SGIconsole, as shown in Figure 1-1, lets you manage multiple SGI servers, SGI partitioned systems, and large, single-system image servers.

It consists of an SGI 1100 platform, a serial multiplexer or Ethernet hub, and a software suite, including the Console Manager/VACM package and Performance Co-Pilot (PCP). SGIconsole provides access to common remote management tools.

You can configure SGIconsole to use a Network Information Services (NIS) password. See the SGIconsole software package README file for instructions on how to configure NIS on your SGIconsole machine.

Figure 1-1. SGIconsole Web Interface

For location information and procedures for using the SGIconsole user interface to access SGIconsole software, see the SGIconsole 1.1 Start Here.

For information on how to connect the SGIconsole to the SGI servers and graphics systems, see the SGIconsole Hardware Connectivity Guide.

Your SGI machine probably comes with Red Hat 6.2 and the SGIconsole 1.0 software preinstalled. The SGIconsole Software CD document describes how to install the software from the CD if at some time you need to reinstall it.

---

Note: The SGIconsole reinstallation procedure is the same as the installation procedure described in the SGIconsole 1.1 Start Here manual, after you have removed the SGIconsole rpms.

---

For information on the L1 and L2 controller commands, see Appendix B of the SGI Origin 3000 Series Owner's Guide.

For information on how to install the SGI Ethernet serial port server (also know as the EL serial port server and as EtherLite, see the EL Serial Port Server Installation Guide and the EL Serial Port Server Installation Guide Errata.

For information on Performance Co-Pilot (PCP) see the following manuals:

This section contains information about getting Console Manager running on your system and covers the following topics:

Configuring Console Manager

You can use Console Manager to configure your system to add nodes to your site. You can also use it to add users and groups of users. Console Manager automatically updates the nodes, users, and groups files located in the /var/lib/SGIconsole directory.

---

Note: You should not edit the directories under /var/lib/SGIconsole/. These configuration files are generated by Console Manager software. Any changes to these files might be lost during upgrades to future releases of SGIconsole.

---

Systems Supported

For a list of the systems supported, see the SGIconsole Hardware Connectivity Guide. For more information on server (node) types, see “Adding a Node” in Chapter 3.

---

Note: SGIconsole supports remote-displaying to an Indy or O2 workstation running IRIX 6.5.11 (or later) and a Silicon Graphics 230 visual workstation running VWE 3.0. Other displays may work, but are not supported by SGI.

---

You can invoke Console Manager from the SGIconsole web page or from the command line on the server itself. The command that invokes the Console Manager GUI follows:

%/usr/bin/scmgr

For more information about starting Console Manager, see “Starting the Console Manager Graphical User Interface on the SGIconsole Server” in Chapter 2.

The Console Manager Server includes security features that ensure that only authorized administrators can manage or monitor systems. The administrator for the Console Manager server is root. The Console Manager Server password for the root user should be the same as the UNIX password for the root user. Only the root user can create or delete other console users. Non-root users can peform all other Console Manager tasks.

---

Note: The Console Manager GUI does not encrypt its communication with the server. The transfer of passwords is visible to other users of your network. Do not use the Console Manager GUI to administer computers over the Internet.

---

When you invoke the Console Manager, the window appears, as shown in Figure 1-2.

Figure 1-2. Login in to Server Dialog Box

If you cannot connect to a node running Console Manager, an error message appears.

For information about using the Console Manager GUI to add a Console Manager user, see “Adding a Console User” in Chapter 2.

For information about the Console Manager access control mechanism, see “Access Controls in Console Manager” in Chapter 2.

The Console Manager graphical user interface (GUI) enables you to set up, administer, and monitor all the nodes in a site from a single point. A node can be an SGI server running the IRIX operating system.

The Console Manager GUI provides these advantages:

---

Note: You can also access Console Manager using a command line interface called tscm(1). For more information, see “Command Line Interface to Console Manager”.

---

Console Manager Overview

Figure 1-3, shows the Console Manager. The menu bar shows the following pulldown menus:

• File

• Tasks

• Help

Figure 1-3. Console Manager Graphical User Interface

Figure 1-4, shows the File pulldown menu.

Figure 1-4. File Pulldown Menu

The File pulldown menu allows you to perform the following actions:

• New Console Manager

• Clone this Console Manager

• Show SALog

• Close

• Exit

---

Note: The SAlog log shows what command are executed by the GUI and is used for debugging Console Manager software.

---

Figure 1-5, shows the Tasks pulldown menu.

Figure 1-5. Tasks Pulldown Menu

The Tasks pulldown menu allows you to perform the following actions:

• Guided Configuration

• Node Tasks

• Management Group Tasks

• Console User Tasks

• Diagnostics Tasks

• View Log Tasks

• Find Tasks

For more information on the tasks accessed from the Tasks pulldown menu, see “Console Manager Tasks and Functions”.

Figure 1-6, shows the Help pulldown menu.

Figure 1-6. Help Pulldown Menu

The Help pulldown menu allows you to get:

• Console Manager description

• Overview of Console Manager tasks

• Help for each Console Manager task

The Console Manager View provides the following capabilities:

From the Console Manager View, you can click on a node, user, or management group to display key information. When an item is selected, the panel on the right shows the detailed information of the item with a list of applicable tasks. Clicking on a task brings up the task window with the item selected.

Figure 1-7, shows an example of the Console Manager View window.

Figure 1-7. Console Manager View

Figure 1-8, shows an example when a node in the View window is selected.

Figure 1-8. Detailed Console View for a Node

Figure 1-9, shows an example when a user in the View window is selected.

Figure 1-9. Detailed Console View for a User

Figure 1-10, shows an example when a group in the View window is selected.

Figure 1-10. Detailed Console View for a Group

The Find button helps you to find node and user objects quickly. Figure 1-11, shows an example of the Find button selected for Nodes and the O2_mufasa node name is entered in the Find button field to the left.

Figure 1-11. Find Button for Nodes and Users

The SGIconsole system is the SGI 1100 server rack-mountable hardware running several pieces of SGI software to manage and monitor the SGI servers and graphic systems. For detailed information about the SGIconsole hardware configuration, see the SGIconsole Hardware Connectivity Guide.

---

Note: SGIconsole ships with the latest sn1sc_firmware version available at release. If you later want to connect any new hardware to SGI console, you have to upgrade your sn1sc firmware from the SGI Supportfolio website.

---

tscm(1) is a command line interface to Console Manager. It provides an interactive menu-driven environment for performing console, logging, and power control operations on nodes configured in Console Manager.

SGIconsole automatically invokes the tscm(1) command when you successfully log into the SGIconsole server as follows:

 % telnet -e '' sgiconsole_server

% rlogin sgiconsole_server

---

Note: The rlogin(1) service is disabled by the SGIconsole_startup script by changing the /etc/inetd.conf file.

---

[root@sgiconsole_server /root]# tscm

The following menu appears:

SGIconsole 1.1 Main Menu

1. scons [func] [node]          Connect to System Console
2. ccons [func] [node]          Connect to Controller Console
3. reset [node]                 Hardware Reset
4. nmi [node]                   Generate NMI
5. pwr [func] [node]            Power On or Off
6. shell                        Escape to Shell
7. help [command]               Help
8. quit                         Quit

When exiting from the Console Manager user interface, the telnet(1) or rlogin(1) session used to log into the SGIconsole server is closed automatically, logging you out of the system.

Commands can be entered as follows:

The tscm(1) command also supports limited recognition of command-line shortcuts as follows:

If you do not use these shortcuts, the tscm(1) command provides additional menus for the scons and ccons commands as follows:

SGIconsole> scons

SGIconsole 1.1 Console Menu

1. open [node]                  Open a Console Connection
2. view [node]                  Open a Read-Only Console Connection
3. steal [node]                 Steal an Open Console Connection
4. log [node]                   Activate Console Logging
5. nolog [node]                 De-activate Console Logging
6. return                       Return to Main Menu                      

The tscm(1) command also provides an additional menu for the pwr command as follows:

SGIconsole> pwr
          
 SGIconsole 1.1 Power Menu
          
 1. up [node]                    Power Up (On)
 2. down [node]                  Power Down (Off)
 3. return                       Return to Main Menu
          
 Power> 

The command entry specification for the sub-menus are the same as the main menu. The Console Menu is the same for the scons and ccons commands.

The shell command is the only command which does not follow these conventions. It has a special shortcut, sh.

There are additional special shortcuts to the scons open and ccons open commands. The following table shows these special shortcuts.

When specifying nodes, you can either specify nodes along with commands in the command line, or let the tscm(1) command produce a Node Menu as follows:

Please select from the list of available nodes, or the return option:
          
 1. liz
 2. surly
 3. snort
 4. grunt
 5. return                       Return to Main Menu
          
 Node> 

The list of nodes produced in this menu is context sensitive to:

The tscm(1) command enforces the access controls that are configured by the root user using the Console Manager GUI. If you are not permitted to apply a particular command to a node, the node is not displayed in the Node Menu. Only the nodes for which you can execute a particular command are displayed.

If there is a long list of nodes displayed in the Node Menu, the menu is piped through the more(1) to allow you to see the list of nodes without having to use a scrollable terminal. Press the space bar to see more nodes in the menu, or press q to stop listing the nodes and get to a Node> prompt to specify a node.

The tscm(1) command checks its commands and menu selections to ensure that a node specified is one that you can select. If you attempt to select a node that cannot be a target for a given command, one of the following messages appear:

Node> flip
                                Node "flip" is not selectable; the node is not defined.
                                Node>

Node> liz
                                Node "liz" is not selectable;
                                you do not have enough privileges
                                to use the command on this node.
                                Node>

The tscm(1) command relies on the SGIconsole server to report errors and other status messages. These messages are displayed by tscm(1) when an error condition or other status condition worthy of attention has been detected, but the messages are determined by the SGIconsole server itself, not by the tscm(1) command. Usually, these are the same messages that the Console Manager GUI would produce. Errors may appear because of connection failures to nodes or other connection issues that SGIconsole needs to alert you to.