Re: [9fans] cpu server

[Jim Choate <ravage@einstein.ssz.com>]

Hi Dharani,

On Fri, 6 Feb 2004 vdharani@infernopark.com wrote:

> i have setup a cpu server. i also enabled graphics and started rio. i am
> wondering if i can use it as a normal user (say, glenda or myself) while it
> acts as a server for other machines. how do i do it? also, if i need to
> switch user, how can i do it. i am looking for something like login/logout
> or atleast onetime login as someother user (other than bootes).

This is one of the big differences in thought process that P9 takes over
traditional OSes. Don't confuse who boots the server with users. Under P9
(it being a distributed system) it is -not- meant that users actually sit
at the console to access resources. The console is god knows where and
you're using a I/O server to connect from some completely otherwhere. A
user of P9 resources is -assumed- to be using a I/O server to access other
resources. The setup the vast majority of us have is not 'normal'.

The reality is that P9 assumes as part of its base design you have access
to multiple machines. A single P9 box is truly brain-dead [1].

Right now  you've got three choices as I understand it:

1. From your shell ssh to the appropriate machine (even if it's a single
   one) and log in as a user who has an account.

2. Use drawterm from other machines that are not P9 and log in as that
   user.

3. Use a second machine configured so that it looks for auth from the same
   source as the machines you want to log in on. From there you can use
   attach() and bind() to manage your namespaces.

In any case you must have a auth server running that is shared between the
various resources and configured for those additional users.

[1] And yet the 'traditional' P9 community (ie this list and the OS
    developers) have -never- made a concerted attempt at fostering the
    growth of such resources. This frustration on my part caused me to
    take Hangar 18 on a seperate path. In a very real way they make
    promises and then never deliver.

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