Secure Web Console

   

HP-UX Virtual Partitions
By Marty Poniatowski

Table of Contents
Chapter 3.  Booting and vPars


You have a choice concerning the type of console to use with your HP 9000. You can connect a terminal to the console port or use a browser and the Secure Web Console (there is also a LAN console port available on systems as another alternative). There is also a console consolidation solution that supports up to 224 consoles that I won't cover here. The Secure Web Console is a device that connects to the HP 9000 console port that has a built-in Web server that allows you to use your browser as a console. This means that from one system running a browser, you can open up several windows that are the console screens for different HP 9000 systems. This obviates the need to walk from console to console when you want to perform system administration functions - you can sit at one system running a browser and administrate many systems.

In this section, I'll cover configuring a Secure Web Console and include several screen shots so that you can decide whether you prefer the Secure Web Console or a dedicated terminal as a console.

You can download the document that describes the procedure of installing and configuring the Secure Web Console from http://docs.hp.com/hpux/content/swc_inst/config.html at the time of this writing. I'll provide an example of a configuration in this section.

Connecting and Configuring the Secure Web Console

The Secure Web Console is a device that is connected to the console port on your HP 9000 and to your LAN. On an L-Class system, for instance, slot 2 has in it a Core I/O card that includes a LAN console port and a connector for the UPS and console - the serial port on the Secure Web Console is plugged into this console cable. There is also a networking port on the Secure Web Console so that you can connect it to your LAN. Figure 3-2 depicts the general setup of the Secure Web Console:

Figure 3-2. Secure Web Console Connectivity on L-Class Used in Upcoming Example

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Keep in mind that the HP 9000 connections on your system may differ from what is shown in the figure. The cable connected to the UPS/Console port turns into the three connections shown in Figure 1-1. The Secure Web Console connects to the rightmost of the three connectors when facing the back of the computer on my system. Its other connection is a networking connection to the LAN. The Secure Web Console also has its own power source so that you can connect to it from your browser even when the computer is powered off.

The Secure Web Console has a default IP address of 192.0.0.192. This address is assigned so that you can connect to the Secure Web Console upon installation and reconfigure it.

With the hardware connections complete, we'll proceed to set up the system running a browser and connect to the Secure Web Console using the following steps:

Disable Proxies

Assuming that you are running a supported version of a browser, you want to "Disable Proxies" or use "No Proxies" until the Secure Web Console configuration is complete.

Add a Route

Use the following command to add a route from the computer where your browser is running to the Secure Web Console:

route add 192.0.0.192 63.88.95.15

In this example the computer on which I'm running my browser has an IP address of 63.88.95.15.

Check Connection

Use the ping command to check the connection between the computer running the browser and the default IP address of the Secure Web Console:

ping 192.0.0.192

Use arp

If you did not receive a response using ping you may have to use arp as shown below for a PC and UNIX system:

 

PC:

arp -s 192.0.0.192 00-10-83-fa-3f-11

 

UNIX:

arp -s 192.0.0.192 00: 10: 83: fa: 3f: 11

 

I have not had to use the arp command in my configurations, however, the document at the URL earlier mentioned recommends the arp command if indeed your ping fails. Re-issue the ping command after using arp to check your connection. The -s option is for a static arp.

Web Browser

With a successful ping you can now access the Secure Web Console through your browser.

Figure 3-3 shows the steps I performed. You can see route and ping on my PC at the command line to get access to the Secure Web Console:

Figure 3-3. route and ping with Secure Web Console

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This screen shot does not show the "disable proxies" step I performed prior to the commands issued at the prompt.

Note:

I sometimes configure the Secure Web Console by connecting a crossover LAN cable from the Secure Web Console directly to my laptop computer. After I have completed the initial configuration steps, I connect the Secure Web Console to the LAN and use a desktop system to access it with a browser. The connection to my portable is only a temporary connection in order to configure the Secure Web Console with its final IP address.

With a connection having been established and the browser properly configured on my computer (proxy server was earlier disabled), I can use the browser to connect to the Web server on the Secure Web Console. You must be on the same subnet for this to work in most situations. Figure 3-4 is a screen shot showing that I specified the pre-configured IP address of the Secure Web Console with http:// 192.0.0.192:

Figure 3-4. Initial Secure Web Console Screen

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The "Welcome" screen confirms that we performed the necessary configuration to make our initial connection to the Secure Web Console. After you select "OK" on this screen, you can proceed with the configuration of the Secure Web Console.

The next screen (Figure 3-5) shows the initial information related to the Secure Web Console for which you will be prompted when you select "OK". This information is for an administrator of the Secure Web Console, not for the HP 9000. In the upcoming examples, I zoom in so you that can see the Secure Web Console information more clearly. The browser information is not shown in the figures, but it is insignificant as far as the Secure Web Console configuration is concerned from this point foward.

Figure 3-5. Secure Web Console Screen for First Administrator Account

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After adding all of this information, you have configured the initial administrator account. As we'll see later, you can add subsequent administrator and operator accounts to the Secure Web Console.

The next screen (Figure 3-6) shows the network-related configuration we'll make to the Secure Web Console. Since it came with a pre-configured IP address, we'll now assign the dedicated IP address for the device.

Figure 3-6. Secure Web Console Screen to Configure Final IP Address

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In Figure 3-6 I show the two types of terminals that you can select. In this "Configure IP" screen, you'll enter both a name for the Secure Web Console and the computer to which it is connected. All of the IP-related information is entered in this screen as well. The Secure Web Console requires a dedicated IP address because you connect directly to it to make a console connection to the HP 9000.

When all of the information has been added, we select "OK" on this screen and are shown the following message in Figure 3-7:

Figure 3-7. Initial Secure Web Console Setup Complete

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After we select "OK" in Figure 1-6, we can reconnect to the Secure Web Console using the IP address we assigned to it during the configuration. In our case, we would use http://15.88.85.14 to reconnect ,as shown in Figure 3-8:

Figure 3-8. Secure Web Console Login Screen

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We log in with the name and password we earlier defined for the Secure Web Console administrator and are then connected as shown in Figure 3-9:

Figure 3-9. Secure Web Console Menu

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At this point, you can select from a number of Secure Web Console-related functions to perform, such as configuring additional users, or you can access the console on your HP 9000, which is the purpose of connecting the device. The Access console selection gives us the console of the HP 9000, as shown in Figure 3-10:

Figure 3-10. Initial Secure Web Console Screen

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Notice that we are logged in as root when we select Access console. You could use the Secure Web Console menu to configure additional administrators and operators (we configured only one administrator in our example and no operators) to give multiple users access to your HP 9000 through the Secure Web Console.

_________________________________

The Secure Web Console can be a good alternative to using a dedicated console on each HP 9000. I wanted to provide you with the basic information for configuring the Secure Web Console, the URL for the configuration document, and an overview of the product to help you determine if it is right for your environment.


       
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    HP-UX Virtual Partitions
    HP-UX Virtual Partitions
    ISBN: 0130352128
    EAN: 2147483647
    Year: 2002
    Pages: 181

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