crsh - Cluster administration tool
This documentation is for version: 4.13.2
crsh [-a '<command>'] [-K <seconds>] [-q] [-c
'<filename>'] [-x <cols>] [-C '<filename>'] [--debug
[[...] || <INTEGER>]] [-d] [-e '<[user@]<host>[:port]>']
[--fillscreen] [-f '<font>'] [-h] [-L '[tag]'] [-H] [-o
'<STRING>'] [-p <port>] [-Q] [-y <rows>] [-s] [-r
'<filename>'] [-t '<STRING>'] [-g] [-T '<title>'] [-u]
[-?] [-A] [-l '<username>'] [-v]
The command opens an administration console and an xterm to all
specified hosts. Any text typed into the administration console is
replicated to all windows. All windows may also be typed into directly.
This tool is intended for (but not limited to) cluster
administration where the same configuration or commands must be run on each
node within the cluster. Performing these commands all at once via this tool
ensures all nodes are kept in sync.
Connections are opened using rsh which must be correctly installed
and configured.
Extra caution should be taken when editing files as lines may not
necessarily be in the same order; assuming line 5 is the same across all
servers and modifying that is dangerous. It's better to search for the
specific line to be changed and double-check all terminals are as expected
before changes are committed.
Please also see "KNOWN BUGS".
- The dotted line on any sub-menu is a tear-off, i.e. click on it and the
sub-menu is turned into its own window.
- Unchecking a hostname on the Hosts sub-menu will unplug the host from the
cluster control window, so any text typed into the console is not sent to
that host. Re-selecting it will plug it back in.
- If your window manager menu bars are obscured by terminal windows see the
"screen_reserve_XXXXX" options in the
$HOME/.clusterssh/config file
(see "FILES").
- If the terminals overlap too much see the
"terminal_reserve_XXXXX" options in the
$HOME/.clusterssh/config file
(see "FILES").
- When using ClusterSSH on a large number of systems to connect to a single
system using an SSH utility (e.g. you issue a command to to copy a file
using scp from the remote computers to a single host) and when these
connections require authentication (i.e. you are going to authenticate
with a password), the sshd daemon at that location may refuse connections
after the number "MaxStartups" limit in
sshd_config is exceeded. (If this value is not set, it defaults to
10). This is expected behavior; sshd uses this mechanism to prevent DoS
attacks from unauthenticated sources. Please tune sshd_config and reload
the SSH daemon, or consider using the ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
mechanism for authentication if you encounter this problem.
- If client windows fail to open, try running:
"crsh -e {single host
name}"
This will test the mechanisms used to open windows to hosts.
This could be due to either the "-xrm"
terminal option which enables
"AllowSendEvents" (some terminals do
not require this option, other terminals have another method for
enabling it - see your terminal documentation) or the configuration of
"rsh".
Some of these options may also be defined within the configuration
file. Default options are shown as appropriate.
- --action
'<command>', -a '<command>'
- Run the command in each session, e.g. "-a 'vi
/etc/hosts'" to drop straight into a vi session.
- --autoclose
<seconds>, -K <seconds>
- Number of seconds to wait before closing finished terminal windows.
- --autoquit,
-q
- Toggle automatically quitting after the last client window has closed
(overriding the config file).
- --cluster-file
'<filename>', -c '<filename>'
- Use supplied file as additional cluster file (see also
"FILES").
- --cols <cols>, -x
<cols>
- Number of columns
- --config-file
'<filename>', -C '<filename>'
- Use supplied file as additional configuration file (see also
"FILES").
- --debug [[...] ||
<INTEGER>]
- Enable debugging. Either a level can be provided or the option can be
repeated multiple times. Maximum level is 9.
- --dump-config, -d
- Dump the current configuration in the same format used by the
$HOME/.clusterssh/config
file.
- --evaluate
'<[user@]<host>[:port]>', -e
'<[user@]<host>[:port]>'
- Display and evaluate the terminal and connection arguments to display any
potential errors. The <hostname> is required to aid the
evaluation.
- --fillscreen
- Resize terminal windows to fill the whole available screen
- --font '<font>', -f
'<font>'
- Specify the font to use in the terminal windows. Use standard X font
notation such as "5x8".
- --help, -h
- Show basic help text and exit
- --list '[tag]', -L
'[tag]'
- List available cluster tags. Tag is optional. If a tag is provided then
hosts for that tag are listed. NOTE: format of output changes when using
"--quiet" or "-Q" option.
- --man, -H
- Show full help text (the man page) and exit
- --options
'<STRING>', -o '<STRING>'
- Specify arguments to be passed to ssh when making the connection.
NOTE: options for ssh should normally be put into the ssh
configuration file; see "ssh_config" and
$HOME/.ssh/config for more
details.
Default: -x -o ConnectTimeout=10
- --port <port>, -p
<port>
- Specify an alternate port for connections.
- --quiet, -Q
- Do not output extra text when using some options
- --rows <rows>, -y
<rows>
- Number of rows
- --show-history, -s
- Show history within console window.
- --tag-file '<filename>',
-r '<filename>'
- Use supplied file as additional tag file (see also "FILES")
- --term-args '<STRING>',
-t '<STRING>'
- Specify arguments to be passed to terminals being used.
- --tile, -g
- Toggle window tiling (overriding the config file).
- --title '<title>', -T
'<title>'
- Specify the initial part of the title used in the console and client
windows.
- --unique-servers,
-u
- Toggle connecting to each host only once when a hostname has been
specified multiple times.
- --usage, -?
- Show synopsis and exit
- --use-all-a-records, -A
- If a hostname resolves to multiple IP addresses, toggle whether or not to
connect to all of them, or just the first one (see also config file
entry).
- --username
'<username>', -l '<username>'
- Specify the default username to use for connections (if different from the
currently logged in user). NOTE: will be overridden by
<user>@<host>.
- --version, -v
- Show version information and exit
The following arguments are supported:
- [user@]<hostname>[:port] ...
- Open an xterm to the given hostname and connect to the administration
console. The optional port number can be used if the server is not
listening on the standard port.
- <tag> ...
- Open a series of xterms defined by <tag> in one of the supplementary
configuration files (see "FILES").
Note: specifying a username on a cluster tag will
override any usernames defined in the cluster.
The following key shortcuts are available within the console
window, and all of them may be changed via the configuration files.
- Control-Shift-plus
- Open the 'Add Host(s) or Cluster(s)' dialogue box. Multiple host or
cluster names can be entered, separated by spaces.
- Alt-n
- Paste in the hostname part of the specific connection string to each
client, minus any username or port, e.g.
"scp /etc/hosts
server:files/<Alt-n>.hosts"
would replace the <Alt-n> with the client's name in each
window.
- Alt-l
- Paste in the hostname of the server cssh is being run on
- Alt-q
- Quit the program and close all connections and windows.
- Alt-r
- Retile all the client windows.
- Alt-u
- Paste in the username for the connection
- /etc/clusters,
$HOME/.clusterssh/clusters
- These files contain a list of tags to server names mappings. When any name
is used on the command line it is checked to see if it is a tag. If it is
a tag, then the tag is replaced with the list of servers. The format is as
follows:
<tag> [user@]<server>[:port] [user@]<server>[:port] [...]
e.g.
# List of servers in live
live admin1@server1 admin2@server2:2022 server3 server4
All comments (marked by a #) and blank lines are ignored. Tags
may be nested, but be aware of using recursive tags as they are not
checked for.
Servers can be defined using expansion macros:
"webservers
websvr{a,b,c}"
would be expanded to
"webservers websvra websvrb
websvrc"
and
"webservers
websvr{6..9}"
would be expanded to
"webservers websvr6 websvr7 websvr8
websvr9"
Extra cluster files may also be specified either as an option
on the command line (see
"cluster-file") or in the user's
$HOME/.clusterssh/config
file (see "extra_cluster_file" configuration option).
NOTE: the last tag read overwrites any pre-existing tag
of that name.
NOTE: there is a special cluster tag called
"default" - any tags or hosts included
within this tag will be automatically opened if nothing is specified on
the command line.
- /etc/tags,
$HOME/.clusterssh/tags
- Very similar to clusters files but the definition is reversed. The
format is:
<host> <tag> [...]
This allows one host to be specified as a member of a number
of tags. This format can be clearer than using clusters
files.
Extra tag files may be specified either as an option (see
"tag-file") or within the user's
$HOME/.clusterssh/config
file (see "extra_tag_file"
configuration option).
NOTE: All tags are added together
- /etc/csshrc &
$HOME/.clusterssh/config
- This file contains configuration overrides - the defaults are as marked.
Default options are overwritten first by the global file, and then by the
user file.
NOTE: values for entries do not need to be quoted
unless it is required for passing arguments, e.g.
"terminal_allow_send_events="-xrm
'*.VT100.allowSendEvents:true'""
should be written as
"terminal_allow_send_events=-xrm
'*.VT100.allowSendEvents:true'"
- auto_close =
5
- Close terminal window after this many seconds. If set to 0 will instead
wait on input from the user in each window before closing. See also
--autoclose and --no-autoclose
- auto_quit =
1
- Automatically quit after the last client window closes. Set to 0 to
disable. See also --autoquit
- auto_wm_decoration_offsets
= no
- Enable or disable alternative algorithm for calculating terminal
positioning.
- comms = rsh
- Sets the default communication method (initially taken from the name of
the program, but can be overridden here).
- console_position
= <null>
- Set the initial position of the console - if empty then let the window
manager decide. Format is '+<x>+<y>', i.e. '+0+0' is top left
hand corner of the screen, '+0-70' is bottom left hand side of screen
(more or less).
- external_command_mode
= 0600
- File mode bits for the external_command_pipe.
- external_command_pipe
= <null>
- Define the full path to an external command pipe that can be written to
for controlling some aspects of ClusterSSH, such as opening sessions to
more clusters.
Commands:
"open <tag|hostname>"
- open new sessions to provided tag or hostname
"retile" - force window
retiling
e.g.: "echo 'open
localhost'" /path/to/external_command_pipe >>
- external_cluster_command
= <null>
- Define the full path to an external command that can be used to resolve
tags to host names. This command can be written in any language. The
script must accept a list of tags to resolve and output a list of hosts
(space separated on a single line). Any tags that cannot be resolved
should be returned unchanged.
A non-0 exit code will be counted as an error, a warning will
be printed and output ignored.
If the external command is given a
"-L" option it should output a list of
tags (space separated on a single line) it can resolve
- Define an extra cluster file in the format of /etc/clusters.
Multiple files can be specified, separated by commas. Both ~ and
$HOME are acceptable as a reference to the user's
home directory, e.g.
"extra_cluster_file = ~/clusters,
$HOME/clus"
- Define an extra tag file in the format of /etc/tags. Multiple files
can be specified, separated by commas. Both ~ and
$HOME are acceptable as a reference to the user's
home directory, e.g.
"extra_tag_file = ~/tags,
$HOME/tags"
- key_addhost =
Control-Shift-plus
- Default key sequence to open AddHost menu. See "KEY SHORTCUTS"
for more information.
- If set to 1, hide the menu bar (File, Hosts, Send, Help) in the
console.
- key_clientname
= Alt-n
- Default key sequence to send cssh client names to client. See "KEY
SHORTCUTS" for more information.
- key_localname
= Alt-l
- Default key sequence to send hostname of local server to client. See
"KEY SHORTCUTS" for more information.
- key_paste =
Control-v
- Default key sequence to paste text into the console window. See "KEY
SHORTCUTS" for more information.
- key_quit =
Control-q
- Default key sequence to quit the program (will terminate all open
windows). See "KEY SHORTCUTS" for more information.
- key_retilehosts
= Alt-r
- Default key sequence to retile host windows. See "KEY SHORTCUTS"
for more information.
- key_username =
Alt-u
- Default key sequence to send username to client. See "KEY
SHORTCUTS" for more information.
- macro_servername
= %s
- macro_hostname
= %h
- macro_username
= %u
- macro_newline
= %n
- macro_version
= %v
- Change the replacement macro used when either using a 'Send' menu item, or
when pasting text into the main console.
- macros_enabled
= yes
- Enable or disable macro replacement. Note: this affects all the
"macro_*" variables above.
- Maximum number of entries in the 'Add Host' menu cluster list before
scrollbars are used
- Maximum number of hosts to put into the host menu before starting a new
column
- When set to non-0 will automatically tear-off the host or send menu at
program start
- mouse_paste =
Button-2 (middle mouse button)
- Default key sequence to paste text into the console window using the
mouse. See "KEY SHORTCUTS" for more information.
- rsh = /path/to/rsh
- ssh = /path/to/ssh
- telnet =
/path/to/telnet
- Set the path to the specific binary to use for the communication method,
else uses the first match found in $PATH
- rsh_args =
<blank>
- ssh_args = "-x -o
ConnectTimeout=10"
- telnet_args =
<blank>
- Sets any arguments to be used with the communication method (defaults to
ssh arguments).
NOTE: The given defaults are based on OpenSSH, not
commercial ssh software.
NOTE: Any "generic" change to the method
(e.g., specifying the ssh port to use) should be done in the medium's
own config file (see "ssh_config" and
$HOME/.ssh/config).
- screen_reserve_top
= 0
- screen_reserve_bottom
= 60
- screen_reserve_left
= 0
- screen_reserve_right
= 0
- Number of pixels from the screen's side to reserve when calculating screen
geometry for tiling. Setting this to something like 50 will help keep cssh
from positioning windows over your window manager's menu bar if it draws
one at that side of the screen.
- terminal =
/path/to/xterm
- Path to the X-Windows terminal used for the client.
- terminal_args
= <blank>
- Arguments to use when opening terminal windows. Otherwise takes defaults
from $HOME/.Xdefaults or
$HOME/.Xresources file.
- terminal_chdir
= 0
- When non-0, set the working directory for each terminal as per
'terminal_chdir_path'
- terminal_chdir_path
= $HOME/.clusterssh/work/%s
- Path to use as working directory for each terminal when 'terminal_chdir'
is enabled. The path provided is passed through the macro parser (see the
section above on 'macros_enabled'.
- terminal_font
= 6x13
- Font to use in the terminal windows. Use standard X font notation.
- terminal_reserve_top
= 5
- terminal_reserve_bottom
= 0
- terminal_reserve_left
= 5
- terminal_reserve_right
= 0
- Number of pixels from the terminal's side to reserve when calculating
screen geometry for tiling. Setting these will help keep cssh from
positioning windows over your scroll and title bars or otherwise
overlapping the windows too much.
- terminal_colorize
= 1
- If set to 1 (the default), then "-bg" and "-fg"
arguments will be added to the terminal invocation command-line. The
terminal will be colored in a pseudo-random way based on the host name;
while the color of a terminal is not easily predicted, it will always be
the same color for a given host name. After a while, you will recognize
hosts by their characteristic terminal color.
- terminal_bg_style
= dark
- If set to "dark", the terminal
background will be set to black and the foreground to the pseudo-random
color. If set to "light", then the
foreground will be black and the background the pseudo-random color. If
terminal_colorize is "zero", then this
option has no effect.
- terminal_size
= 80x24
- Initial size of terminals to use. NOTE: the number of lines (24) will be
decreased when resizing terminals for tiling, not the number of characters
(80).
- terminal_title_opt
= -T
- Option used with "terminal" to set the
title of the window
- terminal_allow_send_events
= -xrm '*.VT100.allowSendEvents:true'
- Option required by the terminal to allow XSendEvents to be received
- title = cssh
- Title of windows to use for both the console and terminals.
- unmap_on_redraw
= no
- Tell Tk to use the UnmapWindow request before redrawing terminal windows.
This defaults to "no" as it causes some problems with the FVWM
window manager. If you are experiencing problems with redraws, you can set
it to "yes" to allow the window to be unmapped before it is
repositioned.
- use_all_a_records
= 0
- If a hostname resolves to multiple IP addresses, set to
1 to connect to all of them, not just the first
one found. See also
"--use-all-a-records"}
- use_hotkeys =
1
- Setting to 0 will disable all hotkeys.
- use_natural_sort
= 0
- Windows will normally sort in alphabetical order, i.e.: host1, host11,
host2. Setting to this 1 will change the sort
order, i.e.: host1, host2, host11. NOTE: You must have the perl module
Sort::Naturally installed.
- user = $LOGNAME
- Sets the default user for running commands on clients.
- window_tiling
= 1
- Perform window tiling (set to 0 to disable)
- window_tiling_direction
= right
- Direction to tile windows, where "right"
means starting top left and moving right and then down, and anything else
means starting bottom right and moving left and then up
NOTE: The key shortcut modifiers must be in the form
"Control",
"Alt" or
"Shift", e.g. with the first letter
capitalised and the rest lower case. Keys may also be disabled individually
by setting to the word "null".
- $HOME/.clusterssh/send_menu
- This (optional) file contains items to populate the send menu. The default
entry could be written as:
<send_menu>
<menu title="Use Macros">
<toggle/>
<accelerator>ALT-p</accelerator>
</menu>
<menu title="Remote Hostname">
<command>%s</command>
<accelerator>ALT-n</accelerator>
</menu>
<menu title="Local Hostname">
<command>%s</command>
<accelerator>ALT-l</accelerator>
</menu>
<menu title="Username">
<command>%u</command>
<accelerator>ALT-u</accelerator>
</menu>
<menu title="Test Text">
<command>echo "ClusterSSH Version: %v%n</command>
</menu>
</send_menu>
Submenus can also be specified as follows:
<send_menu>
<menu title="Default Entries">
<detach>yes</detach>
<menu title="Hostname">
<command>%s</command>
<accelerator>ALT-n</accelerator>
</menu>
</menu>
</send_menu>
Caveats:
The following replacement macros are available (note: these can be
changed in the configuration file):
- %s
- Hostname part of the specific connection string to each client, minus any
username or port
- %u
- Username part of the connection string to each client
- %h
- Hostname of server where cssh is being run from
- %n
- "RETURN" code
NOTE: requires XML::Simple to be installed
If you have any ideas about how to fix the below bugs, please get
in touch and/or provide a patch.
- •
- Swapping virtual desktops can cause a redraw of all the terminal windows.
This is due to a lack of distinction within Tk between switching desktops
and minimising/maximising windows. Until Tk can tell the difference
between the two events, there is no fix (apart from rewriting everything
directly in X).
If you have issues running crsh, first try:
"crsh -e
[user@]<hostname>[:port]"
This performs two tests to confirm cssh is able to work properly
with the settings provided within the
$HOME/.clusterssh/config file
(or internal defaults).
- 1.
- Test the terminal window works with the options provided
- 2.
- Test rsh works to a host with the configured arguments
Configuration options to watch for in ssh are:
- SSH doesn't understand "-o
ConnectTimeout=10" - remove the option from the
$HOME/.clusterssh/config
file
- OpenSSH-3.8 using untrusted ssh tunnels - use
"-Y" instead of
"-X" or use
"ForwardX11Trusted yes" in
$HOME/.ssh/ssh_config (if you
change the default ssh options from "-x"
to "-X")
A web site for comments, requests, bug reports and bug
fixes/patches is available at:
<https://github.com/duncs/clusterssh>
If you require support, please run the following commands and
create an issue via: <https://github.com/duncs/clusterssh/issues>
"perl -V"
"perl -MTk -e 'print
$Tk::VERSION,$/'"
"perl -MX11::Protocol -e 'print
$X11::Protocol::VERSION,$/'"
"cat /etc/csshrc
$HOME/.clusterssh/config"
Using the debug option (--debug) will turn on debugging output.
Repeat the option to increase the amount of debug. However, if possible
please only use this option with one host at a time, e.g.
"cssh --debug <host>" due to the
amount of output produced (in both main and child windows).
<https://github.com/duncs/clusterssh/wiki/>,
"ssh", Tk::overview, X11::Protocol,
"perl"
Duncan Ferguson, "<duncan_j_ferguson at
yahoo.co.uk>"
Copyright 1999-2018 Duncan Ferguson.
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
modify it under the terms of either: the GNU General Public License as
published by the Free Software Foundation; or the Artistic License.
See http://dev.perl.org/licenses/ for more information.