In a Nutshell (🌰)

• Plugins enable you to extend SSM with custom functionality tailored to your needs
• Create dedicated user interfaces that seamlessly integrate with the main application
• Add custom backend logic with API endpoints and database storage
• Maintain clean separation between core SSM and your custom functionality
• Share and distribute your plugins with the broader SSM community

Latest Documentation

For the absolute latest updates, examples, and potential template changes, please refer to the canonical documentation within the SquirrelServersManager-Plugins repository.

Benefits of Creating SSM Plugins

Squirrel Servers Manager (SSM) is designed to be extensible through a robust plugin system. While the core application provides comprehensive features for managing servers and infrastructure, plugins offer a powerful way to tailor SSM to specific needs, integrate external tools, or introduce entirely new functionality.

1. Extend Without Forking

Perhaps the most significant benefit of using plugins is the ability to extend SSM without modifying its core codebase. This means:

• Your extensions will continue to work with future SSM updates
• You don't need to maintain your own fork of the entire project
• You can focus solely on the specific functionality you need to add
• You avoid the complexity of understanding and modifying the entire codebase

2. Leverage Existing SSM Infrastructure

Creating a plugin for SSM allows you to:

• Access Core APIs: Your plugin runs within the main SSM environment, with the ability to interact with core SSM data and services.
• Utilize Authentication: Plugins benefit from SSM's existing user authentication and authorization mechanisms.
• Use Shared UI Components: Leverage Ant Design components and the established SSM UI patterns.

3. Manage Dedicated Data

• Isolated Database: By declaring a database field in your manifest, SSM automatically provisions a dedicated MongoDB database for your plugin.
• Data Persistence: Store and retrieve configuration, state, or any other data relevant to your plugin's functionality.
• Data Separation: Your plugin's data doesn't interfere with the core application data or other plugins.

4. Integrate Custom User Interfaces

• Seamless Frontend Integration: Build UIs using React and Ant Design that are dynamically loaded within the main SSM application.
• Dedicated Plugin Pages: Configure your plugin to have its own page within the SSM interface at /plugins/<your-plugin-id>.
• Module Federation: Leverage Webpack Module Federation for efficient, isolated UI code loading.

5. Extend Backend Functionality

• Custom API Endpoints: Expose your own REST API endpoints under the /plugins/<your-plugin-id>/ path.
• Background Tasks: Implement custom server-side logic, data processing, or scheduled jobs.
• Third-Party Integrations: Connect SSM to external services or tools.

Use Cases for Plugins

SSM plugins can address a wide range of specific needs:

Enhanced Monitoring

Purpose: Extend SSM's monitoring capabilities to gain deeper insights and integrate with existing monitoring solutions.

Capabilities:

• Collect and visualize custom metrics
• Integrate with third-party monitoring tools
• Create specialized dashboards for different server roles

Infrastructure Automation

Purpose: Develop plugins to automate specific infrastructure management tasks and streamline operations.

Capabilities:

• Custom deployment workflows
• Environment-specific provisioning
• Scheduled maintenance tasks

Custom Visualizations

Purpose: Create plugins with specialized visualizations for various data types and metrics, enhancing data comprehension.

Capabilities:

• Network topology
• Resource utilization
• Performance metrics
• Log analysis

Integration with External Tools

Purpose: Build plugins that connect SSM seamlessly with other essential tools in your development and operations ecosystem.

Capabilities:

• CI/CD platforms
• Ticketing systems
• Incident management tools
• Documentation systems

Custom Authentication

Purpose: Implement plugins to extend SSM\'s authentication mechanisms and integrate with enterprise identity providers.

Capabilities:

• LDAP integration
• Single Sign-On (SSO)
• Multi-factor authentication (MFA)
• Custom authorization rules

Specialized Workflows

Purpose: Design plugins to implement and enforce workflows specific to your organization\'s needs and internal processes.

Capabilities:

• Approval processes
• Custom notification systems
• Compliance checks
• Auditing tools

How Plugins are Packaged

To ensure easy distribution and installation, SSM plugins are packaged as simple TAR archives compressed with Gzip (.tar.gz).

A valid plugin archive contains:

• manifest.json: Core metadata describing the plugin
• package.json: Standard Node.js package information
• dist/: Compiled JavaScript code for server-side logic
• public/: Static assets, including bundled client-side code (if applicable)
• node_modules/: Production runtime dependencies

A checksum file (.sha256) can be provided alongside the archive for integrity verification during installation.

Community Benefits

Creating and sharing plugins with the broader SSM community offers additional benefits:

• Feedback and Improvements: Get input from other users to enhance your plugin
• Collaboration: Work with other developers interested in similar functionality
• Recognition: Contribute valuable tools to the SSM ecosystem
• Knowledge Sharing: Learn from and teach others about specific infrastructure use cases