Glue 2.0 Enterprise Managed Linux Support


What is Glue?

Glue is a managed enterprise Linux environment developed and used at the University of Maryland.  Glue is not an OS but a centralized way to manage multiple systems, so they all look similar.  In other words, Glue is a configuration management tool.  Like Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Management (MECM) or JAMF for Apple device configuration management, DIT's Glue provides configuration management for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).  Glue isn't a singular commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) product but comprises commercial and open-source software, scripts, account management, and processes.  This set of installation elements provides several advantages:

 

Where can I find more information about Glue?

For additional details about Glue, why it benefits you, provisioning a Glue Root Account, the technology behind the services, etc., Please review the Departmental Linux Support Confluence pages.  The latest information will be maintained there, and this IT Support article links to it.

 

What version of Linux does DIT support?

DIT currently provides support for the following operating systems:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6

Fully deprecated

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7

Support ending on June 30th 2024

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8

Support ending on May 31st 2029

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9

Not yet supported

 

What RHEL Linux support can DIT offer?

DIT provides support for unmanaged, managed, and partially managed Linux systems. 

Unmanaged Servers

If Glue systems do not meet your needs, we can provide licensing and updates for Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems by downloading the ISO and using these instructions. These systems receive package updates and licensing from our Red Hat Satellite system.  No support is provided for these systems beyond Red Hat Enterprise Linux licensing and package update availability.  DIT won't install patches or provide desired state configuration (DSC) in this unmanaged collection.

Managed Servers

DIT supports Linux systems per the roles and responsibilities discussed in this article.  DIT manages the Glue infrastructure, ensuring its availability, regular updates, security, implementation of new features, Red Hat patch deployments, etc.

Glue systems can be provisioned on your physical hardware or virtualization cluster, or you can use DIT's AWS Virtual Server Hosting (VSH) service. AWS VSH instances are customer-owned but are provisioned by DIT on AWS infrastructure.  Aside from the initial provisioning of the systems, roles and responsibilities for VSH systems are the same as any other Glue system.

License renewals

Roles and Responsibilities

Customer/Department Administrator

DIT

What can't DIT support?

 

Personal Websites

DIT recommends hosting files such as a class syllabus in Canvas or using one of the following solutions to host a website - Choosing a Web Hosting Service

Glue offers a pub directory to host a personal website.  However, there are no plans to improve that offering, and it may be retired at some point in the future.  Pages may be accessed by directly accessing glue.umd.edu/~username or terpconnect.umd.edu/~username in the browser.  There is no index of all these pages.  To reiterate, please use other website hosting methods, as they will most likely be retired at some point in the future.