This section contains links to information about Console Manager requirements, restrictions, and workarounds described throughout this manual as follows:

For information on installing the Console Manager for SGIconsole, see SGIconsole 2.x Start Here.

For information on starting Console Manager, see “Starting the Console Manager”, and “Starting the Console Manager GUI on the SGIconsole Server” in Chapter 2.

For more information on SGIconsole, see “SGIconsole Overview”.

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.

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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.

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The default terminal type for logging into SGI systems using SGIconsole is vt100 for both IRIX and Linux systems. On IRIX systems, vt100 is the default terminal type when logging into /dev/ttyd1 . The remote terminal type is the same as your local terminal type (as given in your TERM environment variable). The TERM value iris-ansi is converted to iris-ansi-net when sent to the host (see rlogin(1C).

If the TERM setting for an xterm connection launched from SGIconsole does not work correctly, make sure that the user account on the SGIconsole server has a .telnetrc file. If it does not, remove the account that caused the problem to occur and re-create the account again. For local users, the .telnetrc file resides in /home/username . For NIS users, the .telnetrc file resides in /usr/people/username.

For NIS users, SGIconsole may fail to automatically create the .telnetrc file. If this is the case, you need to manually create the file with these entries as follows:

# automatically generated by SGIconsole
# do not edit
localhost
         set crlf off
         mode character

Console Manager can be displayed on any workstation running an X Window System Server, including an SGI workstation or visualization server running IRIX system running 6.5 with x_eoe installed or a Linux system with XFree86 4.2 or later installed.

In Red Hat Linux, sshd(8) is installed as part of the server installation and begins running when the system is booted. You can use the ssh(1) command on a workstation to initiate a connection to it. The ssh(1) command (or other Secure Shell facilities compatible with OpenSSH) needs to be started at the workstation to establish one endpoint of the secure connection; the other endpoint is at the sshd(8) daemon running on the SGIconsole server itself.

Once you have logged into the SGIconsole server using ssh(1), you can start (or the system has automatically started for you) tcsm(1), for accessing SGIconsole services through a text-based interface. Optionally, you can start scmgr(1) in order to access the Console Manager, which provides additional administrative functions over the text-based interface. If the main menu for SGIconsole appears upon login, you can start a shell (using the sh command) in order to start the Console Manager manually.

In order to use the text-based interface to SGIconsole securely, you need ssh(1) (or Secure Shell facilities compatible with OpenSSH) installed on your workstation. To use Console Manager securely, you need both an OpenSSH client and an X Window System server installed on your workstation.

If your workstation does not have an X Window System server, but does have a Java 1.4.1 Runtime Environment installed, you can install a copy of the Console Manager client software (cmgr(1)) and log into an SGIconsole server using that (with the help of an OpenSSH client which you use to start a secure session with the SGIconsole server). From there, you can securely log in and administer an SGIconsole server.

To obtain console access securely, you need to use the OpenSSH client directly to log into the SGIconsole server and use the text-based user interface to open console sessions.

If you do not have OpenSSH installed on your workstation, you cannot use SGIconsole securely. But you can still log into an SGIconsole server using the Console Manager and a telnet client, but without the security of an encrypted network connection.

The SGIconsole server itself uses ssh(1) in order to connect to nodes on the network in order to obtain system logs using the View System Log command of Console Manager. If OpenSSH is not prepared between the SGIconsole server itself and nodes from where logs may be obtained, SGIconsole will not be able to log in and obtain the required log data for view because SGIconsole assumes that it has access to nodes without the use of a password (instead, using RSA encryption keys to establish a secure connection and authenticate hosts for "passwordless" access).

In this case, the use of ssh(1) is mandatory, even if Console Manager has established an insecure connection to the SGIconsole server.

SGIconsole provides access to console logs recorded by the Switch State of Console Logging command of Console Manager (or the log function of the scons and ccons commands in the text-based user interface to SGIconsole) using a Web server. However, while SGIconsole does not actively involve itself with secure access to console logs, Red Hat Linux provides the Apache Web Server with mod_ssl installed and running by default, allowing browsers to connect to the server using the HTTPS protocol.

However, the Apache installation includes a self-generated certificate which browsers may complain about, because the authoritive host and domain name listed on the certificate would most probably not match the hostname and domain name of the SGIconsole server running Apache.

You can tell the browser to bypass this issue and log into the SGIconsole Web server anyway, or you can install your own RSA certificates for use with Apache. Please consult the Apache On-Line Manual (http:///manual/) on how to do this (and search for entries relating to mod_ssl on Apache).

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.

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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.

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When you invoke the Console Manager, the Login in to Server dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 1-2.

Figure 1-2. Log in to Server Dialog Box

The Console Manager security window allows you to establish a connection to a server to administer using the Console Manager GUI. To log in, perform the following steps:

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.

This section describes the various ways you can log into SGIconsole and contains the following topics:

% telnet -e '' sgiconsoleserver

% ssh -l username sgiconsoleserver

# tscm
 SGIconsole 2.1 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

 SGIconsole> _ 

https://sgiconsoleserver

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

Figure 1-3. Console Manager Graphical User Interface

Figure 1-4, shows the File pulldown menu.

Figure 1-4. File Pulldown Menu

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

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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:

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:

The Console Manager provides access to the tasks that help you set up and administer nodes at a site. The Tasks menu contains various pulldown menu tasks. For example, the Console User Tasks menu expands to Add console user, Modify console user, and Delete console user.

The Console Manager has the following tasks:

The Console Manager View panel provides the following capabilities:

The Console Manager View pulldown menu allows you to view the Nodes, Users, and Management Groups configured for SGIconsole.

From the Console Manager View panel, 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 panel.

Figure 1-7. Console Manager View

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

Figure 1-8. Detailed Console View for a Node

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

Figure 1-9. Detailed Console View for a User

Figure 1-10, shows an example when a group in the View panel 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