NetIQ Documentation: NetIQ Cloud Manager 2.3 Procedures Guide - Setting Up the Web Application Launcher (Launch Pad)

10.9 Setting Up the Web Application Launcher (Launch Pad)

Roles that Can Perform This Task: Cloud Administrator

Cloud Manager makes it easy for you to add links in its Web Console that point to external Web applications or internal corporate pages. Some customers use the widget to make data center management applications (such as firewall configuration, incident reporting, network monitoring, and so on) more readily available.

The default name for this widget is Launch Pad, although you can rename it as you like for display in the interface. Some of the features of the widget include:

Items you add to Launch Pad are displayed without the need to close and reopen Cloud Manager.
There is no limit to the number or size of Launch Pad items you can define: the drop-down auto-scales accordingly.
You can define Launch Pad items for use by the individuals who log on to Cloud Manager: system users, organization users, or both.
Launch pad items can be embedded for launch inside the Cloud Manager user interface or launched in an external browser window. The Launch Pad window size is configurable.
You can use hover tooltips for each Launch Pad item to provide information to end users about that item.

The figure below shows a sample Launch Pad configured with items that, when selected, launch a window that exposes either an application or a Web page:

10.9.1 Configuring the Widget

When you launch the Cloud Manager Application Server Console the first time following installation, Cloud Manager creates the Launch Pad configuration file at <NCM-writable_location>/cloudmanager/plugins/cloudManager/launchPad/launchpad.xml.

NOTE:This path name is case-sensitive.

By configuring this file, you can control whether the Launch Pad is visible in the interface, what it is to be called, the Web links and images that appear in the interface, and the type, size, and position of the window that is displayed for each item you configure for the interface. If you choose not configure the file, the widget is not implemented in the console.

A sample of the configurable section of the file is included below:

<LaunchPad>
   <LaunchPadTitle></LaunchPadTitle>
   <LaunchPadItems>
      <LaunchPadItem>
         <profile></profile>
         <title></title>
         <description></description>
         <link></link>
         <image></image>
         <image_url></image_url>
         <show_external></show_external>
         <size></size>
         <position></position>
         <show_scrollbars></show_scrollbars>
      </LaunchPadItem>
   </LaunchPadItems>
</LaunchPad>

The following table provides a description of each of the configurable properties.

Property	Description or Effect
<LaunchPadTitle>	If you provide no value for this property, the widget displays Launch Pad as the default access link on the console toolbar. This default name is fully localized.
<profile>	You can define Launch Pad items to display for organization users (user), as system (admin) users, or both (admin, user).
<title>	The title of a LaunchPadItem displayed below its icon. There is no character limit.
<description>	As the mouse hovers over an item, this description displays in “tooltip” format.
<link>	Provide an accessible URL as a hyperlink to the application or Web page.
<image>	Provide the URL to the image or icon file that you want to use as a representation of this item. You can use any size image; Cloud Manager scales the image in the widget to a predefined size. We recommend you use an image with width and height approximately the same – a minimum of 45 pixels in each dimension. You can also provide an image the using <image_url> property, discussed below. f you specify both properties, Cloud Manager defaults to <image_url>.
<image_url>	Provide the path to image or icon file that you want to use as a representation of this item. You can use any size image; Cloud Manager scales the image in the widget to a predefined size. Use the <size> property if you want to define the size yourself. We recommend you use an image with width and height approximately the same – a minimum of 45 pixels in each dimension. You can also provide an image the using <image> property, discussed above. f you specify both properties, Cloud Manager defaults to <image_url>.
<show_external>	Use this property to determine the type of window opened when you click the image for the Launch Pad item: Specifying the false value for this property displays a popup-like, “Cloud Manager-embedded” window that can be sized, moved, and maximized as needed. The window “floats” over the console interface, even on top of new Cloud Manager dialogs that open after it. Embedded windows do not prevent access to other Cloud Manager user interface items. In conjunction with <size> and <position>, you could use this type of window as a kind of monitor for business services. Embedded windows are not persistent. When you close the Cloud Manager console, the embedded window is also closed. Specifying the true value for this property displays an “external” window that is actually another browser instance and is less integrated with Cloud Manager. The Cloud Manager Help system uses this type of window. This window can be sized and moved as needed. If you do not specify a value for this property, this external window is the default. If the URL of a Launch Pad item points to a secure Web page, that page may issue a certificate challenge to the browser. While an external window allows the user to accept the certificate, embedded windows do not. Make sure you point embedded Launch Pad items only to pages that do not issue a certificate challenge.
<size>	The parameters of the window size property are <size>width, height</size>: For embedded windows, the dimensions can be specified in both pixels and percents. Examples: 200 or 200px or 20%. For external windows, the dimensions must be specified in pixels. Examples: 200 or 200px. The parameters can be separated by a comma or by a space HTML browsers restrict the minimum size of a window. Every browser has different size restrictions. For example, Internet Explorer limits windows to a minimum of 200 x 200 pixels.
<position>	The parameters of the window position property are relative to a static definition of the window placement: <position>left, top</size>. For embedded windows, the values are relative to the top-left of the Cloud Manager Web UI (below the browser’s toolbars). You can specify the values as pixels or percents. Examples:100 or 100px or 80%. NOTE:For positions specified using percentage, be careful not to position an item off the edge of the screen For external windows, the values are relative to the top-left of the Cloud Manager browser window (above all tool and menu bars)and are absolute pixel coordinates relative to that window. Examples: 100 or 100px. The parameters can be separated by a comma or by a space If you do not provide values for this property, the window is centered in the display.
<show_scrollbars>	You can specify a true or a false value for this property. True is the default. Activating this property more fully integrates Launch Pad items into the Cloud Manager Web UI: an item properly sized and positioned, with scroll bars removed, appears to be part of the Cloud Manager interface. NOTE:Not all scrollbars can be removed. When an embedded window contains content from a different origin (that is, a server domain other than the Cloud Manager server's domain), Cloud Manager is not granted access to hide the scroll bars. If the contents force a larger width than that specified for the embedded window, scroll bars still appear.

If an exception occurs while parsing launchpad.xml, the Launch Pad widget is not activated. You can examine the Cloud Manager Application Server log to determine if there are problems with reading the file. We recommend you load the file into an XML validator, such as the Firefox browser (or many other online validators), to ensure that the file contents are properly formed.