ITS UNIX Cluster Updates:

The following list provides a summary of updates and upgrades administered to the ITS UNIX Cluster machines.

NOTICE:

The PASS filesystem used by the ITS UNIX Cluster for storage of software and user data was migrated to a new PASS system in July of 2008. This migration has brought with it some changes that users should be aware of listed below. We will continue to update this list as issues are reported and/or resolved. Older changes have been moved to the ITS UNIX Cluster FAQ.

• (all) "fetchmail" is known not to work at this time.


• (all) If you read mail from the ITS UNIX Cluster and store your mail folders "locally" in PASS then you will need to contact ptpadmin@psu.edu and request that your mail folder be migrated from the old PASS service to the current PASS service.

  If you use WebMail or IMAP and store your mail folders on the server then this change will not affect your ability to access mail through WebMail or your IMAP mail reader. WebMail has been storing users' mail folders in it's own filesystem since August 2006. The IMAP service has been storing users' mail folders in it's own filesystem (imap Server Directory) since June 2008.

• (all) /usr/bin/chmod will not change file permissions for files in PASS; Use the "PASS File Permissions Manager" instead. The PASS File Permissions Manager is available via a link from www.work.psu.edu called "Manage PASS Permissions (Permissions Wizard)". Also, on rs6klab, you may use "/usr/local/bin/chmod +x fname" or "/usr/local/bin/chmod -x fname" to add or remove execute permissions from a file.

  The vendor provided chmod for both Solaris and AIX (/usr/bin/chmod, /bin/chmod) is not written to understand and preserve the advanced Access Control Entries which PASS leverages. Our custom chmod for AIX in /usr/local/bin/ will preserve those additional permissions while changing the execute permissions.

  Also, the Permissions Wizard, mentioned above, has been modified to change execute permissions on files in PASS.


• (all) Long running shells may need to kinit periodically. As with the previous PASS system, when you login to the rs6klab or cbs machines you are granted credentials with a fixed lifetime. If you remain logged in for an extended period of time you may need to renew or recreate your credentials.

  The "klist" command will report when your credentials were obtained, when they expire, and until when they can be renewed.

  "kinit -R" will attempt to renew your existing credentials, up to the renewal lifetime, if they haven't already expired.

  You can get new credentials with the command "kinit" (no options) which will prompt you for your Access Account password.



• (rs6klab) The ssh keys for the rs6klab have changed. The documentation for "Using SSH to connect to PASS" has been updated with the new keys and is available at the following URL:
  http://kb.its.psu.edu/psu-all/hd/passssh/?searchterm=ssh


• (rs6klab) rs6klab remounts PASS every day at 05:30 AM. If you have a shell running when rs6klab remounts PASS you may need to (a) relogin or (b) cd out of and then back into the directory you were accessing.


• (cbs) The CBS Cluster does not currently report complete group membership. They will only report your membership in the group defined in the passwd file.


• (cbs) Please use the generic name cbs.aset.psu.edu to connect to the CBS Cluster. We are reserving one system, cbs4, for testing. You will not be able to connect to cbs4. If you use the generic name - cbs.aset.psu.edu - then you will connect to one of the cbs systems available for use.

Thank you for your patience during this time. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you/your staff.

CBS Cluster

07/28/2009

The SAS license used by the CBS Cluster will not be renewed when it expires this summer. We've made this decision after much consideration due to a number of factors.

• Use of SAS on the CBS Cluster has declined for a number of years.
• SAS for instructional use is available through the Classroom and Lab Computing (CLC, a unit of ITS) Student Computing Labs. For more information see their web pages at: http://clc.its.psu.edu/labs/
• SAS for research use is available through Research Computing and Cyberinfrastructure (RCC, a unit of ITS). For more information see their web pages at: http://rcc.its.psu.edu/

If you have questions regarding this decision, please contact: ptpadmin@psu.edu

07/xx/2008

• cbs2: Applied Solaris 9 OS patches.
• cbs2: Configured for Kerberos5 authentication.
• cbs2: Configured autofs for krb5p access to PASS.
• cbs2: Return to service while resolving issues with access to the PASS service.


• cbs3: Applied Solaris 9 OS patches.
• cbs3: Configured for Kerberos5 authentication.
• cbs3: Configured autofs for krb5p access to PASS.
• cbs3: Return to service while resolving issues with access to the PASS service.


• cbs4: RESERVE cbs4 for testing.
• cbs4: Installed Solaris 10 Update 5 (5/08).
• cbs4: Configured for Kerberos5 authentication.
• cbs4: Configured autofs for krb5p access to PASS.

09/27/2007

• Install new license file for SAS 9.1.3

09/26/2007

• Install new license file for SAS 8.2
• Change default sas from 8.1 (vendor would not renew) to 8.2

05/17/2007

• cbs2: Change /usr/bin/ssh to only try version 2 of the protocol.
• cbs3: Change /usr/bin/ssh to only try version 2 of the protocol.
• cbs4: Change /usr/bin/ssh to only try version 2 of the protocol.

04/10/2007

• cbs1: Change /usr/bin/ssh to only try version 2 of the protocol.

RS6KLAB Cluster

07/04/2008

• The RS6KLAB systems were updated to use the new PASS service for storage of software and user data.
  See the NOTICE: at the top of this page for more information.

Please report hardware or software problems with the ITS UNIX Cluster machines to: ptpadmin@psu.edu