Debian/Ubuntu

To distribute plugins across multiple Debian/Ubuntu machines, or containers, or virtual machines, it may be handy to create a :code:deb package containing the sources of one or more plugins. The package only have to install plugin sources under :code:/usr/share/ntopng/scripts/plugins/, which is the default directory ntopng uses to load them.

A skeleton for a :code:deb package ready to distribute plugins is available on GitHub <https://github.com/ntop/ntopng/tree/dev/packages/ubuntu/debian.ntopng-plugins>. The skeleton can be used to create a minimal :code:.deb file. It is suitable to produce a :code:.deb for personal use but it may not be stringent enough if the package needs to be included in official Debian / Ubuntu repositories. Comprehensive instructions and rules can be found in the Debian New Maintainer's Guide <http://www.debian.org/doc/maint-guide/> and in the Ubuntu Packaging Guide <http://packaging.ubuntu.com/html/>_.

Example

The following example shows how to create a :code:deb package to distribute the example plugins :ref:Blacklisted Flows and :ref:Flow Flooders.

First of all, download the skeleton contents <https://github.com/ntop/ntopng/tree/dev/packages/ubuntu/debian.ntopng-plugins>_. in a local directory, say :code:ntopng-plugins.

The tree of the skeleton is quite simple:

.. code:: bash

  ntopng-plugins/
  |-- DEBIAN
  |   |-- README.source
  |   `-- control
  `-- usr
      `-- share
	  `-- ntopng
	      `-- scripts
		  `-- plugins

The root directory :code:ntopng-plugins contains two sub-directories, namely :code:DEBIAN and :code:usr/share/ntopng/scripts/plugins/.

Sub-directory :code:DEBIAN contains a README file which just points to this documentation, and a :code:control file which is basically a descriptor <https://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-controlfields.html#binary-package-control-files-debian-control>_ of the package. This file lists package dependencies, maintainer, version, name and other information. Change it to make sure it fits your needs.

The other Sub-directory :code:usr/share/ntopng/scripts/plugins/ is just the path which will be used by the package installer to place the files in the destination system during package installation. Place in this sub-directory the plugins to be installed.

To distribute :ref:Blacklisted Flows and :ref:Flow Flooders, copy their whole plugin directories under :code:ntopng-plugins package sub-directory :code:usr/share/ntopng/scripts/plugins/. After the copy, the final structure of the package directory :code:ntopng-plugins becomes

.. code:: bash

ntopng-plugins/
|-- DEBIAN
|   |-- README.source
|   `-- control
`-- usr
    `-- share
	`-- ntopng
	    `-- scripts
		`-- plugins
		    |-- blacklisted
		    |   |-- alert_definitions
		    |   |   `-- alert_flow_blacklisted.lua
		    |   |-- manifest.lua
		    |   |-- status_definitions
		    |   |   `-- status_blacklisted.lua
		    |   `-- user_scripts
		    |       `-- flow
		    |           `-- blacklisted.lua
		    `-- flow_flood
			|-- alert_definitions
			|   `-- alert_flows_flood.lua
			|-- manifest.lua
			`-- user_scripts
			    |-- host
			    |   |-- flow_flood_attacker.lua
			    |   `-- flow_flood_victim.lua
			    `-- network
				`-- flow_flood_victim.lua

Now everything is ready and setup for the actual creation of the :code:deb. Just jump in the directory which contains :code:ntopng-plugins/ and type the following

.. code:: bash

  $ dpkg-deb --build ntopng-plugins

This will product a :code:.deb file :code:ntopng-plugins.deb ready to be distributed on a repository or manually installed with

.. code:: bash

  $ dpkg -i ntopng-plugins.deb