HP XC System Software Administration Guide Version 3.0

Deleting a Local User Account
Remove a user account with the userdel command; you must be superuser on the golden client node to
use this command. This command provides the -r option, which removes that user's home directory, all the
files in that directory, and the user's mail spool.
Make sure that you propagate these changes to all the other nodes in the system by using the si_getimage
and si_updateclient commands, as described in “Distributing Software Throughout the System”
(page 79).
Configuring the ssh Keys for a User
The ssh command requires a login and password whenever a user logs into a node and run jobs on various
node allocations. You can configure the ssh keys for a user to bypass the login and password requirement.
The ssh_create_shared_keys command, used on a one-time basis, updates the appropriate ssh key
files in the user's $HOME/.ssh directory, provided:
• The user must have an account on the HP XC system.
• The user's home directory is mounted on all the nodes.
• Write permission for the user's home directory is denied for group and others.
The format of the command is as follows, where login is the login name for the specified user:
ssh_create_shared_keys [ --user login]
Entering the ssh_create_shared_keys command without the --user option updates the ssh key files
for the current user.
Changing the Root Password
The following procedure describes how to change the root password and propagate that change throughout
the HP XC system:
1. Log in as superuser on the head node.
2. Use the passwd command to change the password locally on the head node.
At this time, the root password is changed only on the head node.
3. Update the golden image to ensure that the root password change is propagated the next time the
nodes are reinstalled:
# updateimage --gc `hostname --no-netboot`
See “Updating the Golden Image” (page 84) for additional information on updating the golden image.
4. Run the following commands to update all the appropriate files throughout the HP XC system:
# pdcp -a -x `hostname` /etc/password /etc/password
# pdcp -a -x `hostname` /etc/group /etc/group
# pdcp -a -x `hostname` /etc/shadow /etc/shadow
# pdcp -a -x `hostname` /etc/gshadow /etc/gshadow
When this step is complete, the root password is changed on all the nodes in the HP XC system.
Synchronizing the NIS Database
If you configured a slave Network Information Service (NIS) server on the head node, you must ensure that
the NIS database on the head node is synchronized periodically with the master NIS server.
The following procedure uses the cron utility and the ypxfr command and scripts to automate periodic
updates of the NIS database. For more information on the ypxfr command, see ypxfr(8).
Note
The ypxfr scripts are located in the /usr/lib/yp directory on Itanium®-based systems and in the
/usr/lib64/yp directory on other systems.
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