Introduction to WAPT¶
For what purpose is WAPT useful?¶
WAPT installs, updates and removes software and configurations on Windows devices. Software deployment (Firefox, MS Office, etc.) can be carried out from a central server using a graphical console. WAPT is taking many ideas from Debian Linux apt package management tool, hence its name. WAPT Community Edition is distributed under the GPLv3 license. Enterprise Edition is distributed under a proprietary license.
WAPT is intended to help IT administrators manage their deployed base of computer desktops, laptops, tablets running a Microsoft Windows client (from XP to 10), their deployed base of Windows servers (from 2003 to 2019) or their deployed base of Windows Intel tablets.
Private companies of all sizes, Colleges, Schools, Universities, research labs, local and state governments, Hospitals, city hall, state ministries are successfully using WAPT.
WAPT exists in two versions, Community and Enterprise.
WAPT is very efficient to address recurrent Flash and Java update needs and it is often to cover that basic need that WAPT is initially adopted; it then becomes a tool of choice for the sysadmin’s daily tasks.
If you’re a developer, WAPT can help you configure your development environment on your computer as Chocolatey / NuGet can do.
The genesis of WAPT¶
Our assessment after 15 years of IT management¶
Managing large IT installed bases of Microsoft Windows computers is today a difficult task in a secured environment:
common ghosting methods (Clonezilla or Ghost) are efficient on homogeneous IT infrastructures with roaming user profiles;
deployment software (OCSInventory or WPKG) can broadcast software but does not easily allow software level or user level customizations that are useful to prevent or limit user support requests;
software from smaller vendors often need Local Administrator rights to run properly;
currently available solutions to address theses 3 problems are either too expensive or too inefficient, and they are in every case too complex;
WAPT development hypotheses and motivations¶
The development of WAPT is motivated by these two principles:
what is complicated should be made simple;
what is simple should be made trivial;
WAPT relies on a small set of fundamental hypotheses:
sysadmins know script languages and WAPT has chosen Python for the depth and breadth of its libraries;
sysadmins who have little experience with scripting languages must find inspiration in simple and efficient examples that they’ll adapt to fit their needs;
sysadmins must be able to communicate on the efficiency of their actions to their superiors and report process gaps to internal or external auditors;
sysadmins must be able to collaborate with their IT team in full trust; thereby WAPT local repositories provide signed packages they can trust to be deployed on their network. Alternatively, they can choose external repositories providing them the security guarantees they consider sufficient;
sysadmins are aware that user workstations serve business purposes and some customizations must be possible. The adaptation of the infrastructure to the business needs is facilitated by the notion of groups; it allows to select a large number of machines to customize their configuration;
Fundamental principles¶
Package/ Repository principle¶
WAPT packages¶
A WAPT package structure is similar to Debian Linux .deb packages. Each WAPT package includes the binaries to be executed and the other files it needs.
A package is easily transportable.
Here is how a WAPT package looks:
WAPT package structure¶
WAPT repositories¶
Packages are stored in a web repository. They are not stored in a database.
They are served by the Nginx web server, available with Linux and Windows.
The Packages index file is the only thing necessary.
It lists the packages available on allowed repositories
and some basic information on each package.
That mechanism allows to easily set up a replication process between multiple repositories.
Types of WAPT packages¶
There are 7 types of WAPT packages:
Anatomy of a simple WAPT package¶
Base packages¶
They are classic software packages.
They are stored in the web directory https://srvwapt.mydomain.lan/wapt/.
Group packages¶
They are groups/ bundles of packages.
Hint
a group / bundle of softwares often corresponds to a host profile (ex: accounting);
a group of hosts often corresponds to a room, building, etc;
a host can be a member of several groups (ex: one or more hosts profiles in the same room in a building);
They are stored in the web directory https://srvwapt.mydomain.lan/wapt/.
Host packages¶
Host packages are named after the UUID of the computer BIOS.
Each host will look for its host package to know the packages that it must install (i.e. dependencies).
They are stored in the web directory https://srvwapt.mydomain.lan/wapt-host/.
Unit packages¶
New in version 1.6: Enterprise
Unit packages bear the complete name of OU, example: OU=room1,OU=prod,OU=computers,DC=mydomain,DC=lan.
By default, each computer looks for the unit packages that the host belongs to:
OU=room1,OU=prod,OU=computers,DC=mydomain,DC=lan;
OU=computers,DC=mydomain,DC=lan;
DC=mydomain,DC=lan;
and then installs the list of associated dependencies.
Unit packages are stored in the web directory https://srvwapt.mydomain.lan/wapt/.
Unit packages are not explicitly assigned to the host (i.e. as dependencies in the host package) but are implicitly taken into account by the WAPT agent dependency engine during the WAPT upgrade.
Note
If the computer is removed from an Organizational Unit, obsolete unit packages will be removed.
waptwua packages¶
waptwua packages contain the list of authorized or prohibited Windows Updates.
When this package is installed on the endpoint, the next update scan performed by WAPT will choose Windows updates based on this filtering.
If the host has several waptwua packages, then WAPT will merge all package rules.
When this package is installed on the host, the next update will scan for official Windows updates applicable to the host based on this filtering.
They are stored in the web directory https://srvwapt.mydomain.lan/wapt/.
selfservice packages¶
New in version 1.7: Enterprise
selfservice packages contain a list of groups or users (Active Directory or local) and their associated lists of authorized packages that Users are allowed to install by themselves.
They are stored in the web directory https://srvwapt.mydomain.lan/wapt/.
profile packages¶
New in version 1.7: Enterprise
profile packages are similar to group packages.
However, profile packages work a little differently and are most useful when an Active Directory Server is operating within the Organization:
the WAPT agent will list the Active Directory groups where the host belongs;
if a profile package has the same name as the Active Directory group, then the WAPT agent will install automatically the profile package for the Active Directory group of which it is a member;
If the host is no longer a member of its Active Directory group, then the profile package will be uninstalled.
Profile packages are stored in the web directory https://srvwapt.mydomain.lan/wapt/.
Profile packages are not explicitly assigned to the host (i.e. as dependencies in the host package) but are implicitly taken into account by the WAPT agent dependency engine during the WAPT upgrade.
Note
For performance reasons, this feature is enabled only
if the use_ad_groups option is enabled in wapt-get.ini.
Dependency mechanism¶
In WAPT everything works on the principle of dependencies.
By default, the WAPT agent will look for its host package. The host package lists packages to install on the computer.
The host package is correctly installed when all its dependencies are satisfied.
Each sub-dependency must be satisfied to satisfy an upper-level dependency.
When every dependency is satisfied, the host notifies its status to the WAPT Server and its indicator turns OK and green in the WAPT console, meaning the host has the host profile that the Administrator or Package Deployer has defined for it.
Conceptual diagram of the dependency mechanism¶
Hint
When attributing a software package to a host as a dependency, only the software canonical name without its version number is registered as a dependency (ex: I want Freemind to be installed on this machine in its latest version and Freemind to be configured so that the User does not call me because she does not find the icon on her desktop!).
For each dependency, the WAPT agent will take care of automatically installing the latest available package version. So if several versions of Freemind are available on the repository, the WAPT agent will always get the latest version, unless I have pinned the version for reason of compatibility with other sets of tools.
Afterwards, when the agent contacts the repository to check for new updates, it will compare the package versions on the repository with its own local list of packages already installed on the machine.
If an update of an installed package is available, the client will switch the status of the package to NEED UPGRADE. It will then install the software updates during the next upgrade.
Private key / Public key principle¶
Introduction¶
Like Android APK packages, WAPT packages are signed; a hash of the control sum of all the files included in the package is calculated.
This signing method guarantees the origin and integrity of the package.
Private key / Public key principle¶
Private key/ public certificate¶
To work properly, WAPT requires a private key/ public key pair (self-signed, issued by an internal Certificate Authority or commercially issued).
The private key will be used to sign WAPT packages whereas the public key will be distributed with every WAPT client so that WAPT agents may validate the files that were signed with the private key.
The different public keys will be stored in the WAPT subdirectory ssl.
That folder can contain several public keys.
Package verification¶
When a WAPT package is downloaded, the WAPT agent (waptagent) will check the integrity of the package, and then check that the package has been properly signed.
If the WAPT package signature does not match any of the public keys located
in C:\Program Files (x86)\wapt\ssl, the WAPT agent will refuse
to install the package.
For more information, please refer to the documentation on how the installation process integrity of a WAPT package is insured.
The private certificate is important¶
Attention
The private key must NOT be stored on the WAPT Server, nor on any public or shared storage that could be accessed by non-authorized personnel. Indeed, WAPT security is based on keeping the private key private.
The private key must be stored in a safe place, because she who has your key controls your network!
Finally, to ensure maximum security, the private key can be secured in a smartcard or a cryptographic token that WAPT Administrators or Package Deployer will carry physically on them, using the smartcard or the token only when needed to sign a WAPT package.
Note
From WAPT 1.5 onward, the private key is protected with a password by default.
WAPT architecture and operating mode¶
Inventory/ information feedback¶
WAPT keeps a hardware and software inventory of each host.
That inventory is stored in a small database integrated in each WAPT agent.
Inventory feedback mechanism¶
when first registering with the WAPT Server, the WAPT agent sends the entire inventory (BIOS, hardware, software) to the server;
when the WAPT agent updates, the WAPT agent will report its inventory status to the WAPT Server;
The inventory in the WAPT console¶
The central inventory allows you to filter hosts by their components, software or any other searchable argument.
Information feedback¶
The WAPT agents also report back their WAPT package status.
Inventory feedback returned to the WAPT Server¶
In case of errors during package installation, the information will be reported to the WAPT Server. The host will then appear in ERROR in the console.
Packages with error status in the WAPT console¶
The Administrator can see the package returned in error in the console and fix the package accordingly.
For each upgrade, WAPT will try to install a new version of the package until no error status is returned.
Note
From WAPT 1.3.13 onward, WAPT agents sign their inventory before sending it to the WAPT Server.
For more information, please refer to signing inventory updates.
Complete diagram of the WAPT operating mechanism¶
WAPT general operating mode¶
We find here the common WAPT behavior, from duplicating a package from an external repository accessible on the Internet, to deploying it on network hosts.
Read the diagram clockwise:
import packages from an external repository (or create a new package from scratch);
test, validate, build and then sign the package;
upload the package onto the main repository;
packages are automatically downloaded by WAPT clients;
packages are executed based on the selected method:
The Administrator forces the upgrade;
the User chooses the right time for themself;
a scheduled task launches the upgrade;
the upgrade is executed when the machine shuts down;
inventory information feedback;
the updated inventory is reported in the console;
WAPT agent behavior with packages install / remove / session_setup / audit¶
A key concept that can be hard to understand is the behavior of a WAPT agent when installing a package and the considerations around it.
WAPT agent package installation can be split in SSS steps:
package downloaded in agent cache;
package unzip to temp folder;
setup.pycontent is stored in WAPT agent database located inC:\Program Files (x86)\wapt\db\waptdb.sqlite;software installed from unzipped files:
in case of success: downloaded package + unzipped files are deleted and status is sent to server;
in case of failure: downloaded package is kept - unzipped files are deleted - error status sent to server;
That behavior is important as it has an impact on further actions.
WAPT install behavior¶
For instance when removing a package the following steps are taken:
setup.pycontent is retrieved from WAPT agent database located inC:\Program Files (x86)\wapt\db\waptdb.sqlite;software uninstall from registry UninstallString is executed;
if defined, uninstall() function is executed from retrieved package source code;
Similar steps are reproduced when executing session_setup and audit.
WAPT behavior with uninstall / session_setup and audit¶
WAPT Server architecture¶
The WAPT Server architecture relies on several distinct roles:
the repository role for distributing packages;
the inventory and central server role for hardware and software inventory;
the proxy role to relay actions between the WAPT console and the WAPT agents;
Repository role¶
First, the WAPT Server serves as a web repository.
WAPT repository mechanism¶
the repository role is accomplished by a Nginx web server;
the repository allows the distribution of WAPT packages, the installers for waptagent and waptsetup;
WAPT packages are available via a web browser by visiting https://srvwapt.mydomain.lan/wapt;
host packages are stored in a directory that is not accessible by default (https://srvwapt.mydomain.lan/wapt/wapt-host/);
Inventory server role¶
Second, the WAPT Server serves as an inventory server.
The inventory server is a passive service that collects information reported by WAPT agents:
hardware inventory;
software inventory;
WAPT packages status;
tasks status (running, pending, error);
Note
The WAPT service is not active in the sense that it only receives information from clients. As a consequence, if the inventory server fails, the inventory will recover by itself from inventory status reports received from the deployed WAPT agents.
In the Community version of WAPT, access to inventory data is only possible through the WAPT console.
WAPT Enterprise 1.7 will come with a Business Intelligence like web based reporting.
Proxy role¶
Third, the WAPT Server serves as a command relay proxy.
It acts as a relay between the WAPT management console and deployed WAPT agents.
WAPT proxy mechanism¶
Note
Every action triggered on a WAPT agent from the server are signed with the Administrator’s private key. Without a valid private key, it is not possible to trigger remote actions on remote WAPT equipped devices. For more information on remote actions, please refer to signing actions relayed to the WAPT agents.
WAPT common interactions¶
update¶
When an update command is launched on an agent (from the console, via the command-line or via the WAPT tray), it is equivalent to ordering the agent to check the WAPT repository for new packages. By default, the WAPT agent will look for updates every two hours.
If the date of the Packages index file has changed since the last
update, then the WAPT agent downloads the new Packages file
(between 20 and 100k), otherwise, it does nothing.
The WAPT agent then compares the Packages file with
its own local database.
If the WAPT agent detects that a package must be added or updated, it will switch the status of the host and package to NEED-UPGRADE.
It will not launch the installation of the package immediately. The WAPT agent will wait for an “upgrade” order to launch the upgrade.
upgrade¶
When we launch a command upgrade (from the WAPT console, using the command line, with a Windows scheduled task or manually with the WAPT tray), we ask the WAPT agent to install the packages with a NEED-UPGRADE status.
An update must come before an upgrade, otherwise the agent will not know whether updates are available.
Working principle of the WAPT agent¶
By default, the WAPT agent will trigger an update/ a download-upgrade at startup; after starting up, the WAPT agent will check every 2 hours to see whether it has something to do.
Packages to be installed will be downloaded and cached in the folder
C:\Program Files (x86)\wapt\cache.
waptexit will launch an upgrade when the computer shuts down. An Administrator will also be able to launch an upgrade from the WAPT console.
If the WAPT Server is not reachable when upgrading, the WAPT agent will still be able to install cached packages.
Inventory updates will then be sent to the WAPT Server when network connectivity returns.
The 4 goals of the WAPT agent are therefore:
to install a base, a group or a unit package if it is available;
to remove obsolete packages;
to resolve package dependencies and conflicts;
to make sure all installed WAPT packages are up to date compared to the ones stored on the repository;
to regularly update the WAPT server with its hardware status and the status of installed software;
WAPT package creation¶
WAPT language and development environment¶
WAPT is built using the Python language.
Any Rapid Application Development environment intended for Python development is suitable.
Tranquil IT has developed some useful WAPT specific plugins for the PyScripter IDE (https://sourceforge.net/projects/pyscripter).
Tranquil IT recommends using PyScripter, available with the tis-waptdev meta-package.
Principles of WAPT package development¶
The strength of Python¶
All the power of Python can be advantageously put to use.
Many libraries already exist in Python for:
doing conditional loops (if … then … else …);
copying, pasting, moving files and directories;
checking whether files or directories exist;
checking whether registry keys exist;
checking access rights, modifying access rights;
looking up information on external data sources (LDAP, databases, files, etc);
etc …
The power of WAPT¶
Functions most commonly used with WAPT were simplified within libraries called Setuphelpers.
Setuphelpers libraries simplify the process of creating and testing WAPT packages, thus validating WAPT’s main objectives:
what was complicated is made simple;
what was simple is made trivial;
Now, I want to install my WAPT Server!!