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VM management - Create/Edit guest stop script

Table of Contents

Description

Use this option to edit the stop script that will be executed at service shutdown upon manual request or during the Charon Linux server shutdown procedure.

The script is unique and uses the configuration file (full name) to select commands to be executed at guest shutdown (selected by "case in...").

If the script does not exist, it will be generated automatically based on existing guests list and will by default do nothing except preparing the script skeleton with commands using the provided script examples to perform the shutdown via either "expect", "rsh" or "ssh". Newly added virtual machines will have their "case" added to the script when it will be edited.

To be able to perform a clean shutdown of your Tru64 or OpenVMS virtual machine, you will have either to use the provided scripts (see above) or to add your own shutdown scripts.

If you plan to use the "expect" utility, please read Tips and Tricks - Shutdown guests with Expect tool for more.

(lightbulb) Basic knowledge of shell programming is needed to implement the clean shutdown / stop script.

MethodComments
expect

Requires you pass user and password to the script so that it can connect to the OPA0 console via "telnet" and execute the shutdown commands. The "guest_shutdown.exp" script, located in the /opt/charon/utils folder, can perform operations to:

  • log off a user connected on the console if the prompt is detected,
  • enter a username/password to login if "login:" or "username:" is detected,
  • execute the shutdown command if the prompt is detected,
  • detect the SRM prompt (>>>) to issue the "power off" command (AXP) or send the F6 key (AXP & VAX) if enabled.

This method is useful if the virtual machine has no telnet connection available and cannot handle "rsh" and "ssh" remote connections.

Important notes:

  • Note any local existing connection to the console has to be killed before executing the expect script.
  • If the console is locked from an external connection or if the prompt is not detected after sending a carriage return, the expect script will fail.
rsh

Requires:

  • a trust to be created between the Linux server and the Tru64 or OpenVMS guest (proxy) to issue password free remote commands
  • if the virtual machine is running OpenVMS, the CHARON_SHUTDOWN.COM script, located in the /opt/charon/utils folder, has to be copied in the SYS$MANAGER folder on the OpenVMS machine.
ssh

Requires:

  • a secured trust to be created between the Linux server and the Tru64 or OpenVMS guest (key pair) to issue password and passphrase free remote commands
  • if the virtual machine is running OpenVMS, the CHARON_SHUTDOWN.COM script, located in the /opt/charon/utils folder, has to be copied in the SYS$MANAGER folder on the OpenVMS machine.

Note for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.x and CentOS 7.x

If your application and server need time to shutdown, it could be necessary to give more time in the service definition to prevent from the service stop procedure to fail due to timeout.

To do so, open the "Manage 'systemd' services" option and edit the service configuration file. You can then add the TimeoutStopSec= parameter in the Service section.

Example:

[Service]

...

TimeoutStopSec=3min

(info) More information can be found using the "# man systemd.service" command on your Linux server

Options

  • Options 1 to 5 are explanations on how to setup and prepare the virtual machine and the Charon Linux server (if necessary) to use the three available methods. 
  • Option 6 edits the script. This script is in a form of "case in <configuration filename> do ..."
  • Option 7 is used to test the script. Use with caution on production machines.


You'll find in options 1 to 5 all the details to setup the remote connection: packages to install, proxy settings for rsh, key pair definition for ssh (password and passphrase free), the necessary firewall settings if needed, etc...


Common stop script explanation

When the script is initialized using option 6 or when a new virtual machine is added, the following lines are added:

...

case "$1"

in

  <configuration file>)

    #-- Uncomment and complete one of the following lines:

    #${CHARONDIR}/utils/charon_gstop_expect \$1 \$2 root <password> "<prompt>" <TRU64/VMS>

    #${CHARONDIR}/utils/charon_gstop_rsh \$1 \$2 <hostname> <TRU64/VMS>

    #${CHARONDIR}/utils/charon_gstop_ssh \$1 \$2 <hostname> <TRU64/VMS>

    #/<path>/<myscript>

  ;;

...

esac

One of the blue colored lines above has to be uncommented depending on the method chosen. Other lines can remain in the script or can be deleted.

Notes:

  • The values between the < and > signs have to be filled manually.
  • The operating system must be set to either TRU64 or VMS (case insensitive).
  • If the "rsh" or "ssh" method is used, the <hostname>, corresponding to the virtual machine hostname, must be known by the Charon Linux server.

Stop script content example:

(info) The editor defined in the Preferences is used to edit the script.


Stop script execution example with "ssh" on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.5:

Provided shutdown scripts explanation

Note for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.x and CentOS 7.x

Whatever the shutdown script execution result is, the stop request sent by the systemctl command will stop the emulator. It is very important then to ensure the stop script has been tested and validated.


charon_gstop_expect

  • Check if there's an active connection to the console on the local host, kill if any.
  • Execute the /opt/charon/utils/guest_shutdown.exp expect script with the values provided: username (root), password, prompt, operating system (either TRU64 or VMS). This script is able to send the shutdown command depending on the returned characters on the console. This can be the SRM prompt ">>>", the "login:" or "username:" prompts or the prompt of the logged in user.
  • Report all output to /opt/charon/log/console.stop.<guest name>.log.

Notes:

  • With Charon-AXP, the "power off" command is sent at the SRM prompt
  • With Charon-VAX, the "power off" command does not exist. To power off the virtual machine, the F6 key has to be enabled in the configuration file (set OPA0 stop_on="F6"). If not set, the emulator process is killed.
  • (warning) If the console is locked from an external connection or if the prompt is not detected after sending a carriage return, the expect script will fail.

charon_gstop_rsh

  • Check the guest can be reached via ping, if yes:

    • Issue the shutdown command via "rsh" (depends on the operating system),

    • Wait for a few seconds

    • Check if the guest can be "pinged" and repeat with an interval of 5 seconds

    • If the guest cannot be pinged, assume the shutdown procedure is complete

  • Kill the emulator process (Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.x) or use the service kill command (RHEL 7.x and CentOS 7.x). (question) The shutdown commands does not power off nor stop the emulator process, that's why this operation is needed

  • Report the stop information within the guest log file

charon_gstop_ssh

  • Check the guest can be reached via ping, if yes:

    • Issue the shutdown command via "ssh" (depends on the operating system),

    • Wait for a few seconds

    • Check if the guest can be "pinged" and repeat with an interval of 5 seconds

    • If the guest cannot be pinged, assume the shutdown procedure is complete

  • Kill the emulator process (Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.x) or use the service kill command (RHEL 7.x and CentOS 7.x). (question) The shutdown commands does not power off nor stop the emulator process, that's why this operation is needed

  • Report the stop information within the guest log file

Optional guest display status script

It is possible to create a script, "/opt/charon/utils/charon_gstart.chkrun" (an example is provided in the 'charon_gstart.chkrun.example' file) that will add a status line while displaying the guests list for running guests only. This script, if needed, has to be created manually and must be executable.

This status line is the result of the command you executed for that guest (known by its configuration file), for example a ping, an ssh command displaying uptime (Tru64) or boottime (OpenVMS).

Display output example from the "vmlist" command:


Script example:

(lightbulb) In this example, we use "ssh" to display the guest "uptime".

(warning) The last 2 lines containing the RETVAL variable are mandatory

To create the script, the following commands were executed to copy the provided example to the one that will be used:

# cp /opt/charon/utils/charon_gstart.chkrun.example /opt/charon/utils/charon_gstart.chkrun

# vim /opt/charon/utils/charon_gstart.chkrun

# chmod 744 /opt/charon/utils/charon_gstart.chkrun

Example file provided (contains example for Tru64 and OpenVMS):



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