##############################################################################
# RackMonkey - Know Your Racks - http://www.rackmonkey.org                   #
# Version 1.2.5-1                                                            #
# (C)2004-2009 Will Green (wgreen at users.sourceforge.net)                  #
# README for RackMonkey 1.2.5                                                #
##############################################################################

You can read the latest version of this document in HTML format at:
http://www.rackmonkey.org/doc/1.2.5


Contents
========
1. Introduction
2. New in this Release
3. Obtaining RackMonkey
4. Installation
5. Documentation
6. Support
7. Acknowledgements
8. Legal Notices
9. RackMonkey Licence


1. Introduction
===============
RackMonkey is a web-based tool for managing racks of equipment such as web
servers, video encoders, routers and storage devices. Using a simple interface 
you can keep track of what's where, which OS it runs, when it was purchased, 
who it belongs and what it's used for. No more searching for spreadsheets or 
scribbled notes when you need to find a server: RackMonkey can quickly find 
any device and draw a rack diagram of its location. RackMonkey is free and 
open source (licensed under the GPL).


2. New in this Release
======================
1.2.5 has a number of improvements over 1.2.4. These include:

 * Many UI Improvements
 * Excel spreadsheet export
 * Print CSS for much better quality printouts
 * Official MySQL support
 * Numbering racks from the top as well as bottom
 * Support for associating apps with devices
 * Basic formatting of notes fields
 * Operating system licences
 * Device deletion in table and physical rack views
 * Experimental DNS plugin

For a more detailed list of changes in this and prior releases
see doc/changes.txt.


3. Obtaining RackMonkey
=======================
The easiest way to obtain a copy of RackMonkey is to download a tarball of the
current release from http://www.rackmonkey.org.


4. Installation
===============
Platform specific installation instructions are included for some operating
systems. Please refer to the following documents as appropriate:

 * Generic Install:                 doc/install.txt
 * Debian/Ubuntu Install:           doc/install-debian-ubuntu.txt
 * RHEL/CentOS/Fedora Install:      doc/install-redhat.txt
 * Upgrade from prior release:      doc/upgrade.txt


5. Documentation
================
You can find RackMonkey documentation:

 * In the doc directory included in the RackMonkey distribution
 * Within the application itself by selecting the 'Help' tab
 * Online at http://www.rackmonkey.org/doc
 * Perl pod is included in the perl modules. This can be viewed with perldoc.


6. Support
==========
If you have and questions or issues with RackMonkey please check the following
resources:

 * RackMonkey documentation (see above)
 * Troubleshooting document: doc/troubleshooting.txt
 * FAQ: http://www.rackmonkey.org/faq

If you're still stuck, please log a support request at:

    http://www.rackmonkey.org/support

When logging a support request please include as much detail as possible:
operating system, database software and revision, and any error messages.

You should also join the announce list to hear about issues and new releases:

    http://www.rackmonkey.org/announce-list


7. Acknowledgements
===================
I would like to thank the following for their contribution of code to the
RackMonkey project:

 * Pierre Larsson - Excel spreadsheet export functionality
    

Many people have helped me with the development of RackMonkey, but I would
especially like to thank the following:

 * Ben Argyle
 * Piers Kent
 * Tim Sweetman
 * Nicola Worthington
    

Apps, code or ideas from the following projects helped or inspired RackMonkey
development:

 * FamFamFam (Mark James): http://www.famfamfam.com
    Icons used in RackMonkey interface.
 * Homo Habilis Associates: http://habilis.net/validator-sac
    Standalone W3C validator used to check RackMonkey templates.
 * silverorange: http://labs.silverorange.com
    Inspiration for tabbed CSS design.
 * SQLite project: http://www.sqlite.org
    Original RackMonkey database engine.

    
8. Legal Notices
================
RackMonkey (C)2004-2009 Will Green. 
RackMonkey and "Know Your Racks" are trademarks of Will Green.

The inclusion of a particular company or product in RackMonkey data does
not imply an endorsement by the author.

RackMonkey includes icons licensed from Mark James under the Creative Commons
Attribution 2.5 License. See http://www.famfamfam.com/lab/icons/silk/.


9. RackMonkey Licence
=====================
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free
Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option)
any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for
more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301, USA.