Tru64 System Administration Documentation

Please notify me if anything is unclear or incorrect...

Campus Resources

Basic information for setting up a computer on MITnet
http://web.mit.edu/is/unix-vms/digital_unix_network.html

Also, once a year, MIT sends us a license PAK script that must be run on your computer in order to be able to use it and various software installed on it. Past experience tells us that you should run the script as root and change the permissions (some computers don't require this... but some do) before executing the script by

chmod a+rwx license_script

Shutdown Command

The shutdown command has several options, most important are the ones which allow you to turn off the system, and to reboot the system.

  • shutdown -h now
    shutdown and halt the computer... which then brings you to the SRM >>> prompt where you can then turn off the computer, or type “boot” to reboot the computer
  • shutdown -r now
    shutdown and reboot the computer

Init Command

The init command allows you to change the run-level of the system.

  • init s
    set the mode to single-user mode
  • init 5
    set the mode to multi-user mode with graphical interface and networking

Swap Partition

Make sure you have 2 times the amount of swap space as physical memory. To check the amount of swap space you currently have allocated:

/sbin/swapon -s

To increase swap space, first use “diskconfig” to check for an unused disk partition. If none are available… then… you better find one! Once you have an unused partition, change its type to “swap”. Then, to make the additional swap space permanent, you must edit the “vm” section of the /etc/sysconfigtab file to include the new partition:

vm:
    swapdevice=/dev/disk/dsk1b, /dev/disk/dsk3h
    vm-swap-eager=1

where in this case /dev/disk/dsk3h is the new partition. The new swap partitions are activated automatically when the system is rebooted, or when you use the command

/sbin/swapon –a

Filesystem -- AdvFS

The best filesystem to use with Tru64 is AdvFS. By default this is the file system that is created when you first setup the operating system. The file domains that are setup by the system are:

root_domain#root /
usr_domain#usr /usr

These are listed in the format

filedomain#fileset /mount_point

You can use “dtadvfs” to add unused disk partitions to these domains and filesets in order to increase their available capacity. The standard in our group is to create the following domains and filesets:

home_domain#home /usr/home/fenway
local_domain#local /usr/local/fenway
tmp_domain#tmp /tmp

where “fenway” is the name of your machine. Try not to split an individual domain across different disks to avoid losing all files if a disk crashes. Typically, we use the “home” fileset for user files and the “local” fileset for software (Abaqus and Matlab at the very least).

Security Issues

To prevent insecure programs from starting at boot (and prevent IS from turning off your network drop), modify the /etc/inetd.conf file by commenting out (use a # symbol) all lines that begin with:

shell      login     exec
uucp       finger    tftp
comsat     talk      ntalk
bootps     time      daytime
echo       discard   chargen
kdebug     cfgmgr    rquotad
rusersd    sprayd    walld
rpc.cmsd   rpc.ttdbserverd

Also, disable “sendmail” from starting automatically at boot by renaming the file /sbin/init.d/sendmail to something else, such as /sbin/init.d/sendmail.disabled

Installing and Removing Software

Three of the most widely used methods for installing pre-compiled software on a Tru64 machine are 1) using the “setld” command, 2) using the Redhat Package Manger (RPM), or 3) running a script.

The “setld” command is used for most of the packages on the disks supplied by HP

  • setld –i | grep Fortran
    Find all software that matches “Fortran”, also tells you if it is installed or not
  • setld –d XXXXXX
    Uninstalls the software set ID that matches XXXXXX (this can be found using the setld –i command)
  • setld –l /cdrom/Fortran/kit
    Installs software from the Fortran kit folder

The open source software that you can download from HP is typically installed by running a script after you have installed RPM.

SSH

The latest binaries can usually be found on HP’s Tru64 web site.
http://h30097.www3.hp.com/unix/ssh/

Open Source Software

HP provides a huge list of Open Source software that is precompiled for Alphas at
http://h30097.www3.hp.com/affinity/download.html
Some items that you should definitely get are

  • RPM (Redhat Package Manager… must install this first!)
  • tcsh
  • emacs
  • top
  • acrobat reader
  • ghostscript
  • ghostview, or gv (your choice)

Shell

The preferred shell at MIT is “tcsh” which can be obtained from the HP Open Source Software page. By default, once installed it is located at /usr/local/bin/tcsh

Layered Products

The following software is available on the Layered Products CD’s and must be installed for ABAQUS to run:

  • Compaq Fortran
  • Compaq C++

Video Card & OpenGL

You should install both of these items:

  • OpenGL Base: available on the “Operating System” CD in the Tru64_Unix folder
  • Powerstorm drivers: available on the “Associated Products” CD’s, but only if you have Powerstorm video card (if you have another card, then install the drivers for that instead).

To change the display resolution, edit the “/usr/var/X11/Xserver.conf” file. For example, to switch to 1280x1024 at 85Hz:

! PowerStorm 300/350 Server args start
-pn -bs -su -nice -2 -screen 1280x1024 -vsync 85
! PowerStorm 300/350 Server args end

You then need to restart the X server. When logged in remotely issue the command:

/usr/sbin/init.d/xlogin restart

and be patient, cause it’ll take about 30 seconds to take effect.

Exporting Directories

To export directories as NFS shares (so they can be accessed from other computers in the group), add them to the /etc/exports file. It is common practice in the M&M group to export the “/usr/local/your_computer” and “/usr/home/your_computer” directories. An example /etc/exports file is:

/usr/local/fenway gurtin.mit.edu shear.mit.edu
/usr/home/fenway cricket.mit.edu gurtin.mit.edu shear.mit.edu

Mounting Drives

The commands used to mount and un-mount drives, volumes, and NFS shares are “mount” and “umount”, respectively. If you use the “-a” option with the command, then it mounts/unmounts all of the items listed in the /etc/fstab file. Anything listed in the /etc/fstab file will be mounted at boot, however, the “mount point” (the directory where the mount will be located on the local machine) must exist and be empty prior to issuing the mount command. An example /etc/fstab file is:

root_domain#root / advfs rw 0 1
/proc /proc procfs rw 0 0
usr_domain#usr /usr advfs rw 0 2
usr_domain#var /var advfs rw 0 2
fenway_local#local /usr/local/fenway advfs rw 0 2
fenway_home#home /usr/home/fenway advfs rw 0 2
tmp_domain#tmp /tmp advfs rw 0 2
gurtin.mit.edu:/usr/local/gurtin /usr/local/gurtin nfs rw,soft 0 0
gurtin.mit.edu:/usr/home/gurtin /usr/home/gurtin nfs rw,soft 0 0
cricket.mit.edu:/usr/home/cricket /usr/home/cricket nfs rw,soft 0 0
shear.mit.edu:users /usr/home/shear nfs rw,soft 0 0
shear.mit.edu:public /usr/home/shearpublic nfs rw,soft 0 0

Default User Files

To edit the files that are created for a new user, change the contents of the /usr/skel directory. In the M&M group, the contents should typically be:

.cshrc (default .cshrc file… see below)
.cshrc.mine (blank file… user can modify at will)
/bin (empty directory)

The operating system will probably change the contents of this directory if you perform an upgrade or apply patches. Also, if the .login or .profile files are present, then the user environment may not get setup properly.

A default .cshrc file need only contain the line

source /etc/cshrc.global

The administrator can then change the /etc/cshrc.global file in order to change settings for all users at once. The last line of /etc/cshrc.global file sources the user’s “.cshrc.mine” file, therefore, the user should place customized preference in that file. A typical /etc/cshrc.global file is

set path=(. /usr/local/bin /usr/bin /sbin /usr/sbin \
/usr/dt/bin /usr/bin/X11 )
umask 077
limit coredumpsize 0
limit datasize 1048575 #for abaqus 6.3 compatibility
if ($?prompt) then
set prompt = "<`hostname`:\!:`whoami`> "
set history = 20
set savehist = 20
set cdpath = (~)
set interactive
endif

#notice these next few lines (after the comment) should all
#be on one line in the real file… it creates a command
#called “mybackup” which allows the user to backup
#their home directory to a file on shear that may be
#restored later with the “vrestore” command
alias mybackup 'rm -rf $HOME/.netscape/cache/*; /sbin/vdump -C -u -v -f /usr/home/shear/$USER/Backup/fenwaybackup -D /usr/home/fenway/$USER '

#creates variables to make it easier to type paths…
setenv gurtin /usr/home/gurtin/$USER
setenv cricket /usr/home/cricket/$USER
setenv fenway /usr/home/fenway/$USER
setenv martensite /usr/home/martensite/$USER
setenv shear /usr/home/shear/$USER
setenv shearpublic /usr/home/shearpublic

#source the user’s customized .cshrc.mine file
source ~/.cshrc.mine

Creating User Accounts

The easiest way to create new users is to use the “dxaccounts” utility. Things to keep in mind:

  • Set the ID to the same as the user’s Athena ID (type “id” at the user’s Athena prompt)
  • Set the shell to /usr/local/bin/tcsh (or wherever tcsh is located)
  • Set the user’s home directory to /usr/home/“computer_name”/
  • Make sure you set a password!

Message of the Day (motd)

To change the information that is displayed when you ssh to a machine, edit the /etc/motd file on that machine.


mit Comments to solidmech-www