Running the UAS management console

The UAS management console provides an interface for administering the UAS through a browser. The user will be able to monitor running applications and also perform several useful tasks, such as downloading a log file, uploading or updating an application, or creating a new connection.

Once the UAS management console is running, start your browser and point it at the UAS management console address and port. For example, localhost:38000.

If you installed the UAS package using the Linux ZIP file:

To run the UAS management console, open a console in the UAS_ManagementConsole directory and type python launch_mc.pyc (Alternatively, you can run it as a daemon by typing python launch_mc.pyc --daemon)

If you installed the UAS package using the Windows EXE file:

Under normal circumstances a UAS management console Windows service will have been automatically installed and started. If you wish to have manual control over this service, see the How do I manually control the Windows services section in the troubleshooting guide.

UAS management console username and password

The management console does not require a username and password, but the user can set these on the Account page if he wants to add a bit of security.

The username and password are local to the management console and are not related to the username and password entered on the management console Clouds page.

The management console username and password is stored in the configuration file. To reset the username and password (if they are forgotten) set them to blank in the configuration file and restart the management console.

UAS management console configuration

At startup, the UAS management console will attempt to read a configuration file called config.cfg in a subdirectory called config. An example of the configuration file is given below:

__ do not remove or edit this line __ 1.0.0
password:                    # management console password
username:                    # management console username
browser:38000                # Browser connection port number
monitor:38001                # Connection to UAS port number
metadata:cloud.aculab.com:80 # address of UAS metadata
cmthresh:5,10,1,2,2,4        # Max, Min, Mean. # Max, Min, Mean - two values each, lower and upper
                             # thresholds in seconds for amber/red icons for connections

If you installed the zip, it is also possible to provide options on the command line. These options will override the options read from the configuration file.

UAS management console command line options and defaults:

  • -h --help

    Default False, if set will print help

  • -p --password

    Default ‘’, UAS Management Console login password.

  • -u --username

    Default ‘’, UAS Management Console login username.

  • -b --browser

    Default 38000, UAS management console port number for browser connection.

  • -m --monitor

    Default 38001, UAS port number for UAS management console connection.

  • -d --metadata

    Default cloud.aculab.com:80, Connection for UAS metadata

  • -c --cmsthresh

    Default 5,10,1,2,2,4 the threshold values for the icons on the Clouds page

password and username: The management console username and password. These can be set on the Account page.

browser: This is the port number on which the management console listens for connections.

monitor: This is the port number on which the UAS listens for connections from the management console. This number must be the same as the one set in the UAS configuration file.

metadata: This is the address that the UAS connects to to gather information that might be passed on to the management console.

cmsthresh: The management console Clouds page provides some simple statistics on the responsiveness of the UAS connections. The responsiveness is measured as the round trip time in seconds taken for a message between the UAS and cloud.aculab.com. Recorded are the maximum, minimum and average time. The statistics are illustrated by colour coded icons next to the values on the Clouds page. The numbers provided in the configuration file are the thresholds at which the icons change colour. There are three categories represented by the statistics, each category has two numbers, hence six numbers in total. The categories, in order, are Maximum, Minimum and Average. By default Maximum will go to amber at 5 seconds and to red at 10 seconds; Minimum at 1 seconds and 2 seconds; Average at 2 seconds and 4 seconds.

If the configuration file is missing and no command line options are given, the command line defaults are used and the default configuration file is written.

Once the UAS management console is running, type ‘quit’ in the console to terminate it.

On Linux the UAS management console can be run as a daemon, add --daemon to the command line options.

When running as a daemon, typing python launch_mc.pyc --dstop on the command line will cause the UAS management console to terminate gracefully. Alternatively, --drestart will restart it.

It is possible to run more than one instance of the management console as a daemon on a single machine. However, each management console must have a unique monitor port number. This is set in the configuration file.

Using the UAS management console

The UAS management console has five pages for managing the UAS. It also has a Help tag.