This page describes certain features of the "Linux Desktop 2.0" pilot/R&D project. While this project has been in progress for some time, these notes begin in July 2018.
There are an estimated 200-300 Linux desktop users at SLAC. This project aims to provide a basic managed and maintained building block desktop from which users may customize to their specific needs. At this writing, either Ubuntu or CentOS are available options. This is very much a work in progress....
To-Do
- consider should the user have the netboot file remain active and have the user manually remove the link that makes it active with
echo "get Kickstart_end" | /usr/bin/tftp lnxpapa
or do this for them automatically after the first build. Make this an attribute for the node build ? Consider this for ubuntu too - And ubuntu and kickstart are not great together, unless this is very, very dated https://help.ubuntu.com/community/KickstartCompatibility - Decide if we want the pxekicktit to by default run chef on the node. As of 2018-09-27, a build with ks.cfg.centos7.linux_desktop_2 does not run chef. I suggest we do run chef in the default installation, and one picks ks.cfg.centos7.linux_desktop_2.no_chef_run If one does not want to run chef.
Current Pilot Machine Status
A test machine, named comet2, was setup in Tom G's office on 7/13/2018. Linux (centos7) was installed over the network. Andrew set up the "old style" kerberos authentication to allow site-wide logins. This is expected to change in the near future to a Windows authentication scheme.
At this time, comet2 is considered available for reboot or rebuild with little or no notification as experts continue their development of the deployment software.
List of candidate add-on software to be included in CentOS 7 network-install image.
Package | Status | Date installed | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Linux | required | 7/13/2018 | Basic CLI |
X11 | required | 7/17/2018 | X11+gnome+gazillion dependencies |
window manager | required | 7/17/2018 | gnome based - working on conf file |
desktop | required | 7/17/2018 | (various convenience apps) |
Windows Active Directory | new authentication model (old=kerberos) | ||
printing | required | Printing will be via Windows AD IP based printing | |
AFS | |||
emacs | required | 7/19/2018 | |
chrome | |||
thunderbird | required | 7/19/2018 | |
NX | NoMachine client for use with NERSC | ||
dbvis |
| ||
citrix client | TESTING INC0211099 not sure if it will work | ||
fastx | First attempt to install & run app failed | ||
slack | |||
zoom | (implies support for microphone, camera and speakers) | ||
OpenOffice | required | 7/19/2018 | LibreOffice...same thing |
python v3 | |||
Notes:
X11 & GUI installed in this way:
X11 and GUIcurl http://yum/centos-gui > /tmp/centos-gui /bin/sh /tmp/centos-gui
(very large set of packages, takes a long time...)
Software installed via the GUI: Thunderbird, emacs, LibreOffice
sudo gnome-software
Attempt to install FastX downloaded from www.starnet.com. Code is unpacked from a tar.gz file and run without any special installation. Attempt to configure SLAC but code fails with a relocation error associated with /lib64/libssl.so.10
TRS should not be used as it currently requires the use of DES enctypes that are insecure. WE have a todo to remove the ability for this weak-key to work. And are working to make TRS more secure so it can be used on Centos.
OS Updates
Date | uname -a | Notes |
---|---|---|
7/13/2018 | 3.10.0-862.6.3.el7.x86_64 | |
8/8/2018 | 3.10.0-862.9.1.el7.x86_64 | |
8/28/2018 | 3.10.0-327.el7.x86_64 | Fresh install by ksa |
8/29/2018 | 3.10.0-862.11.6.el7.x86_64 |
On a new build, old or new hardware
check if firmware updates need to happen
- BIOS, IDRAC, DISK/PERC
NETDB changes for the node:
a. NetDB must have these options: --options filename=pxelinux.0,next-server=lnxpapa,tftp-server-name=lnxpapa
b. NetDB should have dhcp enabled
c. Determine the pxeboot-kickstart to use. There are many!
and we should agree on which one to use. I'd recommend we make that part
of the netdb record the way we do with some newer builds - I think it
helps. See for instance comet2
pxekickit: CentOS7/default.netboot.CentOS7.linux_desktop_2
Determine is there anything special about this machine that needs to be considered
If this is rhel[56] node with a taylor.opts take a look and see if there
is a one to one correstpondence between what taylor.opts is doing on the
node and what we can do in chef. For example, if pre-cheffed node is
using automounter a conversation needs to happen.
References:
- SLAC minimum security requirements:
https://docs.slac.stanford.edu/sites/pub/Publications/701-I02-001-00_Min_Sec_Req_for_Comp.pdf Stanford minimum security requirements:
https://uit.stanford.edu/guide/securitystandards