Charon Linux Toolkit - Release notes for Kit 1.47

November, 13th 2017 - kit version 1.47 - bug correction

Problems fixed

• Network checks: if an IP address was assigned to an interface used for Charon, the check was not correct for RHEL 7.x and CentOS 7.x. This is now solved.

October, 30th 2017 - kit version 1.47 - minor update

Problems fixed

• minor display bug with "Service timeouts" and "Description" on the same line. Now solved.

October, 23th 2017 - kit version 1.47

Important notes

• In case of kit upgrade, the log monitoring service will have to be restarted for all virtual machines on the server (this does not affect running virtual machines)
• Due to a bug in our Wiki and its PDF exporter some links inside the PDF document are pointing to the online version of the document instead of the document itself

New features

• Support for V4.4 removed. The console autoconnect feature is then disabled (was used to solve a buffer issue in V4.4). It you upgrade from a previous version of the toolkit, please update the root's crontab to remove the 'charon_console_autoconnect' entry. To create a log of the console, please use the 'set OPA0 log=<logfile>' feature available starting with version 4.6
• Show host information:
  • the "top" command output has been added
  • more information on memory added including high memory consumers
  • minor visual updates in HTML output file
• Added checks to notify a log or console log is not unique: it should be when more than one virtual machine is defined
• Menu: the option used to manage services is now renamed to "VM Management"
• Preferences can now be set:
  • default editor for CUI and GUI
  • log display when starting/stopping a guest (virtual machine)
  • Out Of Memory (OOM) Killer settings: preferences can be set for the Charon virtual machine process to be protected against OOM Killer
  • Notes:
    • this menu entry replaces the "Connect to console" one. The "Connect to console" entry is still available from the "VM Management" menu entry.
    • the preferences are asked in the setup process but can be defined later
• When a virtual machine is started or stopped the log is automatically displayed unless this option is disabled in the Preferences (not valid for RHEL 6.x). To end the display, press CTRL-C
• Documentation menu entry: online help has been added for the other command lines (vmlist, logtail, logview)
• Alerts management:
  • Option added to customize the emails sender name, useful when emails are sent using the same sender (with a relay mailer for example). Note: if you did not customize the alert script, please use the menu option "13 - Alerts management" then "6 - Update/reinstall alert script"
  • Option added to send simulation alerts
• Send configuration and log files via email enhanced with color for ease of reading (same as "Show host information" / HTML file)
• When displaying the virtual machines list, if a timeout is defined on service start and/or stop, it is now displayed

Problems fixed

• Menu setup: the 'at' package has been added as a requirement
• Menu entries: title changed for Virtual Machines Management
• Show host information:
  • script updated to display more information during the HTML file creation
  • a blank line was added after a comment line when displaying the configuration files. Issue solved
• Log monitoring:
  • In case the aksubd service had to be restarted, an email was sent with the command output (from 'at' job). This is no more the case.
  • when the log is using the rotation mechanism, a license detected message was sent when the rotation occurred whereas it should be sent only when the virtual machine starts or when a dongle has been plugged in. This problem is now solved.
  • when the log is using the rotation mechanism, if a hardware specification is not met, a warning message was sent not only when the virtual machine started but also when the log rotation occurred. This problem is now solved.
  • when a dongle is detected as disconnected but is physically still connected, a message was sent pointing to the wrong menu option. This is now solved. (Reminder: in such a case, an automatic recovery operation is performed to try to reconnect the dongle)
• As the console autoconnect feature is removed, the 'screen' program is no more mandatory
• Clean shutdown: the example script has been simplified and corrected.
• The script that is used to check abnormal termination of services is no more installed in the crontab when running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.x and CentOS 7.x as the services are monitored by systemd (script: charon_mongstop)
• Alerts management: solved an issue where the stop alert was sent without the "requested by user" information. Note: this does not take into account the F6 key if enabled as the F6 is not recorded in the log.
• When the virtual machine failed, a wrong status (success) was sent. This is now solved.

March, 8th 2017 - kit version 1.46 UPDATE

Problems fixed

• Minor bug correction on Show host information option that did prevent from sending the email when using the "Send HTML file to recipient" option

February, 23th 2017 - kit version 1.46

New features

• Validated with CHARON-AXP and CHARON-VAX V4.8
• Validated on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 and 7 + CentOS 7
• Minor updates on log messages and color display for better visibility
• Some updates in the main menu entries, names set to match the V4.8 utilities, edit configuration files option removed from the main menu as it is located in the menu option 8.
• New option to view and restart the license service status (aksusbd)
• A new command line is added, named "vmlist" to display the list of managed virtual machines and their status (same as menu option 8)

• Show host information option (used for debugging):

  • now reports configuration files description

  • the files located in /opt/charon/log are joined to the zip file when emailed

  • includes the "vmlist" view (see above)

  • extended table of contents

  • now includes the output of 'lsblk' command

  • can be used out of the Linux Toolkit to generate system configuration reports

• Ready for the new "License has changed" messages (0000040B) in the logs (vimrc and continuous tail)

• After editing a log file, a check is performed to verify the full path to the log file, or to the folder if rotating log files are used, is specified

Problems fixed

• Copyright updated/year
• Clean shutdown examples updated for RHEL 7.x and CentOS 7: now when a service is stopped it reports INACTIVE/REQUESTED and no more FAILED
• log archive from crontab: gzip issue solved / error with existing files
• Install/Upgrade/Remove CHARON: "Type" column is removed (wrong information was reported)
• License expiration check updated due to changes in the hasp_srm_view output starting with CHARON-AXP/VAX V4.8

• Install/Upgrade/Remove CHARON option now installs packages with gpgcheck disabled to avoid issues with user created repositories

• Email subject changed when events are detected (CHARON was mentioned twice)

July, 26th 2016 - kit version 1.45

Problems fixed

• Solved an issue while displayed the virtual machines due to the new version of the 'ncu' utility (stuck when displaying the network interface status)

April, 26th 2016 - kit version 1.44

New features

• Validated with CHARON-AXP and CHARON-VAX build 17103 (patch)
• Comments can be added in the configuration file and will be then displayed when initiating the telnet connection on the console from the menu. Used for example to describe disks layout. Those lines must start with "#INFO:" then the comments
• Kit version updated with major and minor version
• When viewing a log file using 'vim' editor, a configuration file is loaded to highlight log entries making it easier to read
• 'gvim',if installed, is now recognized and proposed as an editor (graphical 'vim')
• When displaying guests (virtual machines), the network cards used are displayed and some checks are performed: existence, already used, managed by 'ncu'. Checks are also performed after editing the configuration file
• Service management option: viewing debug log option has been removed

• Option added when viewing a virtual machine log file from the menu to edit the log without 'regular license check' messages

• Two commands have been added, 'logtail' and 'logview', that allow you to continuous tail a virtual machine log file or to edit it using 'vim' with lines highlighting. If no parameter is passed, it takes the current log file for the virtual machine managed by the toolkit. If there are multiple virtual machines defined, a selection menu is displayed.

  Use 'logtail -h' and 'logview -h' for help.

  Notes:

  • If you're upgrading from a previous version, use the following commands to define the new aliases:

    # cd /opt/charon/utils # ./menusetup --alias

    .

  • These options are also available from the "Service Management" menu option then "View latest guest log file"
    .

• Connection to console now offers an option to kill active 'telnet' sessions on consoles

• The installation menu now handles the 'complete pack' files, including their associated md5sum file, that can be downloaded from the FTP server

• Sending logs via email: it is now possible to select the number of logs to send (default = 3 latest ones)

• When editing a configuration file or when starting a virtual machine, .iso files (*.[iI][sS][oO]) existence is checked as well as the .vdisk files

Problems fixed

• License expiration check failed to read some licenses with expiration set to unlimited. If you receive error messages from root related to execution of charon_expchk script and you can't immediately upgrade to version 1.44, you can just comment the related line in the crontab ("menu" → "Manage recursive jobs")
• Console autoconnect feature is now disabled at Toolkit installation as starting with version 4.6 the console logging can be defined in the configuration file
• Minor display issues solved when displaying guests list
• When installing/updating licenses using the Character User Interface, V2C files are now sorted by license number then sequential number
• When starting a virtual machine from the console connection menu, the service startup log was not displayed, now solved.
• When sending a C2V file, it's content is no more displayed in the email body
• Table vertical align issue with HTML generated configuration information file and ncu output added
• Viewing guest log files did generate a 'tail' error. Solved
• When editing a configuration file using a graphical editor, checks where performed before leaving the editor. Solved
• 'telnet' is no more a mandatory package, it is now recommended. Not installing 'telnet' will prevent from connecting from the server to the CHARON virtual machine(s) console.

• 'screen' is no more a mandatory package, it is now recommended. Not installing 'screen' will prevent from the autoconnect feature to run in the background (this feature was mainly designed for CHARON-AXP/VAX V4.4)

• 'wall' alert messages are now disabled by default at installation

• License expiration check when executed in the crontab did send an incomplete alert message if the license was disconnected. Solved.

• When a virtual machine was stopped via the console and the user answered the service was voluntarily stopped, the guests list displayed the service stopped in a 'unrequested' state whereas it should be 'requested'. Solved

• Regular license expiration check (crontab) was sending email with either errors (unlimited licenses only) or blank email to root even if no error was found. Solved

January, 5th 2016 - kit version 43

New features

• None, bug fixes only

Problems fixed

• While displaying the guests list, if the service is inactive the charon_gstart.chkrun script is no more executed (used to gather information from the guest)
• Installation of a new license option using the character user interface failed with 'hasp_update' error message.
• License expiration alerts were sent from the log file even if the alert was disabled from the menu.
• When manually creating the log file entry in the monitored logs list, the service "ExecStart=" line was reporting "create" instead of the log name full path
• In some cases a log file could be present more than once in the managed log files list

• Alerts on "Sentinel HASP RunTime Error" messages now report the KeyId and mode (regular or backup) for errors 41 (expired) and 50 (key id not found)
  Example:

  Events count: INFORMATIONAL: Not monitored WARNING: 0 ERROR: 3 Events: 20160104:162950:ERROR:2:000003E8:ll_sentine( 379): Sentinel HASP RunTime Error 50. Unable to locate key id 367006676 (regular). 20160104:162952:ERROR:2:000003E9:ll_sentine( 444): Sentinel HASP RunTime Error 41. Expired. Key id 1619329274 (backup). 20160104:162952:ERROR:2:00000373:hexane.cxx(1725): License not found, not valid, or expired.

• The required "bc" package was not requested during installation, now solved

December, 7th 2015 - kit version 42

New features

• Kit validated on CHARON-AXP and CHARON-VAX V4.7
• The installation menu option can now manage CHARON kits from V4.4 to V4.7
• Log monitor and usb license disconnection will now auto-restart in case of failure - Red Hat Enterprise 7 and Fedora only
• If auto-restart settings are defined for a virtual machine service, the settings are now displayed in the services view
• Log rotation is now supported - Requires CHARON-AXP or CHARON-VAX V4.7 minimum. Note: if switching to rotating log file, the log monitoring service must be restarted (preferably removed and redefined)
• When stopping and starting virtual machine on Linux distribution using systemd (Red Hat Enterprise 7 and Fedora) the progression is displayed
• When sending configuration and log files via email, those files are now zipped and sent in a unique .zip file. Also log files displayed in the mail body are limited to the last 64 lines (full log is available in the attached zipped file)
• Minor update in main menu layout
• The automatic log archive script can now handle guests log files, rotating and non rotating files

Problems fixed

• When starting a guest (virtual machine), the failure counter is now always reset (if auto-restart settings have been defined)
• Send configuration and log files via mail now takes into account rotating log files
• On most of the menu options, if only one guest (virtual machine) is set, you are not prompted to enter it's number for selection
• If the configuration file format is wrong, containing ^M (carriage return) at the end of the line, ^M are automatically removed. Original file is saved as .bak

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.x systems: before 'ncu' installation, a check is performed in the repository to verify the 'tunctl' package can be installed

August, 24th 2015 - kit version 41

New features

• Naming change: CHARON Linux Utilities becomes CHARON Linux Toolkit. This is to prevent from confusion between the utilities provided with CHARON-VAX and/or CHARON-AXP and this collection of tools
• If the console is accessed remotely, the foreign address is displayed.
• If a console connection is requested to a virtual machine that is not running, it is now proposed to start it directly from the console menu
• Expiration check display updated
• Service management / View guest log file: it is now possible to perform a continuous view of the current log file (menu option 6 then 3)
  The continuous view is also proposed when the guest is started
• License update can now be performed from the menu without graphical user interface (no need for firefox). Requires the hasp_update program provided either with CHARON-AXP/VAX kit or with a Software License package
• The "send C2V file" option can now handle Software Licenses (update and collect)
• Possible editors selection: 'vim' is added
• Minor update on menu layout
• Alerts are now reported in a log file that can be viewed from the "Alerts management" menu option (continuous view or using editor)
  NOTE: you must reinstall the common alert script from menu "Alerts management" menu option then "Update/reinstall common alert script" if you did not customize it
• Alerts management menu rewritten: one page to view all settings
• 'Create/Edit guest stop script' option: it is now possible to edit the script provided as an example (read only) while editing the active stop script file (for ease of copy/paste)
• View console logs now takes into account console log files specified in the configuration file, rotating and fixed named files
• Integration with systemd service management (Red Hat 7 and Fedora)
• When adding a new guest:
  • the log file monitoring is implemented automatically (less operations to perform)
  • the presence of .vdisk files is checked
  • you can re-edit the configuration file (if issues are found) before starting the guest
• When editing the configuration file, the presence of .vdisk files is checked.
• The CHARON products installation process now records the output to /opt/charon/log/yum.install.<date> file.
• While editing the configuration files, if the log is defined as a folder (for rotating log files), an error message is displayed (not supported at the moment)
• Some alerts sent by email have been reworded and in some cases more explanations have been added
• It is now possible to define (manually) a file containing information on licenses that will be displayed when using the "License key display" and "Check for license expiration" menu options. This information will also be sent in email alerts.

• Expiration alerts can now be sent from the virtual machines log monitoring. This option is by default disabled because of the crontab entry that checks for expiration once a day (can be changed) and because one or two alerts will be sent every hour 120 hours before expiration.

• Network Configuration Utility (ncu) can be called from the menu

• Show host information menu option: the html file generated now includes the latest log and the configuration file for each managed virtual machine
  .

Problems fixed

• Number of CPUs displayed could be wrong if it was not forced in the configuration file, corrected. Warning: the number of CPUs displayed does represent the number defined in the configuration file or the default number of cpus for this hardware model. The real number of CPUs the virtual machine owns depends on the CHARON server HW limitations, licenses and also licenses on the virtual machine side
• Show host information HTML output did not correctly display the semicolon ';' character, corrected. The HTM file is now sent in zipped format
• CHARON setup (menu option 1) does not display 'ncu' as an emulator anymore
• Fixes a bug that prevented from gathering information from software licenses
• Expiration check: fixed an issue that could prevent from informational alerts to be sent with daily checks. Runtime limited licenses are now taken into account
• Disabled network interface will no more generate an alert at guest startup
• The install/upgrade/remove menu now handles CHARON-AXP V4.6 correctly
• Minor update information reported in the log when stopping a virtual machine
• Scheduled license expiration check: if the dongle is not present, the alert is sent once until the dongle is reconnected and no more each time the script is executed.
• Console log file view: fixed an issue that prevented from using 'gedit' in some cases (unreadable characters)
• Exit code issue found in expect script given as an example (in case of timeout for example)
• Main and backup licenses are now correctly handled: this affects license display menu option, expiration check that both will display and check all license detected (depends on CHARON version, "hasp_srm_view -all" option must be available) and log monitoring alerts that will report the correct license number.
• The expiration check script log file is now currently archived weekly

• If the virtual machine ends with a "license has expired" message, this will be correctly reported in the alert

• Expect script: Tru64 shutdown command replaced by "init 0" as some old versions of Tru64 do not execute the shutdown scripts. Added also "send_slow" settings to prevent from losing characters while sending commands

• License expiration checks: if multiple products have expired, only one alert email is sent instead of one per product

Known issues

• All described operations will have to be performed on the CHARON server and logged in as 'root' (no other user supported).

• Virtual machines log monitoring: the log file name must be defined with full path within the configuration file. Rotating log files are not supported.

• Licenses updates: gathering information (c2v) and applying updates (v2c) cannot be performed when more than one dongle is connected to the Linux server.

April, 24th 2015 - kit version 40 update

Information related to CHARON-AXP V4.6 for Linux support:

• Updating to CHARON-AXP V4.6 requires an update of the guests list managed (/opt/charon/utils/charon_gstart.boot file) as the folder where the emulators binaries were located has changed from /opt/charon/bin/axp to /opt/charon/bin. To update this, use menu option "6 - Service Management" → "1 - Update guests list" → "4 - Edit guests list"
• The kit is not validated on Fedora 20 and Red Hat 7.0
  
• Menu option "1 - Install/Upgrade/Remove Charon":
  • This option can manage CHARON-AXP V4.6 installation but will report CHARON-VAX is installed. This display issue will be solved with Kit version 41
  • The uninstallation of CHARON-AXP V4.6 is not complete, the "charon-ncu" package has to be uninstalled manually.
  • Remember all CHARON-VAX & CHARON-AXP products must be uninstalled before installing CHARON-AXP V4.6. See  CHARON-AXP/4100/DS/ES/GS version 4.6 Build 168-03 for Linux - Release Notes - Known Restrictions in Build 168-03 

February, 21th 2015 - kit version 40

• Bug correction introduced with Kit 38: it was not possible to start guests when connected via 'ssh'. REQUIRES SERVICE UPDATE (this does not affect running guests)
• Installation menu: removed a check that could prevent from installing different emulators for either CHARON-AXP or CHARON-VAX

February, 16th 2015 - kit version 39

• Found a bug that could prevent from login in with Gnome Desktop when the menu is installed

January 14th, 2015 - kit version 38

• Charon-VAX V4.6 Build 16502 (minimum) is now supported
• Each time a guest is started its log file is archived, whatever the log_method parameter is: log file renamed to 'name'.uptoYYYY-MM-DD-HHMNSC (Example: pluto.log.upto2015-02-10-120947). REQUIRES SERVICE UPDATE (this does not affect running guests)
• The 'wall' command generates errors while used in non interactive processes on Fedora only.
• Logs archiving is now available using crontab entry
  
  • Note: Use the 'Manage recursive jobs' option from the menu to add the entry (default is archive every Monday at 00:00 and 60 days retention and zip old log files)
  • Guests log files cannot be renamed while the guest is running. They will be archived only at guest restart (whatever log_method parameter is set to)
• Archived log files can be viewed from the menu
• 'Send configuration and log files via mail' option now sends the 3 latest log files
• Expiration check alert message updated in case the license dongle is not connected
• 'menusetup' can only be executed if the current directory is set to '/opt/charon/utils'
• Service management option: bug found when adding a new guest with network checks, solved.
• The expect script provided as an example can now send the F6 key if the 'power off' command is not recognized or if a VAX VMS shutdown ends with "use console to halt system" (F6 must be allowed in the configuration file). The script exits with code 9 if 'power off' and F6 key were not allowed (so that the emulator must be killed)
• Guests display list reviewed
• Guest auto start at Linux server boot can now be disabled
• Important note: Clean service shutdown is not functional at server shutdown with Fedora due to service management system change (systemd).
  
  • Will be solved in a future release.
  • Issue: the emulator processes are killed before service stop and then clean guests shutdowns are not executed.

August 27th, 2014 - kit version 37

• Memory total/free added when displaying the guest
• Update in log file name gathering from configuration file. This solves a bug in gathering log file name if log_method is not on the same line as log name. REQUIRES SERVICE UPDATE (this does not affect running guests) from menu option "6 - Service Management"

• Release notes are now in the Documentation submenu

• Updated on 26-Nov-2014 / Stromasys new logo. No kit number increase
  

July 28th, 2014 - kit version 36

• Documentation can now be read online via firefox. It is recommended to use this option rather than the local PDF document whose conversion is not 100% compatible (case open)
  • Note: solved on August 12th, 2014 (no new kit generated, PDF updated)
• Minor display updates
• Kit: the .tar file name contains the kit number

July 1st , 2014 - kit version 35

• Several updates on console connection: if a 'power off' command or its shortcuts or a VMS shutdown 'SYSTEM SHUTDOWN COMPLETE' is detected with a "Connection closed by foreign host" message then the guest stop is considered as requested. If not the script asks to confirm for voluntatily stop.

  • The 'charon_check.alertcmd.example' file MUST BE COPIED to charon_check.alertcmd if not already customized

• Update on network interface check after configuration file update

June 27th , 2014 - kit version 34

• Console connection: it is now possible to enable/disable the console autoconnect feature from the menu. When leaving the console, the question related to voluntarily stop or not is no more asked: the script detects automatically if a 'power off' command (or its shortcuts) has been issued and the "Connection closed by foreign host" message follows, meaning the user voluntarily wanted to stop the virtual machine. Alerts sent will reflect this. REQUIRES SERVICE UPDATE.
  
  • The 'charon_check.alertcmd.example' file MUST BE COPIED to charon_check.alertcmd if not already customized
    
    

June 25th , 2014 - kit version 33

• Bug correction when sending email: sendmail command required full path
  • The 'charon_check.alertcmd.example' file MUST BE COPIED to charon_check.alertcmd if not already customized

June 25th , 2014 - kit version 32

• Show host info now displays running processes (grep charon) and files list in /opt/charon/utils
• Bug correction: events found in the guest log file were not sent with mail mode set to TEXT (worked with HTML mails)
• Bug correction: mail contents not sent with mail mode set to TEXT
  • The 'charon_check.alertcmd.example' file MUST BE COPIED to charon_check.alertcmd if not already customized

June 24th , 2014 - kit version 31

• Minor bugs corrections
• Added fix for not getting garbage messages when using the 'gedit' editor
• Fixed a bug with network interfaces check: now simple and double quotes can be present in the ifcfg-eth files (Valid values examples: ONBOOT=no, ONBOOT="no", ONBOOT='no')
• Show host info now correctly displays the ifcfg-eth* files content

June 19th , 2014 - kit version 30

• Minor bug corrections: network interfaces settings if multiple interfaces defined, display changes, etc...

June 3rd , 2014 - kit version 29

• Menu setup/install reviewed for better readability
• Added checks after editing the crontab for missing scripts
• If md5sum files are downloaded from kit location, comparative checksum is automatically performed before installation
• Changed way used to get hasp_srm_view output from show license and send C2V file
• Connect to console: after leaving the telnet session, the autoconnect utility is activated directly, it does not wait next execution from crontab (minimum 1 minute interval, could induce loss of console history)
• Log files list to be monitored is now gathered from the managed guests list (can also be edited manually)
• It is now possible to update and reinstall the alert script from the alerts management submenu (used when upgrading kit for example)
• Various display changes (more information provided)
• Wall messages can now be disabled from the alerts management menu option
  • The 'charon_check.alertcmd.example' file MUST BE COPIED to charon_check.alertcmd if not already customized
• Following Bug#4297 and issues found with FTP and NFS transfers with large files, all offloading features are switched off before guest start
• After editing a configuration file or before starting a guest, a simple check is performed for the network interfaces defined: is it already used (IPaddr defined)? Is ifcfg/ONBOOT parameter set to no (mandatory) ? Is ifcfg/NM_CONTROLLED parameter set to no (recommended). If the ifcfg-ethX file is not correctly set, the menu will propose you to update it automatically. REQUIRES SERVICE UPDATE (this does not affect running guests)
• Menu update: now displays kit version to facilitate support
• Connection to console updated: if a connection is already active and user aborts the connection, the console port selection is no more displayed, connection is done directly 

April 30th, 2014 - kit version 28

• Bug correction for sending mails with Fedora systems: messages with text or html content in body and with attachments are not received -> mails sent on Fedora systems will have then only attachment

April 29th, 2014 - kit version 27

• Bug correction for sending mails with Fedora systems: messages were empty (removed 'Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit' from mail header)

  • The 'charon_check.alertcmd.example' file MUST BE COPIED to charon_check.alertcmd if not already customized

• Minor bug correction when displaying server boot time

April 28th, 2014 - kit version 26

• Bug correction for license dongle immediate detection: this happened when the /var/log/messages was renamed (tail -0f replace by tail -Fn0). REQUIRES SERVICE UPDATE - Important note: kill all running "tail -0f" processes for /var/log/messages and guests log files before installing the new kit (tar -xf)

•  Menu rearranged to add a new option to send configuration and log files via email: these files are displayed in the email body and also sent as attachment
  • Note: your email client must be able to render MIME Application/base64 content

• If the license dongle is not present at server boot, the startup procedure is aborted after 5 tries with 20 seconds interval. Services will have then to be started manually when the license dongle is connected. REQUIRES SERVICE UPDATE (this does not affect running guests)
• Show host information now only sends one mail to recipient. The mail will contain HTML report in the mail body and the attached mail file

April 23th, 2014 - kit version 25

• Changed the way the email recipient is entered when sending hasp_srm_view output, C2V file or host information HTML report: do not use anymore editor to enter email stop and remembers the last address entered
• Added the possibility to send a test mail when setting the mail mode (HTML or TEXT)

April 15th, 2014 - kit version 24

• Alert mail system reviewed to be compatible with Exchange: 'mailx' command replaced by 'sendmail' to be able to send HTML emails that are interpreted as HTML and not TEXT
  • The 'charon_check.alertcmd.example' file MUST BE COPIED to charon_check.alertcmd if not already customized

April 11th, 2014 -  kit version 23

• Qualified for Charon-AXP V4.5 Build 15505 (REQUIRES SERVICE UPDATE)
• Alerts via emails: a footer can be added from the Alerts Management menu
  • The 'charon_check.alertcmd.example' file MUST BE COPIED to charon_check.alertcmd if not already customized
• Added entry in log file when an abnormal guest termination is detected
• Emulator is now started from the /opt/charon/log directory and not from the / directory. In case the config file does not contain the log file definition or the config file is not a correct config file, a default log file will be placed there. REQUIRES SERVICE UPDATE (this does not affect running guests)

March 28th, 2014

• Minor display updates

• Added kit version for Linux utilities for better readability

March 21th, 2014

• Added monitoring of unrequested guests stop: if a guest is stopped without proper service shutdown or user request from the console, an alert message is sent
  

  • Note: if not done, please add the following line in the root's crontab:

    * * * * * /opt/charon/utils/charon_mongstop

• Minor display changes

March 18th, 2014

• C2V file is now generated in the background (via 'at' command) in case of ssh connection that could prevent from getting C2V file interactively (case could be due to remote_desktop and virtual_machine options missing in the key)

October 17th, 2013

• Continuous log monitoring can now alert for INFO, WARN and ERROR messages depending on level selected
  Service charon_keychk renamed to charon_logchk
  REQUIRES:
  • charon_keychk service to be uninstalled

    • stop service

    • remove it: # chkconfig --del charon_keychk

    • remove script: # rm /opt/charon/utils/charon_keychk
  • installation of charon_logchk service
  • rename charon_keychk.startlist to charon_logchk.list
  • add entry "* * * * * /opt/charon/utils/charon_logevent" in crontab
• Connection to console: if a session is already active, an option has been added to kill the active one.
• Automatic console connection utility added to:
  • continuously get the console log even if not interactively connected
  • solve an issue with TX buffer overflow that prevents the system to boot or generates console errors
  REQUIRES:
  • add entry "* * * * * /opt/charon/utils/charon_console_autoconnect" in crontab
• Alert script has been totally changed, it uses now templates instead of 'case' utility to send emails and wall messages.
  Goal is to be able to add new alerts easily without script rewriting
  REQUIRES:
  • copy charon_check.alertcmd.example to charon_check.alertcmd (if not already customized)

October 2nd, 2013

• Added 'expect' common script for Tru64 and VMS clean shutdown (when 'ssh' cannot be used) and usage examples

September 23th, 2013

• Added connect to console and edit configuration files to the "Manage automatic start/stop for guests" menu option

September 18th, 2013

• bug correction for display guests list and stop command for guests due to ssh usage: break the 'while read LINE' then replaced by 'for LINE in ...'Alert mail system has been reviewed: now only one script for HTML or TEXT emails.
• Added menu option to switch between the 2 modes

September 17th, 2013

• charon_keychk minor bug correction
• Menu changed: added Online DocumentationShow host information now displays charon_gstart.stop and charon_gstart.chkrun content if they exist
• Added table of contents and links when in HTML mode

September 16th, 2013

• menu setup now asks kind of alert emails the user wants to receive if the alert script does not exist (so as first installation) and also asks to fill the recipients listShow host information now checks for /var/lock/subsys/charon* file
• Added 'netstat -r' output and contents of /etc/sysconfig/networking/devices/ifcfg-* files for each network interface
• Informational alert is now sent when the 'Emulator started at' message is found in the log file. This is to solve the missing '*limited license' message when using Software licenseGuests service status now can display guest status if the script charon_gstart.chkrun exists and is configured (REQUIRES SERVICE UPDATE)
• Example provided in charon_gstart.chkrun.example

September 12th, 2013

• charon_gstart service update now does not require guest rebootConnection to console now records input and output to log file
• Last console log file can be viewed from this menu
• Check if a connection is already active before connecting to console port
• Show host info now gives services scripts version if installed
• Services are now correctly stopped when issuing shutdown or reboot (REQUIRES SERVICES UPDATE)
• When viewing or editing files, 'emacs' is ow available: advanced graphical editor

September 10th, 2013

• Expiration check: now takes into account 01-Jan-1970 date which corresponds to Unlimited (will be solved with new hasp_srm_view build)
• Added an alert script example with pure text (no HTML code). In case of use, it will have to be copied to charon_check.alertcmd

September 9th, 2013

• charon setup manages now .tar.gz files as the kit is provided zipped
• menu setup now checks if telnet, lsusb, ssh and expect are installedcharon_expchk now also unbind/bind the usb devices in case of error. It was just restarting the aksusbd service before
• Corrected a tput usage while not in interactive mode and that created lots of mails in the root mailbox
• Recipients list update: empty lines and leading and trailing spaces are automatically removed

September 6th, 2013

• charon setup completed: it is now possible to install charon with this script (menu option 1). The tool also provides options to uninstall (for upgrade for example) and to add emulators.
• Software license key setup is also managed by the script

September 4th, 2013

• added a text to provide help on how to setup ssh trust between Linux and Tru64added a basic text editor called 'nano' for options that need updates or file read and that previously offered 'vi' and 'gedit' as available editors.

• 'nano' is very simple, use the keys shown at the bottom of the script for commands (example: ^X to exit, means CTRL +X)

• menu console:

  • now if the guest is not running, connection to the guest is rejected
  • before connection to guest console, now displays a help screen with information on how to set the default escape key for example

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