pconsole by Walter de Jong <walter@heiho.net> (C) 2001pconsole COMES WITH NO WARRANTY. pconsole IS FREE SOFTWARE.pconsole is distributed under terms described in the GNU General PublicLicense.This is pconsole, the parallel console tool. pconsole was meant as aninteractive administrative shell tool for clusters.pconsole allows you to connect to each node of your cluster simultaneously,and you can type your administrative commands in a specialized window that'multiplies' the input to each of the connections you have opened.pconsole is best run from within X Windows, although it is possible toemploy it without X (in console mode) as well.You need to install pconsole on only 1 machine in the cluster, this wouldusually be your central administrative node.MAKE AND INSTALLDo a './configure' and 'make install' as root. If you first only want totry pconsole, I suggest you do a './configure --prefix=.' and 'make install'instead of just configure and make.Try running 'bin/pconsole.sh'. Or 'bin/pconsole.sh machine1 machine2 machine2'.pconsole was made to compile and run on any Unix-like platform. If youencounter problems, check the list of possible problems at the end ofthis README file.To reconfigure, do a 'make mrproper' and './configure' before typing'make' again.If you decide to make pconsole setuid root (as suggested), mind torestrict access via a special group (such as 'admin' or 'operator') orput it in a directory which the normal user doesn't have access to.pconsole is a very powerful tool that should not fall into the wronghands. So, as root, execute:    chown root.admin pconsole ; chmod 4110 pconsolepconsole drops its root privileges when they're not needed, so theprogram maintains maximum security.HOW DOES IT WORK?pconsole does not work through daemons. The pconsole.sh script opens up anumber of connections to each node of your cluster of workstations. Then,the pconsole binary attaches to the tty devices that these windows areusing, and it copies the input you type to all open connections.TWEAKING AND TUNINGpconsole.sh requires the 'xterm' command. If you do not like xterm, you caneither edit the script or put the environment variable P_TERM in yourenvironment. Example:    P_TERM=rxvt ; export P_TERM     # for sh    setenv P_TERM rxvt              # for cshBy default, the window geometry is 40x12 with font size 5x7. This is verysmall. To change, either edit the script or use P_TERM_OPTIONS in yourenvironment. P_TERM_OPTIONS can have any options to the P_TERM commandyou like. Example:    P_TERM_OPTIONS="-geometry 80x25 -fn 10x20 -rv +sb"    export P_TERM_OPTIONSThere is also a P_CONSOLE_OPTIONS environment variable, which specifies thegeometry of the main pconsole window.By default, pconsole tries to use SSH to make connections. If you do not have'ssh', it will try to use 'telnet'. If you do have ssh but pconsole fails tofind it, you should edit the script 'ssh.sh' and adjust the line containing'PATH'.pconsole.sh uses the P_CONNECT_CMD environment variable (by default setto 'ssh.sh'). Example of changing it:    P_CONNECT_CMD=rlogin ; export P_CONNECT_CMDIf you want to use pconsole to connect your serial console lines, you shouldprobably set P_CONNECT_CMD to 'telnet', because serial console lines usuallydo not support the SSH protocol.USING PCONSOLEFire up pconsole.sh. Everything you type can and will be used against you.Hit <Ctrl-A> to enter command mode. Type 'help' (or just 'h') for help.Type 'c' to reconnect and leave command mode.Hit <Ctrl-A> to re-enter command mode and type 'l' to list all connections.You can use 'detach' to detach from a particular tty or host. If you havemultiple windows open to a particular host and enter 'detach <hostname>',it will detach all ttys for that host.Open up a new window on your local machine (same machine where you startedpconsole in the first place). Type the 'tty' command. It gives you thename of the tty that the window is using. In the pconsole main window,type 'attach <tty name>' or 'attach yourmachine#<tty name>'. Now type'list' to see if the connection shows up.Type 'quit' or 'exit' to quit pconsole.If you own a serial port multiplexer that allows you to telnet to specificport numbers on the IP of the multiplexer, you can have pconsole connectto '<mux-IP>:<port number>'.TIPS & TRICKS: TYPING PASSWORDSWhen logging in, you may need to enter a password. The pconsole main windowechoes everything you type, as it cannot 'know' that you are at a passwordprompt. To keep the password from being visible, you should turn off theecho. You can do this by typing 'echo off' in command mode, or you canuse the handy short-cut <Ctrl-S> when not in command mode. With echoturned off, you can safely enter your password and hit <Ctrl-S> againto toggle echoing back on.TIPS & TRICKS: PCONSOLE FOR MANY MACHINESIn theory, pconsole can work with an infinite number of connections, butit's just not very practical to have more than 16 open windows on yourscreen. If you want to run pconsole on many machines, try adding the'-iconic' option to xterm:    P_TERM_OPTIONS="-iconic" ; export P_TERM_OPTIONSThis will start all xterms in iconized mode, now just click one openand let the others iconized, and you can work nice and easy.IF IT DOESN'T WORK- pconsole needs root privs. So, are you root?  Or, is the pconsole binary setuid root?- The pconsole.sh script uses 'ps' to find out on which tty the terminal  processes are. You may need to edit this script and change the line  containing 'ps'. If you don't know how to write shell scripts, ask a  friend.- Check the PATH variables in the top of the scripts pconsole.sh and  ssh.sh. Most common paths are listed, but you may have your stuff in  unusual directories.- Read this README for more hints (see above).- If all else fails, throw this package in the dumpster..!LAST NOTES- You can get OpenSSH from http://www.openssh.org/- The GNU General Public License is at http://www.fsf.org/copyleft/gpl.html- The pconsole main distribution page is at http://www.heiho.net/pconsole/I hope you'll enjoy using pconsole.    --Walter <walter@heiho.net>EOB