After messing with it for probably too long, I decided to try a different approach. The gdata-python-client library is where I should’ve started all along. The out of the box sample apps for webmaster tools work flawlessly, and use the client auth type to hook you in to the api.

I did need to modify the code in version 1.2.3 of the library a tiny bit to make the VerifySite() function work, luckily it’s an easy fix.  Below is a snippet from src/gdata/webmastertools/__init__.py line 126. My changes are in red.

class VerificationMethod(atom.AtomBase):
_tag = ‘verification-method’
_namespace = GWEBMASTERTOOLS_NAMESPACE
_children = atom.Text._children.copy()
_attributes = atom.Text._attributes.copy()
_children['{%s}meta' % atom.ATOM_NAMESPACE] = (
‘meta’, VerificationMethodMeta)
_attributes['in-use'] = ‘in_use’
_attributes['type'] = ‘type’
def __init__(self, text=None, in_use=None, type=None, meta=None,
extension_elements=None, extension_attributes=None):
self.text = text
self.in_use = in_use
self.type = type
self.meta = meta
self.extension_elements = extension_elements or []
self.extension_attributes = extension_attributes or {}

And a snippet from src/gdata/webmastertools/service.py line 153. Again, the change is in red.

site_entry = webmastertools.SitesEntry(
atom_id=atom.Id(text=site_uri),
category=atom.Category(
scheme=’http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#kind’,
term=’http://schemas.google.com/webmasters/tools/2007#sites-info’),
verification_method=webmastertools.VerificationMethod(
type=verification_method, in_use=’true’)
)

Don’t forget to recompile the libs with a python ./setup.py install after making these changes, and you’ll be able to script all the site verifications you want. Next step is throwing together a set of scripts to allow for complete site management in webmaster tools, looks like Python’s gonna make it a snap!

Webmaster Tools Site Verification via Gdata-Python

Team Lunch at Tortilla Flats

The path is set now for our migration to wpMU, and I’m spending most of the admin portion of my day fleshing out cacti and nagios. Why oh why didn’t I make the leap to cacti from mrtg sooner? I think I’m falling in love with this product. Nagios lacks a certain flare, but it’s functional and dependable, and I’ve barely scratched the surface of what it’s capable of.

More to come!

steps 2,3,4,5…

Well the first thing I know I want to do is secure the machines to a reasonable level. This means removing any unnecessary packages, making sure only required services are running on each of the servers. I’ve chosen to run Centos 5 on these machines, as I have the most experience in RedHat variants.

To that end, here’s a link to the Secure Centos project. It’s still a work in progress, and you’ll want to double check their suggestions and not follow blindly, but it’s a great place to start for ideas and methods for securing a new server in an unmanaged environment.

Well, off I go to survey my new domain, more to come!

step the first…

The b5media infrastructure upgrade will see us leaving a managed DC, and entering the world of DIY big time. Time to explore functional open source solutions. Nagios and OpenNMS are my front runners right now. I’ll be test driving Nagios over the next couple of days, see if it can fulfill all our requirements for hardware and service monitoring. OpenNMS looks to be more geared to >1 support staff, and may be the way to go a little bit further down the road.

network management solutions

The change in environment has been both terrifying and exhilarating… the internet is a wild place compared to cell phone stores and pharmacies. Given my experiences at b5media to date, I’m very excited to be setting out on this next phase of growth. A chance to fix the mistakes and growing pains of the past, and define an infrastructure which will scale successfully as b5media continues to soar.

brave new world

I don’t do improv

Cheers,

Lee

sooo tired