HP Insight Cluster Management Utility v7.2 User Guide

8 Advanced topics
8.1 Accessing the GUI for non-root users
HP Insight CMU allows non-root users to log into the GUI and access some or all of the privileged
HP Insight CMU functionality available through the GUI. The GUI supports non-root user accounts
that exist either as local accounts or as NIS accounts on the HP Insight CMU management node.
The high-level operational goal of this support is to make the HP Insight CMU GUI a graphical
extension of logging into the head node. When a non-root user logs into the head node, sudo
permission is necessary to perform many HP Insight CMU functions on the command line. Ideally,
the GUI should be no different. Thus for example, if user jsmith has sudo permission on the HP
Insight CMU head node to run /opt/cmu/bin/cmu_backup on the command line, then he can
also log into the GUI and operate the same backup feature. Similarly, if user jsmith does not have
sudo permission to run /opt/cmu/bin/cmu_clone, then he cannot run the cloning feature
from the GUI.
The /opt/cmu/etc/admins file controls which accounts are allowed to log into the HP Insight
CMU GUI. The user accounts granted access to the HP Insight CMU GUI must be listed one per
line in this file.
User accounts configured in the /opt/cmu/etc/admins file have all functionality "ungreyed"
and accessible in the HP Insight CMU GUI, but only a subset of this functionality works by default.
Some of the HP Insight CMU GUI functionality operates as the user who logged in, and some of
it operates as the root account. The remainder of the functionality operates successfully only if the
user has sudo privileges for each feature. Configuring sudo privileges for the remaining features
is descibed below.
Table 4 (page 139) describes which HP Insight CMU features are available by default to a non-root
user logged into the GUI. This table also describes which features operate in privileged mode,
and which features require sudo privileges.
Table 4 Operational HP Insight CMU GUI features available by default for non-root users
Operational modeHP Insight CMU feature (top menu bar)
rootMonitoring→Start Monitoring Engine
rootMonitoring→Stop Monitoring Engine
rootAll operations under Cluster Administration
Operational modeHP Insight CMU Feature (right-click node selection)
userssh to CMU Mgmt Node/ssh Connection
user (requires sudo)Management Card Connection
user (requires sudo)Shutdown
user (requires sudo)Power Off
user (requires sudo)Boot
user (requires sudo)Reboot
userMultiple Window Broadcast (ssh)
user (requires sudo)Multiple Window Broadcast (Mgt Card)
userSingle Window pdsh (cmudiff)
rootpdcp (distributed copy)
user (requires sudo)Backup (Capture Image)
8.1 Accessing the GUI for non-root users 139