[opensuse] Re: AutoFS somewhat complex...
Dave Howorth wrote:
Verner Kjærsgaard wrote:
a) I wanted to use remote/nfs'd storage for /home
This is a bad idea nowadays when users have graphical logins. Any problem with NFS means their system becomes unusable. Better to have a local home and NFS mount the subdirectories (or more likely, NFS-mount one directory and symlink the various subdirectories to it).
Well, I would say that unavailability of the files beneith one's home directory usually makes one's system very unusable as well. What do you do after login? Play xpat2 (not possible, has been removed from openSUSE... ;-))? I would never trade the convenience of an NFS-based home against the minimal chance that I want to log in and the NFS server ain't there in this moment... Then I could not work anyhow, the server problem has to be fixed first. Oh, and concerning the OP: I don't know what his problem is concerning firefox and it's SQLite database on NFS file systems. We have this here and have never encountered any problems or errors. Locking over NFS works; we have 2010 and this ain't NFSv2-over-UDP any more. Just my 0.02 EUR, Joachim -- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Joachim Schrod Email: jschrod@acm.org Roedermark, Germany -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
Joachim Schrod wrote:
Well, I would say that unavailability of the files beneith one's home directory usually makes one's system very unusable as well. What do you do after login? Play xpat2 (not possible, has been removed from openSUSE... ;-))?
I would never trade the convenience of an NFS-based home against the minimal chance that I want to log in and the NFS server ain't there in this moment... Then I could not work anyhow, the server problem has to be fixed first.
What you do after login is try to diagnose the problem with the server! It's more difficult to diagnose it if you can't get a terminal running :) I've been mounting home directories from the server since the 80s on SunOS as Anton says. But in my case I've found that it's easier to diagnose problems with the network or with NFS or DNS servers if my desktop machine is able to run my normal session, albeit without my complete normal data. Just my 2p Cheers, Dave PS Yes I know I could get a session in other ways but that just increases the hassle. PPS e.g. Running different firefox environments is more complicated with an NFS home as opposed to a local home with NFS-mounted subdirectories. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
Dave Howorth said the following on 04/13/2010 05:33 AM:
I've been mounting home directories from the server since the 80s on SunOS as Anton says. But in my case I've found that it's easier to diagnose problems with the network or with NFS or DNS servers if my desktop machine is able to run my normal session, albeit without my complete normal data.
SUN began (in the days of 3MHz Ethernet) with very minimalist machines. The even did swap over the net, which with a 3MHz link was a real killer. Soon we got local disk and enough binaries to do diagnostics. Thank you /etc/nsswitch ! Go read the docs. However it did rather upset things for admins when their local password got bumped by the new NIS password. However nsswitch can be a mixed blessing ... http://www.mail-archive.com/freebsd-questions@freebsd.org/msg13627.html <quote>
Alternatively, another way to approach it might be to create a pseudo-entry, as described previously, where your NIS data is encapsulated as a line in the local /etc/passwd file(s), and then put the two userids into a common, locally defined group; that plus appropriate group read-write-execute-search permissions would also allow them, again, to seamlessly share data.
When using YP back in 1986, one of my problems was engineers getting tired of YP server timeouts and map failures, using their root passwords to create local entries, and then getting frustrated when they changed their YP passwords, a few weeks later, and were unable to login as a result of local entries having precedence over remote entries. What was a hassle, then, can be, under certain circumstances, a valuable feature. </quote>
-- Those of us in security are very much like heart doctors -- cardiologists. Our patients know that lack of exercise, too much dietary fat, and smoking are all bad for them. But they will continue to smoke, and eat fried foods, and practice being couch potatoes until they have their infarction. Then they want a magic pill to make them better all at once, without the effort. And by the way, they claim loudly that their condition really isn't their fault -- it was genetics, or the tobacco companies, or McDonalds that was to blame. And they blame us for not taking better care of them. Does this sound familiar? -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
Joachim Schrod said the following on 04/13/2010 04:39 AM:
Oh, and concerning the OP: I don't know what his problem is concerning firefox and it's SQLite database on NFS file systems. We have this here and have never encountered any problems or errors. Locking over NFS works; we have 2010 and this ain't NFSv2-over-UDP any more.
There is that! Of course NFS-over-SSH from an Internet Café has its own problems :-) What's that you say? VPN and DES3? Well DES isn't exactly fast either, is it? ROT13 anyone? -- Using encryption on the Internet is the equivalent of arranging an armored car to deliver credit card information from someone living in a cardboard box to someone living on a park bench. -- Gene Spafford -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
Joachim Schrod skrev:
Dave Howorth wrote:
a) I wanted to use remote/nfs'd storage for /home This is a bad idea nowadays when users have graphical logins. Any
Verner Kjærsgaard wrote: problem with NFS means their system becomes unusable. Better to have a local home and NFS mount the subdirectories (or more likely, NFS-mount one directory and symlink the various subdirectories to it).
Well, I would say that unavailability of the files beneith one's home directory usually makes one's system very unusable as well. What do you do after login? Play xpat2 (not possible, has been removed from openSUSE... ;-))?
I would never trade the convenience of an NFS-based home against the minimal chance that I want to log in and the NFS server ain't there in this moment... Then I could not work anyhow, the server problem has to be fixed first.
Oh, and concerning the OP: I don't know what his problem is concerning firefox and it's SQLite database on NFS file systems. We have this here and have never encountered any problems or errors. Locking over NFS works; we have 2010 and this ain't NFSv2-over-UDP any more.
Just my 0.02 EUR,
Joachim
Hi list and Joachim, - I googled for 'firefox +sqlite +nfs' and got lots of links. - nearly all of them will describe a locking problem with sqlite and FF. - in any event, running KIWI/LTSP with NFS'd /home-dirs breaks anyhow. So I'm persuing the partial solution mentioned and examplified by kind members of this list. I'll keep you posted ! -- ------------------------------ Med venlig hilsen/Best regards Verner Kjærsgaard -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
participants (4)
-
Anton Aylward -
Dave Howorth -
Joachim Schrod -
Verner Kjærsgaard