[9fans] nvram on a diskless cpu server

[9fans] nvram on a diskless cpu server

[Akshat Kumar]

I just took all the disks out of my cpu server.

I'm booting from my fileserver. I get the following
prompts (which make the bootup process really
non-automated):

readnvram: couldn't find nvram
can't open <nil>: unknown device in # filename
authid: bootes
authdom: mydom
secstore:
password:
can't write key to nvram: unknown device in # filename

So is there any way to put this data into /dev/nvram
for the server to read from there? Or is there no way
to make this truly "diskless"?


Thanks,
ak

Re: [9fans] nvram on a diskless cpu server

[ron minnich]

Some time ago I modified the rtc driver so we could use '#r/nvram'
(oh, gosh, this was almost 10 years ago but ...) so that we could use
the CMOS to store this stuff. Maybe it's time for another look.

ron

Re: [9fans] nvram on a diskless cpu server

[Akshat Kumar]

It seems Andrey did this some time ago as well:
http://mirtchovski.com/lanlp9/flash/index.html

Are there any patches in the repo that have survived
this? I know that for SPARC computers #r/nvram is the
place to look. Perhaps the story on x86 machines is
a bit more difficult?


Thanks,
ak

On Sun, Jul 10, 2011 at 2:55 PM, ron minnich <rminnich@gmail.com> wrote:
> Some time ago I modified the rtc driver so we could use '#r/nvram'
> (oh, gosh, this was almost 10 years ago but ...) so that we could use
> the CMOS to store this stuff. Maybe it's time for another look.
>
> ron
>
>

Re: [9fans] nvram on a diskless cpu server

[erik quanstrom]

On Sun Jul 10 17:56:42 EDT 2011, rminnich@gmail.com wrote:
> Some time ago I modified the rtc driver so we could use '#r/nvram'
> (oh, gosh, this was almost 10 years ago but ...) so that we could use
> the CMOS to store this stuff. Maybe it's time for another look.

vorsicht!  there's a lot of magic stuff in the rtc.  and where the magic
bits are depends on your particular special bios.  i think the problem
is no one has pieced together 50-odd bytes from rtc - union(used bits).

i know that some folks have a dedicated aoe network using seperate
interfaces.  if you have something like that and you think it's secure
enough, it can be used to store nvram.

- erik

Re: [9fans] nvram on a diskless cpu server

[Akshat Kumar]

Well, I don't have a dedicated AoE for secure keys.

Alternatively, can I store the keys on a little USB
device? Does it require anything more than a change
to the INI (in this case PXE) file?

On Sun, Jul 10, 2011 at 3:04 PM, erik quanstrom
<quanstro@labs.coraid.com> wrote:
> On Sun Jul 10 17:56:42 EDT 2011, rminnich@gmail.com wrote:
>> Some time ago I modified the rtc driver so we could use '#r/nvram'
>> (oh, gosh, this was almost 10 years ago but ...) so that we could use
>> the CMOS to store this stuff. Maybe it's time for another look.
>
> vorsicht!  there's a lot of magic stuff in the rtc.  and where the magic
> bits are depends on your particular special bios.  i think the problem
> is no one has pieced together 50-odd bytes from rtc - union(used bits).
>
> i know that some folks have a dedicated aoe network using seperate
> interfaces.  if you have something like that and you think it's secure
> enough, it can be used to store nvram.
>
> - erik
>
>

Re: [9fans] nvram on a diskless cpu server

[ron minnich]

On Sun, Jul 10, 2011 at 3:04 PM, erik quanstrom
<quanstro@labs.coraid.com> wrote:

> vorsicht!  there's a lot of magic stuff in the rtc.  and where the magic
> bits are depends on your particular special bios.

Sure. but it's been done. We did it.

ron

Re: [9fans] nvram on a diskless cpu server

[ron minnich]

yeah, the usb would be a great place to store it! Then you can easily
rewrite the key ...

ron

Re: [9fans] nvram on a diskless cpu server

[Akshat Kumar]

Sure, but how do mounting and reading and all
that jazz, work on boot?

On Sun, Jul 10, 2011 at 3:13 PM, ron minnich <rminnich@gmail.com> wrote:
> yeah, the usb would be a great place to store it! Then you can easily
> rewrite the key ...
>
> ron
>
>

Re: [9fans] nvram on a diskless cpu server

[Francisco J Ballesteros]

write to the raw disk, and use the device name for nvram in plan9.ini

On Mon, Jul 11, 2011 at 12:20 AM, Akshat Kumar
<akumar@mail.nanosouffle.net> wrote:
> Sure, but how do mounting and reading and all
> that jazz, work on boot?
>
> On Sun, Jul 10, 2011 at 3:13 PM, ron minnich <rminnich@gmail.com> wrote:
>> yeah, the usb would be a great place to store it! Then you can easily
>> rewrite the key ...
>>
>> ron
>>
>>
>
>

Re: [9fans] nvram on a diskless cpu server

[ron minnich]

and of course the other option is to put a file named 'nvram' into the
image and use that. usually the easiest.

ron

[9fans] Fwd: nvram on a diskless cpu server

[Akshat Kumar]

I asked this of nemo, should have
forwarded here as well:


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Hi Francisco,

Doesn't authsrv itself write to the raw data file
you provide in `nvram=' in plan9.ini? Otherwise,
what would be the format to do so manually?

Also, what does "device name" mean in this case?
#u/ep... or #S/sdU...?


Thanks,
ak

On Sun, Jul 10, 2011 at 3:34 PM, Francisco J Ballesteros <nemo@lsub.org> wrote:
> write to the raw disk, and use the device name for nvram in plan9.ini
>
> On Mon, Jul 11, 2011 at 12:20 AM, Akshat Kumar
> <akumar@mail.nanosouffle.net> wrote:
>> Sure, but how do mounting and reading and all
>> that jazz, work on boot?
>>
>> On Sun, Jul 10, 2011 at 3:13 PM, ron minnich <rminnich@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> yeah, the usb would be a great place to store it! Then you can easily
>>> rewrite the key ...
>>>
>>> ron
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

Re: [9fans] Fwd: nvram on a diskless cpu server

[ron minnich]

term% cd /tmp
term% dd -bs 512 -count 1 < /dev/zero > nvram
1+0 records in
1+0 records out
term% nvram=nvram
term%  xd nvram
0000000  00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
0000010  00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000

etc.

term% auth/wrkey
bad nvram key
bad authentication id
bad authentication domain
authid: xyz
authdom: abc
secstore key:
password:
term% cat nvram
1�\f\x02�@�123�xyztabc/term%  xd nvram
0000000  31d90c00 028140e2 00000000 00000000
0000010  31323300 00000000 00000000 00009f78
0000020  797a0000 00000000 00000000 00000000
0000030  00000000 00000000 00000074 61626300
0000040  00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000

etc.

It pays to make the nvram file len 512 bytes or you have to set
nvramlen in plan9.ini and who wants to do that.

Note the nvram=nvram step ... it is needed.

ron
p.s. No points for guessing the password I used :-)

Re: [9fans] nvram on a diskless cpu server

[Steve Simon]

i thoufgt th accepted way was, (assumping your machine has an IDE interface),
to use an IDE to compact flash adapter and and a CF card, and store the
nvram on this.

this gives you the simple interface of IDE but no rotating disks.

-Steve

Re: [9fans] nvram on a diskless cpu server

[Akshat Kumar]

That's a much more expensive and involved
method than tacking on a little USB key, to
which you've copied nvram data using `dd'.

ron's method above, with a simple
`dd -if nvram -of /dev/sdU0.0/data' and
three lines in plan9.ini did the trick.
No rotating disks.

The other problem is that my box has a
rusty power supply that seems incapable
of handling any IDE devices. Not sure
what's going on at this point, really. But
it does fine as a basic CPU server (more
of an interface to Plan 9 from other OS's).

On Mon, Jul 11, 2011 at 12:19 AM, Steve Simon <steve@quintile.net> wrote:
> i thoufgt th accepted way was, (assumping your machine has an IDE interface),
> to use an IDE to compact flash adapter and and a CF card, and store the
> nvram on this.
>
> this gives you the simple interface of IDE but no rotating disks.
>
> -Steve
>
>

Re: [9fans] nvram on a diskless cpu server

[Francisco J Ballesteros]

sorry, our machines were disconnected for the entire night and I didn't
get mails until now. that's why I didn't reply.
But I see that it's all written in recent mails.
cheers

On Mon, Jul 11, 2011 at 11:28 AM, Akshat Kumar
<akumar@mail.nanosouffle.net> wrote:
> That's a much more expensive and involved
> method than tacking on a little USB key, to
> which you've copied nvram data using `dd'.
>
> ron's method above, with a simple
> `dd -if nvram -of /dev/sdU0.0/data' and
> three lines in plan9.ini did the trick.
> No rotating disks.
>
> The other problem is that my box has a
> rusty power supply that seems incapable
> of handling any IDE devices. Not sure
> what's going on at this point, really. But
> it does fine as a basic CPU server (more
> of an interface to Plan 9 from other OS's).
>
> On Mon, Jul 11, 2011 at 12:19 AM, Steve Simon <steve@quintile.net> wrote:
>> i thoufgt th accepted way was, (assumping your machine has an IDE interface),
>> to use an IDE to compact flash adapter and and a CF card, and store the
>> nvram on this.
>>
>> this gives you the simple interface of IDE but no rotating disks.
>>
>> -Steve
>>
>>
>
>

Re: [9fans] nvram on a diskless cpu server

[hiro]

On 11.07.2011, Steve Simon <steve@quintile.net> wrote:
> i thoufgt th accepted way was, (assumping your machine has an IDE
> interface),
> to use an IDE to compact flash adapter and and a CF card, and store the
> nvram on this.

You can get small IDE DOMs for under ten bucks. No need for CF adapters.

Re: [9fans] nvram on a diskless cpu server

[erik quanstrom]

> rusty power supply that seems incapable
> of handling any IDE devices. Not sure
> what's going on at this point, really. But
> it does fine as a basic CPU server (more
> of an interface to Plan 9 from other OS's).

do yourself a favor.  don't run with a dodgy power supply.
there are just too many little problems that can cause.

- erik