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Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:02:03 -0600
From: Steven Hein <ssh@sgi.com>
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Subject: configuration in a hierarchical system
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Hello--

I want to set up conserver to manage consoles in a
hierarchical fashion within a cluster environment.......
I'm not sure if conserver supports what I am trying
to do or not.

Here's an example:

I have a cluster of 16 identical nodes, all of which
netboot from a management node.   Each individual
node manages two serial ports.     I would like to be
able to create a generic conserver.cf config file for
each node, and then use a top-level conserver.cf
config file to access any/all of the consoles from
the management node.

Here is the conserver.cf file that I *think* I want to run
on the individual nodes:

access * {
    trusted 127.0.0.1;
    trusted 192.168.1.0/24;
}

default tty {
    master localhost;
    type device;
    baud 115200;
    parity none;
    protocol raw;
    rw *;
    logfile /var/log/consoles/&;
}

console ttyS0 {
    device /dev/ttyS3; 
    motd "Node Serial Port ttyS0";
    include tty;
}
 
console ttyS1 {
    device /dev/ttyS4; 
    motd "Node Serial Port ttyS1";
    include tty;
}


Using this setup, I can log into each individual node and
do "console ttys0" to access the ttyS0 serial port on that node.
Since this config file doesn't contain the unique hostname of
each node, I can use it in the generic image that boots on
each node.

Now, what I would like to do is create a conserver config
that will allow me to access the console on any of the nodes
using something related to its hostname.   (For example
node0-0 would access the console "ttyS0" on node0).
Is there a way to configure the management node conserver
instance to allow access like this?    It seems that what I am
looking for is really a way to "map" a console name to a
remote host and console name.   And it seems that in this
mode, I shouldn't have to specify the details of the console
connection on the management node (i.e. that it is a serial
port using a certain device, etc), because the individual node's
instance of conserver is managing that console.

Is this something that conserver can support, and I'm just
missing the correct method/syntax?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Thanks,
Steve Hein
SGI, Inc.