| Another essential management tool with OES Linux is the traditional NetWare utility Novell Remote Manager (NRM). In a NetWare environment, NRM combines the functionality of the console Monitor utility, together with functionality from several other console utilities, and NRM makes it available from a web browser. With OES Linux, NRM brings this same ease of web-based server administration to Linux! You can use NRM to monitor your server's health, change the configuration of your server, and perform diagnostic and debugging tasks. The following list outlines some of the major tasks you can perform with NRM: Manage server health Monitoring the health status of one or more servers, building groups of servers to monitorincluding servers not running OES Configure server environment Viewing information about kernel modules, hardware resources, disk partitions, and processor(s); viewing and managing running processes; monitoring server memory and swap statistics; accessing and uploading files on local partitions; managing, installing, and removing software packages; and shutting down, restarting, or resetting a server Troubleshoot server problems by Finding CPU hogs, finding high memory users, locating server process hogs, finding disk space hogs
Primary features of NRM include the following: Logging in When you point your browser at NRM, you will be prompted to authenticate before seeing any pages. Health Monitoring Notification Health aspects of the server, including memory, swap, and disk partition statistics, can easily be monitored. Thresholds for warning notifications can then be set to ensure that action is taken for critical situations. Software package management Software packages can be managed, removed, and installed directly from the NRM interface. Process management All running processes, and memory and CPU resources they are consuming, can be quickly viewed and sorted in several manners. Rogue processes can be killed from this same interface.
NRM is a very robust management utility that promises extremely flexible operation for OES administrators. Accessing NRM With most installations and patterns for OES Linux, NRM is installed automatically. After the installation, use a web browser from a client computer in your network to access the NRM interface. In order to access NRM from an Internet connection outside your firewall, you will need to make sure that TCP port 8009 is opened through the firewall to the IP address of your web server. Port 8009 is the default port through which you will access the NRM interface. If you like, this port can be changed as long as it doesn't conflict with any other service on the OES server. To use NRM, you must use a web browser such as Konqueror or Mozilla on a Linux workstation, or Internet Explorer or Netscape Communicator on a Windows workstation. Make sure that Java or JavaScript is enabled on your web browser. To access NRM, open your web browser and enter your OES server's domain name or IP address, followed by a colon and the port number. The default port for HTTP is 8008, and HTTPS is 8009. For example: https://www.quills.com:8009 or https://192.168.1.100:8009 You might be prompted to accept an unknown certificate. At the Authentication dialog, enter the SLES root username and password, or valid eDirectory administrator name and password, and then select OK. After authentication, the Novell Remote Manager home page will be displayed (see Figure 5.4). Figure 5.4. The Novell Remote Manager home page. 
NOTE If you don't log in as a user with administrative rights to the server, you will not have access to all pages necessary to manage your server remotely. You will see only pages that display the volumes, directories, and files for which you have trustee rights. In this case, you can view files (where you have read access), and upload files into directories where you have write access. You will not have access to any other management functions.
After you log in, your NRM session remains open until you close all your browser windows at that workstation. To log out of NRM, close all the browser windows at the workstation from which you logged in. NRM Basics Similar to iManager, NRM's user interface is organized into three main sections, or frames: Header frame The Header frame is located at the top of the screen. It provides a semaphore (Green, Yellow, Red) assessment of the server's health, in addition to links to the File System Management and Health Monitor pages in NRM. There is also an icon used to allow editing of NRM configuration files. Clicking the Novell Remote Manager title in the header will also take you to the NRM configuration page. Selecting the semaphore icon next to your server name will take you to the Health Monitor page. By default, the File System Management page is always displayed when NRM first starts. Navigation frame The Navigation frame is located on the left side of the screen. It lists different management tasks, organized into groups that you can perform with NRM. Each link takes you to the specific page(s) for performing that task. The list of available tasks in the Navigation frame can change based on the services configured on the server. Content frame The Content frame occupies the middle-right part of the screen. When you select a link in the Header or Navigation frames, the appropriate information will be displayed in the Content frame. If an Information icon appears in the upper-right corner of the page, you can view help for the page that is displayed in the main content frame.
In the navigation frame of NRM, the main capabilities of NRM can be accessed using links found beneath six different general categories. These categories, and their general purpose, are described in the following list: Diagnose This category contains a link to the OES Linux Health Monitor. Health Monitor is used to track and manage specific server statistics, such as CPU utilization, memory, and LAN statistics. View File System This category provides access to the server file system. Options found here can be used to view, download, and upload file to the file system. General information regarding file system usage can also be found in this category. Manage Linux This category is used to manage installed packages, kernel modules, and running processes. The server can also be shut down or restarted directly from NRM using options found here. Manage Hardware This category can be used to retrieve information regarding server hardware. Specifically, processor information, interrupt configuration, IO memory and port information, and SMBIOS information are all available. Use Group Operations This category is used to create Health Monitoring groups. These groups can include multiple servers (both OES and non-OES servers) for basic or complete health monitoring. Monitored servers can be arranged on maps to represent each server's physical location. Manage NCP Services This category can be used to create, delete, and adjust NCP shares. Additional information regarding NCP services, such as connections and diagnostic information, is also available here.
Each of the options found in these categories can potentially play an important role in administering your OES Linux server. Be sure to drill down on every option and explore the many features found within NRM. Additional information on all aspects of NRM can be found in the online OES Linux documentation. CONFIGURING NRM You can access NRM configuration options by selecting the Configure button in the header (see Figure 5.5). To access the configuration options you must be logged in as a user with supervisor rights to the server from which NRM is being run. Figure 5.5. NRM configuration interface to httpstkd.conf. 
The NRM configuration settings are organized into five groups: HTTP Interface Management This section allows you to configure NRM's basic environment, including TCP and SSL ports, default login contexts, startup parameters, and restricting NRM access through PAM configuration. After you've made any changes to these files, the daemon must be restarted using rcnovell-httpstkd restart. Daemon Restart In addition to restarting the httpstkd daemon from the command line, a button in this section can be used to restart the daemon if configuration changes have been made. HTTP Logs This section provides quick access to the httpstkd logs. These log entries are useful for troubleshooting any NRM issues. The httpstkd daemon uses syslog for the logging process. This allows these logs to be located outside NRM through /var/log/messages. Novell Remote Manager Certificate Management This section provides the ability to create a new certificate for use with NRM. This is normally not required and should only be performed by someone with experience creating and implementing OpenSSL certificates. Novell Remote Manager Schema Management This section provides an interface into the ndssch schema extension utility. The only schema extension that can be performed using this option is to extend the schema for use with NRM Group Operations, used with Health Monitoring.
NOTE By clicking the word Novell in the upper-right portion of the header frame, you can access the Novell Support Connection at http://support.novell.com/. From this site, you can get current updates, locate troubleshooting information, or open an online support incident.
After making any necessary configuration changes, you can use NRM as a powerful web-based tool for managing your network servers. For more information on NRM, see the online OES Linux documentation. |
