested server build 4046 on Debian 11. For the browsers, I mainly used Safari on iOS 18.4, but also tested briefly on Chrome on Windows 11.

> MUST
> * Web Admin must inform the admin which service, if any, needs a restart after a configuration change.
Yes. On pages Cluster/Subcluster, Cluster/Agents and Services/Master, it informs about the master service. On page Services/Agents, it informs about the agent service. On the other pages, it informs that no restart is needed.

> * Services must not automatically be restarted after config changes, since it poses a risk for potentially unwanted configuration to be pushed into production.
They are not restarted automatically. I looked at the uptime for vsmserver and vsmagent, and could verify that only the requested service was restarted, and that it only was restarted when the button was clicked. 

> SHOULD
> * Web Admin should add a way to conveniently restart relevant services after a configuration change.
Yes, there is a button for restarting the services in the toast. If the service is stopped when clicking restart, the service will be up and running after the click.

> * It should be easy to dismiss the question if wanted.
Yes, the toast can be closed by clicking to or tabbing to the X in the corner. The toast is also placed at the bottom of the page, which on a computer screen should only cover the footer on most pages.

> COULD
> * Web Admin could clarify the changes that do not warrant a service restart.
Yes, the toast states that the changes are active immediately if no restart is needed.

--- 

Also checked that the pages behaves well when vsmserver and vsmagent services are down. All pages looked well, except for Status/Licenses which had the issue mentioned in comment 39.

Release notes look well. Found some minor questions for the documentation, but in broad strokes it looks good. 

What remains
============
The issues mentioned in comment 35 to comment 39 are the only thing remaining to be retested.
Comment 49 Tobias cendio 2025-05-12 12:50:17 CEST
(In reply to Samuel Mannehed from comment #45)
> (In reply to Tobias from comment #35)
> > When saving new Application group items on the page Desktop customizer, the
> > name appearing on the toast is the initial item name when entering the
> > details popup. 
> > 
> > For instance, requesting details for the group "Games", and saving it to a
> > new name "Super games", results in a toast saying "Group 'Games' saved".
> > 
> > Same when adding a new group: the name appearing on the toast will always be
> > "New group".
> Fixed in r41900.

This page now correctly displays the behavior we were looking for, i.e. Save results in a toast using the value from the name input field, while Delete results in a toast using the saved name, regardless of what's currently in the name input field.

It differs however from a few other pages, where Delete results in a toast using the current value from the name input field, regardless if it's been saved previously or not:

* Cluster/Subclusters
* Profiles/Profile list
* Locations/Terminals
* Desktop customizer/Applications (manual)
* Desktop customizer/Menu structure
Comment 50 Tobias cendio 2025-05-12 12:55:11 CEST
(In reply to Samuel Mannehed from comment #45)
> (In reply to Tobias from comment #36)
> > On the page Profiles/Profile list, saving/deleting a list item results in a
> > toast displaying the profile idenfitication name, not the so-called "Default
> > name" which is the label used by the items in the list. Can seem a bit
> > confusing.
> > 
> > This is however present already in 4.18.0.
> Fixed in r41901.

The profile idenfication string appears to still be in use for toasts appearing when saving default profile and when moving profiles in the list.
Comment 51 Tobias cendio 2025-05-12 12:58:54 CEST
(In reply to Samuel Mannehed from comment #45)
> (In reply to Tobias from comment #37)
> > Faced with a crash when attempting to list session details on the
> > Status/Sessions page.
> Fixed in r41902.

The crash is no longer present. I do however lose my session list when trying to view the details of a nonexisting session. The session list is replaced by "No data available."
Comment 52 Tobias cendio 2025-05-12 13:02:20 CEST
Issues mentioned in comment #49 to comment #51 were found using server build #4048.
Comment 53 Tobias cendio 2025-05-12 13:10:26 CEST
(In reply to Tobias from comment #52)
> Issues mentioned in comment #49 to comment #51 were found using server build
> #4048.

Reopening to have these minor issues addressed.

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