![[Previous Section]](b_prev.gif){kind=small}
![[Back to Table of Contents]](b_toc.gif){kind=small}
![[Next Section]](b_next.gif){kind=small}
IRIX Advanced Site and Server Administration Guide |
This chapter describes the administration of the cadmin object system. This object system provides utilities for system administration in the Indigo Magic user environment, which is available only on graphics workstations. If you do not have a graphics workstation, or if you do not have this environment enabled on your workstation, you cannot use this system.
The cadmin object system should be considered distinct from the cadmin tools it supports. Your primary resource for using the cadmin system administration tools is the Personal System Administration Guide. This chapter describes only the administration that can be performed on the cadmin software itself, not the use of the cadmin software to administer your system. Information about the cadmin system is also available in the release notes that came with your system (or your most recent system software upgrade) and through the desktop help utilities on your system.
Topics covered in this chapter include:
A system overview of cadmin. See "The
cadmin Object System".
Information on manipulating the cadmin system. See "Starting
the cadmin Daemons", and "Stopping
the cadmin Daemons".
Troubleshooting the objectserver daemon. See "Troubleshooting
the Objectserver".
Troubleshooting the directoryserver daemon. See "Troubleshooting the Directoryserver".
The cadmin system has been designed to provide useful system administration tools to the majority of system administrators using IRIX. The cadmin object system is a collection of daemon programs, which run in the background and provide software services to the tool utilities that the user sees. The cadmin object system includes the following major parts:
The objectserver daemon handles requests for system resources such as disk drives, tape drives, and user accounts. The objectserver also modifies system files in response to adminstrator requests, such as for adding new users. See the objectserver(1M) reference page for complete information.
The directoryserver daemon maintains a database of all the managed objects (such as disks, tape drives, and CD drives) for all systems running an objectserver on the network. See the directoryserver(1M) reference page for complete information.
The graphical interface to the file system is an alternative to the IRIX shell for running applications and organizing information. It is similar to the WorkSpace(1G) application of past IRIX releases. For complete information, see the fm(1G) reference page.
The desks overview provides controls for manipulating IndigoMagic environment ``desks.'' The overview is completely described in the ov(1X) reference page and can create, change, copy, rename, and delete desks. Windows can also be dragged from one desk to another or placed on the global desk.
The Background Daemon (described in the bgdaemon(1X) reference page) manages the screen background. It switches backgrounds automatically when the user switches desks, and it communicates to the file manager when icons are on the background, so the file manager can maintain the background.
The Media Daemon (described in the mediad(1M) reference page) monitors the removable media devices on a system. When a CD or floppy disk is inserted, mediad mounts it as a file system, if possible. Some CDs (such as audio disks), and some floppies (for example, tar(1) floppies) are not mountable. When a user issues the eject command, eject sends mediad a message which causes it to attempt to unmount the media and eject it.
The audio cue server daemon (described in the soundscheme(1) reference page) provides high-level audio playback services for user applications. Based on the audio and audiofile libraries, soundscheme mixes and plays sounds on demand as requested by multiple client programs using a single audio port.
The following list describes how each daemon in the cadmin object system is started. By default, all these daemons are started at boot time. If you have the cadmin system installed on your machine, you should not need to start these daemons manually. This information is provided in the event that someone has turned these daemons off or the software is not working properly.
/etc/init.d/cadmin [ start | stop ]
/etc/init.d/cadmin [ start | stop ]
/etc/init.d/mediad [ start | stop ]
From time to time, you may need to disable some parts of the cadmin object system. For example, to test new audio software, you may need to turn off the soundscheme daemon temporarily. The following sections describe how to disable the elements of the cadmin system safely, so that they can be easily restarted when necessary.
To stop the objectserver, log in as root and issue the command:
/etc/init.d/cadmin stop
This stops the objectserver until you use the same script to restart the daemon with the start command.
If the objectserver daemons are not running, much of the administrative functionality is lost:
These tools will work again if you restart the objectserver with the chkconfig command and a reboot or the command:
/etc/init.d/cadmin start
The most convenient way to stop the directoryserver is to log in as root and issue the command:
/etc/init.d/cadmin stop
This directs the system not to run the directoryserver daemon. If you do not run this daemon, some of the system administration tools will fail because they will not be able to collect information from remote systems.
These tools will work again if you restart the directoryserver with the chkconfig command and a reboot or the command:
/etc/init.d/cadmin start
If you wish to stop the File Manager (fm) daemon from running, give the command:
touch $HOME/.desktop
When you next log in, the File Manager will not start up automatically. Note though, that the File Manager can be started up at any time by choosing the Desktop item and then the Home Directory item from the System Toolchest menu.
As the administrator, you can remove the Home Directory item from the System Toolchest by removing the relevant entry from the default /usr/lib/X11/system.chestrc file. However, any user can make a custom .chestrc file in their home directory and reinclude the option.
When the File Manager is not running, no icons appear on the main background window. You cannot drag icons from another location, such as the Icon Catalog, onto the main background. You do not have iconic access to system or network peripherals. For many users, the biggest repercussion of not running the File Manager is that there is no graphical access to the directory structure, especially the user's home directory.
To stop the Desks Overview daemon, log in as root and issue the command:
killall ov
This kills the current instance of the Desks Overview. If the desktop updating mode (which is set in the Desktop Toolchest, Customize submenu, Windows item) is set to explicit, be sure to click on the Set Home Session button. This prevents the Desktop Overview from starting up when the user next logs in. Note that the Desks Overview can always be started by choosing Desks Overview from the Desktop Toolchest. The choice can be removed from the default /usr/lib/X11/system.chestrc file if you choose, but any user can make a custom .chestrc file in their home directory and reinclude the option.
If the Desks Overview is not running, users can not switch between their desktops. The desktops are not removed, they are merely inaccessible.
The Background daemon is controlled by the /usr/lib/X11/xdm/Xsession.dt file. If you move this file to another name, or comment out the individual line within the file that invokes the daemon, the daemon will not be started. For an example of moving the file, change directories to /usr/lib/X11/xdm and use the command:
mv Xsession.dt Xsession.dt.orig
When you are ready to have the daemon started again, move the file back to its original name.
To restrict the daemon without losing all the instructions in the /usr/lib/X11/xdm/Xsession.dt script file, you must edit the file. The relevant sections of the file look something like this:
# # BEGIN Desktop MODIFICATIONS # # /usr/lib/desktop/bgdaemon &
To make any part of this file a comment, place a crosshatch (#) at the beginning of each line you wish to be a comment. A comment line is not interpreted as part of the command sequence in a script. It is assumed to be there to explain the command sequence to a reader. If you place a crosshatch in front of the line that invokes the Background daemon, the line looks like this:
# /usr/lib/desktop/bgdaemon &
When you next log in or reboot the system, the Background daemon will not be invoked. To regain the Background daemon, edit the file again and remove the comment mark. Then when you next log in or reboot the system, you will have your background daemon again.
Never delete lines from scripts such as these, as there is no convenient way to retrieve the line when it is needed. Use commenting to change the action of the script if you desire to restrict part of the script, or move the file to a different name if you wish to bypass the entire script.
When the Background daemon isn't running, several utilities are unavailable. Most noticeably, none of the specialized IndigoMagic backgrounds are available on the desktops. These backgrounds can still be invoked with the ipaste(1) or xsetroot(1) commands. However, a background brought up this way applies to all desktops.
Since this daemon also controls management of icons on the main screen background, icon functionality is also lost when this daemon is inactive. For example, users cannot drag an icon from a directory view to the main background and users do not see an icon on the main background when a file is created the user's home directory.
To stop the media daemon (mediad), log in as root and issue the command:
/etc/init.d/mediad off
This stops the media daemon until you use the same script with the start command to restart it.
If mediad is not running, the user must mount all removable media themselves. This would have a major impact on users who are not familiar with the mount process for CD ROM disks and floppies. Another problem is that there is no indication on the icon for the media drive to indicate what type of media is in the peripheral device. For instance, if mediad is running and there is an audio CD in the CD-ROM drive (and cdman is not running), there will be musical notes above and to the left of the CD-ROM icon.
The most convenient way to stop the Soundscheme Audio Server is to log in as root and issue the command:
killall /usr/sbin/soundscheme
To eliminate the Soundscheme Server when you next reboot, use the command:
chkconfig soundscheme off
This directs the system not to run the soundscheme daemon. You can also stop the soundscheme daemon by editing the Xsession.dt file as described for the Background daemon.
If you disable the soundscheme daemon, the user will get no audio cues when events take place on their systems. For instance, saving a new file does not result in a ``beep'' and moving an icon on the background is not accompanied by a ``cymbal swish'' sound. When running the full IndigoMagic environment, this is equivalent to deselecting ``Audio Feedback'' from the Toolchest.
The objectserver may require occasional troubleshooting, especially if new scripts and tools have added to the standard configuration. Suppose you see the following error message:
Can't contact objectserver
There are several steps you can take to restore the system to correct operation. Follow these steps in order:
Log into the system as root.
Make sure that two objectserver daemons are running. In a shell window, enter the command:
ps -ef | grep objectserver
You should see three lines of information. At the far right of these columns, you should see the following words:
/usr/Cadmin/bin/objectserver /usr/Cadmin/bin/objectserver grep objectserver
The last item is the grep command you just entered, and there
should be two separate instances of the objectserver.
If you see no occurrences or only one occurrence of the objectserver, check to see if the objectserver configuration flag is on. In a shell window, enter the command:
chkconfig | grep objectserver
You should see the line:
objectserver on
Suppose the response that you see is:
objectserver off
Then you must turn on the objectserver by entering the command:
chkconfig objectserver on
Then cycle the cadmin init script by issuing the commands:
/etc/init.d/cadmin stop /etc/init.d/cadmin start
Wait approximately 60 seconds and then reissue the command:
ps -ef | grep objectserver
Check the output to see that both objectserver daemons are running.
If both required instances of the objectserver are running, the
error message should no longer appear. If you see the message again, go
on to the next step.
If two instances of the objectserver are running, but you still see the message:
Can't contact objectserver
The objectserver database may be corrupted. You must stop the objectserver daemons, repair the database and then start the objectserver daemons again with the following commands:
/etc/init.d/cadmin stop /etc/init.d/cadmin clean /etc/init.d/cadmin start
If you are attempting to place an icon on your desktop from a remote system on your network and you receive an error message from the directoryserver, check the system with the following steps.
Log into the system as root.
Make sure that the directoryserver is running. In a shell window, enter the command:
ps -ef | grep directoryserver
You should see two lines of information. At the far right of these columns, you should see the following words:
/usr/Cadmin/bin/directoryserver grep directoryserver
The second item is the grep command you just entered, and the
other is the directoryserver.
If you see no indication of the directoryserver, check to see if the directoryserver configuration flag is on. In a shell window, enter the command:
chkconfig | grep directoryserver
You should see the following line:
directoryserver on
Suppose the response that you see is:
directoryserver off
Then you must turn on the objectserver by entering the command:
chkconfig directoryserver on
Then cycle the cadmin init script by issuing the commands:
/etc/init.d/cadmin stop /etc/init.d/cadmin start
Now wait approximately 60 seconds and then reissue the command:
ps -ef | grep directoryserver
Check the output to see that the directoryserver is running. If it is,
the error message should no longer appear. If you see the message again,
go on to the next step.
If the directoryserver is running but you still see the error message, then check the directoryserver on the remote system with the resource you are trying to use.
|
|
Copyright © 1997, Silicon Graphics, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Trademark Information