Install Scripts, proxies and the RoR installer

Hi,

Our server is in a university environment, behind a firewall, and we’re required to use an authenticated proxy to get to the outside world.

I know that I can set up Webmin to use a proxy server with authentication. For the moment, I have done this with my own personal proxy account. I’m still configuring the server (it’s not in production use yet), so it’s not a problem for the moment.

Most of the scripts that I’ve tried to install worked without a hitch, using my proxy configuration. Ruby on Rails, however, did not install. It seems gem is not made aware of the proxy settings:

In domain dummy.monashclubs.org

Now installing Ruby on Rails version 1.2.5 …
Rails GEM install failed :
ERROR: While executing gem … (Gem::RemoteSourceException)
HTTP Response 407

… failed! See the error message above for the reason why.

So, my first question is: how can I get the RoR install script to use the proxy settings?

My second issue is that with the current setup, every time one of my server users installs a script, the download is charged to my account. I know most of the downloads are small, they get cached, and my work, which owns the server, pays for my usage. However, we provide the server to student clubs free of charge, and we need to keep costs at an absolute minimum. All of the students at the university have their own proxy accounts, and it would be great if they could enter their own details to install scripts.

Is there any chance that a future version of webmin/virtualmin might have a feature where on the "Install Scripts" page users can enter their proxy username/password for each script they install, rather than using globally defined values?

Is there anything I can do in the meantime to get the same effect? I’m tempted, for the moment, to just not enter proxy settings, and if a user wants to install something, they can contact me and I’ll enter the settings temporarily. That’s very clumsy though.

Finally, I’m new here, and I’m not sure if I’ve posted in the correct forum. Should this be in the Blue Skies forum instead, or is that intended more for major feature requests?

Thanks,
Johannes.

Johannes Schmidt
Development Officer
Clubs & Societies Council

Monash Student Association
Building 10
Monash University
Victoria 3800
Australia

Phone: +61 3 9905 4160
Fax: +61 3 9905 4162

Visit http://www.monashclubs.org/ and http://www.msa.monash.edu.au/<br><br>Post edited by: monashclubs, at: 2007/11/10 18:45