Overview
5 mins
V6 ProV6 MSPV6 Core
Introduction
rConfig v6 is built on similar concepts to previous rConfig versions. Devices, categories, templates and so on, are similar in v6 - with many improvements. Many procedures and concepts should be familiar to long time users. We have spent a significant amount of time in overhauling the software architecture and user experience for v6 and wanted to outline some of the enhancements below.
ℹ️ Documentation and V6 Version
We keep our documentation up to date with the latest version of rConfig. If you are using an older version of rConfig, you should upgrade to the latest version to ensure you have the latest features and security updates.
Software Architecture
rConfig v6 is built on top of the now famous, highly secure and very well managed open source Laravel PHP framework. This architecture decision brings about a number of key benefits;
- Robust, standardized and intuitive software architecture
- Quality controlled and tested code
- API Driven architecture
- Highly Secure Authentication and Authorization Systems
- Speed - using redis caching and queuing mechanisms
Finally, the new architecture will allow for greater scale and speed in new feature development. And we have implemented roadmap transparency and voting capability for professional subscribers at the rconfig.com portal to help us drive and delivery those new features and capabilities.
rConfig V6 Core
We released rConfig V6 Core in April 2023. It has replaced rConfig v3, which is now fully deprecated. rConfig v6 Core is a free, open source, community edition of rConfig v6. It is a fully functional version of rConfig v6, with all the core features of rConfig v6 Professional, but with some limitations. Check out our features list www.rconfig.com/features to learn more. Click on the Github icon at the top of the page to go to the rConfig v6 Core repository.
rConfig Professional
rConfig is over 12 years old. In that time, it has been deployed 10s of thousands of times with over 20M network devices under management. Our customers have let us know that a professional level product with a professional level of support and updates was required. We have delivered it. See the rConfig.com home page for pricing information. www.rconfig.com/pricing
New User Experience
We are very proud of the new rConfig User Experience vor V6. It has two great main features.
- It is based on the Redhat Patternfly UI framework. A professional, enterprise styled UI that is intuitive, and fast.
- It is built on the VueJS framework and is a Single Page Application. This means it is blazing fast and works off a scalable & extensible API layer.
Example Dashboard Screenshot
New Features
Lets get into some of the great new features developed for rConfig v6. Details of each are provided throughout the docs.
Queueing
A queueing system was integrated with V6 to support things like running Scheduled Task concurrently, sending notifications without slowing down standard code operations, and to generally speed up core system actions while giving a great user experience and troubleshooting capabilities.
Commands
A unique and intuitive command capability comes with the Laravel Framework. We have extended this capability for rConfig v6, and you will find the rConfig CLI command set easy to use and extensible if you use tools and capabilities from Infrastructure as Code (IAC) frameworks etc...
Reporting
Reporting in rConfig v6 has been massively overhauled. It is underpinned by an API, and sends beautiful, easy to consume reports to administrators.
Notifications
Various system actions send notifications via email and via the UI in real time. i.e. as a backup completes an email notification is sent as well as a real time notification when the user is logged into rConfig. This allows for realtime feedback of various systems events as they occur.
OS Support
We have support for Rocky/ CentOS/ REHL 8 & 9+ and we supportUbuntu/ Debian linux flavors in of course. rConfig does not run on Windows. We have a docker image available for those who want to run rConfig on Windows.
Security
We have implemented a highly secure authentication and authorization system based on industry standard API token management, encrypted credentials storage and robust embedded application level security. LDAP support is available in v5.1+ and is fully integrated with the system.
API Layer
rConfig v6 now has a fully compliant RESTFUL API layer. This means that you can use the API to create, update, delete, and query your data. This is a great way to build your own custom applications and integrate with rConfig seamlessly.
Scheduled Backups
You can now schedule system-wide backups to run via the scheduled task manager.
Enhanced Compliance
We have built greater configuration compliance algorithms and capabilities as well as robust reporting, with scheduling and new unique compliance policy engine. See more on supported devices - https://github.com/rconfig/rconfig-templates
Greater Device Support
With all of the above software architect and capabilities we can now support many more devices per instance of rConfig. Our template repository above is a great place to start to see what devices are supported. But we support all devices that can be backed up via SSH or Telnet.
Read on to learn more on how to get the most from rConfig v6 🦊