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CHAPTER 16: ADVANCED CONFIGURATION
Black Box console servers run the embedded Linux operating system. Administrator class users can configure the console server
and monitor and manage attached serial console and host devices from the command line using Linux commands and the config
utility (as described in Chapter 15).
The Linux kernel in the console server also supports GNU bash shell scripts, enabling the Administrator to run custom scripts. This
chapter presents a number of useful scripts and scripting tools including
delete-node, which is a general script for deleting users, groups, hosts, UPS’s etc.
ping-detect, which will run specified commands when a specific host stops responding to ping requests.
This chapter then details how to perform advanced and custom management tasks using Black Box commands, Linux commands
and the open source tools embedded in the console server:
portmanager serial port management.
raw data access to the ports and modems.
iptables modifications and updating IP filtering rules.
retrieving status information using SNMP and modifying SNMP with net-snmpd.
public key authenticated SSH communications.
SSL, configuring HTTPS and issuing certificates.
using pmpower for NUT and PowerMan power device management.
using IPMItools.
CDK custom development kit.
sms server tools.
disabling multicasting.
16.1 CUSTOM SCRIPTING
The console server supports GNU bash shell commands (see Appendix A), enabling the Administrator to run custom scripts.
16.1.1 CUSTOM SCRIPT TO RUN WHEN BOOTING
The /etc/config/rc.local script runs whenever the system boots. By default, this script file is empty. You can add any commands to
this file if you want them to be run at boot time. For example, if you want to display hello world, add the following to rc.local:
#!/bin/sh
echo "Hello World!"
If this script has been copied from a Windows machine, you may need to run the following command on the script before bash can
run it successfully:
# dos2unix /etc/config/rc.local
Another scenario would be to call another custom script from the /etc/config/rc.local file, ensuring that your custom script will run
whenever the system is booted.
