Remote Control Guide and Reference


Remote Console

The remote console command, rconsole, opens a remote console for each node specified with the command. The method used for opening a remote console is dependent upon the hardware and software supporting the remote console. This section describes remote console hardware configuration, software support, and the relationship between them.

Notes:

  1. For Equinox Serial Provider (ESP) terminal servers, you must install Equinox espx RPM version 3.02 or later on the Management Server, because this is the minimum level required by Red Hat version 7.1

  2. Ethernet adapters on some Equinox terminal servers are only 10 Mb/s, so you must ensure the ports on the Ethernet switches are set accordingly.

Hardware Console Configuration

The console or terminal server is connected to the management VLAN by an Ethernet connection. Each console port is connected to the serial port of a node. The default console configuration is Equinox (ESP); any other terminal server hardware requires different configuration by the system administrator.

ESP and Serial Ports

The serial ports' connection from the ESP to the nodes must be in the same order that the nodes are defined for the Equinox console server in CSM. The CSM database has a number associated with each ESP, and with each port within the ESP. Attention to detail is required when configuring both the hardware connectivity and the definitions of this relationship in the CSM database. More detailed information on this relationship is covered in Remote Console Configuration.


Remote Console Configuration

The definenode command updates the CSM database with the information describing the console server and each node's associated port number. There is a direct relationship between the hardware configuration and the CSM database information created with this command. Planning is required prior to running definenode to ensure that nodes are defined correctly. (A sample worksheet is shown in Node Attributes Table.) This section will expand on the CSM database contents and its relationship to the hardware and the rconsole command.

The remote console function supports two software environments: Equinox and Conserver. You specify which environment you want to use for the console for each node with the ConsoleMethod attribute. Supported values for this attribute are esp and conserver. For more information about the Conserver software environment, see the Conserver open source software Web site (http://www.conserver.com).

Writing a Custom Console Method

You can write a custom console method to suit your hardware environment. Each environment has its own routine (in /opt/csm/bin/ConsoleMethod_console) that returns the command that rconsole uses in the xterm window where the command is run. For example:

The following parameters are passed to any console method. If you write a new console method to manage another console type, you must include these parameters in the order shown in the interface definition:

  1. console_server_hostname
  2. target_system_hostname
  3. console_port_number
  4. console_server_number

Node Configuration

The /etc/lilo.conf and /etc/inittab files on each node must contain the following settings, which direct the console to the serial port. When installnode is run, these files are automatically modified on each node.

Note:
To enable remote console for a CSM-only installation, you must reboot all new nodes after running installnode.

Remote console requires the following CSM attributes for each node:

ConsoleServerName
The console server host name. For example: mgtn02.pok.ibm.com.

ConsoleServerNumber
The console server number. For example: some number, 1 - N. For ESP this is the ESP number associated with the Equinox Serial Provider system.

ConsoleMethod
Determines the program to invoke for a specific type of console server. The attribute value is one of two options: esp | conserver.

ConsolePortNum
The console port number. For ESP, this must be a 0 - f single hexadecimal digit.

Verifying Remote Console Configuration

The lsnode -Al command lists the node attributes in the CSM database. When the host parameter is specified, either by host name or IP address, the command displays all of the host's attributes.

Verifying Equinox ESP Console

To verify the remote console configuration, use the esptty and lsnode commands. The esptty command opens the Equinox Serial Provider (ESP) Port Diagnostic Utility. This utility allows system administrators and users to verify or modify port characteristics or dump status information about ESP Serial Hub serial ports (ttys).

You can also verify or change a Console Server configuration using the espcfg command. This command opens the ESP Configuration Wizard, which allows you to manage Equinox Service Processors. For further information on these verification commands, see the command man pages.


Equinox Configuration and Diagnostics

Note:
The espcfg espdiag, and esptty commands are installed when you install the ESP RPM. For more information about ESP software configuration, see /usr/doc/espx-3.00/INSTALL.

Equinox Diagnostics

To test the Equinox hardware configuration:

  1. Ping the console server from the management server to test the connection.
  2. Run the espcfg command to:
  3. Run the espdiag command to:
  4. Verify that the ESP is on the management network associated with the management server by comparing the IP address and SubNetMask attribute in the ESP panel to the ifconfig command output.

Equinox Configuration Examples

  1. To query Equinox Serial Provider (ESP) ports on a remote cluster, type:
    esptty -c
    
    Output is similar to:
    ESP Device   UdpState           TcpState         Ports
    /dev/esp1    HEARTBEAT          TCP_ACTIVE         16
    /dev/esp2    HEARTBEAT          TCP_ACTIVE         16
    /dev/esp3    HEARTBEAT          TCP_ACTIVE         16
    /dev/esp4    HEARTBEAT          TCP_ACTIVE         16
    /dev/esp5    HEARTBEAT          TCP_ACTIVE         16
    /dev/esp6    HEARTBEAT          TCP_ACTIVE         16
     
     
    
  2. To list the ttys for each port, type:
    ls /dev/ttyQ*
     
     
    
    The format of the tty is: ttyQesp_numbereport_number where: Output is similar to:
    /dev/ttyQ01e0  /dev/ttyQ02e4  /dev/ttyQ03e8  /dev/ttyQ04ec  /dev/ttyQ06e0
    /dev/ttyQ01e1  /dev/ttyQ02e5  /dev/ttyQ03e9  /dev/ttyQ04ed  /dev/ttyQ06e1
    /dev/ttyQ01e2  /dev/ttyQ02e6  /dev/ttyQ03ea  /dev/ttyQ04ee  /dev/ttyQ06e2
    /dev/ttyQ01e3  /dev/ttyQ02e7  /dev/ttyQ03eb  /dev/ttyQ04ef  /dev/ttyQ06e3
    /dev/ttyQ01e4  /dev/ttyQ02e8  /dev/ttyQ03ec  /dev/ttyQ05e0  /dev/ttyQ06e4
    /dev/ttyQ01e5  /dev/ttyQ02e9  /dev/ttyQ03ed  /dev/ttyQ05e1  /dev/ttyQ06e5
    /dev/ttyQ01e6  /dev/ttyQ02ea  /dev/ttyQ03ee  /dev/ttyQ05e2  /dev/ttyQ06e6
    /dev/ttyQ01e7  /dev/ttyQ02eb  /dev/ttyQ03ef  /dev/ttyQ05e3  /dev/ttyQ06e7
    /dev/ttyQ01e8  /dev/ttyQ02ec  /dev/ttyQ04e0  /dev/ttyQ05e4  /dev/ttyQ06e8
    /dev/ttyQ01e9  /dev/ttyQ02ed  /dev/ttyQ04e1  /dev/ttyQ05e5  /dev/ttyQ06e9
    /dev/ttyQ01ea  /dev/ttyQ02ee  /dev/ttyQ04e2  /dev/ttyQ05e6  /dev/ttyQ06ea
    /dev/ttyQ01eb  /dev/ttyQ02ef  /dev/ttyQ04e3  /dev/ttyQ05e7  /dev/ttyQ06eb
    /dev/ttyQ01ec  /dev/ttyQ03e0  /dev/ttyQ04e4  /dev/ttyQ05e8  /dev/ttyQ06ec
    /dev/ttyQ01ed  /dev/ttyQ03e1  /dev/ttyQ04e5  /dev/ttyQ05e9  /dev/ttyQ06ed
    /dev/ttyQ01ee  /dev/ttyQ03e2  /dev/ttyQ04e6  /dev/ttyQ05ea  /dev/ttyQ06ee
    /dev/ttyQ01ef  /dev/ttyQ03e3  /dev/ttyQ04e7  /dev/ttyQ05eb  /dev/ttyQ06ef
    /dev/ttyQ02e0  /dev/ttyQ03e4  /dev/ttyQ04e8  /dev/ttyQ05ec
    /dev/ttyQ02e1  /dev/ttyQ03e5  /dev/ttyQ04e9  /dev/ttyQ05ed
    /dev/ttyQ02e2  /dev/ttyQ03e6  /dev/ttyQ04ea  /dev/ttyQ05ee
    /dev/ttyQ02e3  /dev/ttyQ03e7  /dev/ttyQ04eb  /dev/ttyQ05ef
     
     
    
  3. To query remote nodes, enter:
    lsnode -Al clsn03
     
    
    Output is similar to:
    Hostname = clsn03.pok.ibm.com
    OSVersion =
    UniversalId = 0
    InstallDisk =
    ConsoleServerName = mgtn02.pok.ibm.com
    ConfigChanged = 0
    Status = 1
    HWControlPoint = mgtn03.pok.ibm.com
    OSType =
    SvcProcName = node03
    InstallMethod =
    PowerMethod = netfinity
    Macaddr =
    PowerStatus = 127
    ConsolePortNum = 2
    HWType = netfinity
    HWModel =
    OSDistribution =
    ConsoleMethod = esp
    LParID =
    OSKernel =
    InstallDiskType =
    ConsoleServerNumber = 1
    HWSerialNum =
     
     
    

Serial References

For more information on using serial devices, see the following Linux HOWTO documents, located at /usr/doc/HOWTO or on the Linux Documentation Project Web site (http://metalab.unc.edu/mdw/index.html):


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