4.2 Calculate Utilities Console Manager

Introduction

Calculate Utilities Calculate Console gives remote access to the Utilities server in Calculate 3 (calculate-core) via https. This functionality is provided by package sys-apps/calculate-console.

Creating a certificate

You will need a private key and a certificate signed by the server to access the Utilities server.

To generate the private key and the signature request, option --gen-cert-by <host> is used; use option --port <port> in conjunction with it to specify the port number (8888 by default), for instance:

cl-console --gen-cert-by 192.168.0.56 --port 8888

In this example, if port 8888 is listening to the Utilities server as as host 192.168.0.56, you will be suggested to create a request.

First of all you have to set a password for additional encrypting of the private key: it will be prompted for whenever you try to connect to the Utilities server. Should you prefer not to encrypt the private key, leave the field empty.

You will be also asked to fill in some personal data. Values shown in square brackets are those by default, such as in:

Hostname [jdoe@doe.company.com]:
Username [John Doe]:

Almost all fields, except for the company name and the user location, are auto-filled; do not modify these values unless you are absolutely sure.

When the request has been sent to the Utilities server, you will get the number attributed to it by the server.

You can make the signature request via the Manager or anytime by typing:

cl-core --sign-client <n>

where n is the request number.

After the certificate has been signed, you must retrieve it. Use the --get-cert-from HOST option, along with --port <port> if you have to, to do so, as shown below:

cl-console --get-cert-from 192.168.0.56 --port 8888

If the request either has not been signed or has been revoked, the corresponding error message will be displayed.

To specify the path to the certificate and the private key files (should they be found elsewhere), use option --cert-path <path>:

cl-console --cert-path /media/flash/cert_dir

Performing methods on the Utilities server

To view all available methods, execute

cl-console --host <host> --port <port>

By default, the client connects to the local Utilities host and port 8888. Here are two examples:

cl-console
cl-console --host 192.168.0.56 --port 9999

The first command will display all methods available on the local Utilities server, listening to port 8888, while the second one will do the same for the Utilities server located at 192.168.0.56:9999.

Use the --method <method> option to launch a method, for instance:

cl-console --method install --iso /path_to_image/cld-x86_64.iso -d /dev/sda1:swap -d /dev/sda2:/:ext4:on

If you need help about a method, run the command with option -h, --help:

cl-core --method install --help

Option -f, --force sets the forced mode: no questions will be asked, no advanced options shown.

The --no-progress option deactivates the progress bar.

Working with clients

Managing sessions

Run cl-console with the --session-info option if you want to view information about the session and the certificate:

cl-console --session-info

The --session-list option lists all sessions active on the Utilities server:

cl-console --session-list

To view some session info, use --session-num-info SID, for instance:

cl-core --session-num-info 5474

In this example, information about session 5474 will be displayed.

To clear your session cache, use --session-clean:

cl-console --session-clean

Managing processes

Each method running on the Utilities server is in fact a process, so you can view its results.
If you want to view the list of the running processes for the current session, use --list-pid:

cl-core --list-pid

For verbose output, use -d, --dump along with the --list-pid option:

cl-core --list-pid --dump

To view the results of some process, use the --pid-result <pid> option, for instance:

cl-core --pid-result 1234

The results of process 1234 will be shown.

If you need to break a running process, use --pid-kill <pid>, for instance:

cl-core --pid-kill 1234

The Utilities server will get the message telling it to kill process 1234.

cl-consoled

If the user chooses to encrypt their private key with a password, Calculate Console Console Manager will run the cl-consoled daemon.
cl-consoled is meant for short-time storage of all used passwords, so that you won't have to reenter them each time when connecting. The private key password for the Calculate Utilities server will be auto-filled only if all requested data fit.

To stop cl-consoled, execute:

cl-console --stop-consoled

Then when you launch cl-console next time, it will prompt for a password again, and once you have entered the password, cl-consoled will be started.

Whenever you need to update the revocation list, use the --update-crl option:

cl-console --update-crl

Thank you!