Communication between Windows Client and Linux Server

Question

Hi there,
I want to provide my colleagues with an interface (using Windows Forms or WPF) to control the states of virtual machines (KVM based) on a linux host. On the command line of this server, I'm using a tool, called libvirt, which provides python bindings to access its functionality.

What whould be the best pratice to remotely access several function like libvirt or reading logfiles on the server. I thought about a REST Full Webservice generated by Python. Are there other viable options to consider?

Thanks,
Henrik

Answer 1

I'd develop an intranet web application, using any python web framework of choice.

That way you don't have to develop/install software on your client. They just point the browser and it works.

Answer 2

Proxmox VE is a complete solution to manage KVM (and OpenVZ) based virtual machines, including a comprehensive web console, so maybe you can get a full solution without developing anything?

Answer 3

Because you are using a server-side tool that has Python bindings, you should give a serious look at PYRO which is a Python RPC library.

http://pyro.sourceforge.net/

To use this you would also have to use Python on the client, but that shouldn't be a problem. If you haven't start writing your client, then you could do it all in IronPython. Or, if you need to add this to an already existing client, then you could still bind in either IronPython or CPython as an embedded scripting engine.

For more on PYRO and Ironpython, see this wiki page http://www.razorvine.net/python/PyroAndIronpython