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USENIX Tenth System Administration Conference (LISA
'96)
UNIX Host Administration in a Heterogeneous
Distributed Computing Environment
Gregory S. Thomas, James O. Schroeder, Merrilee E. Orcutt,
Desiree C. Johnson,Jeffrey T. Simmelink, and John P. Moore
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Abstract
Managing a computing environment consisting of hundreds of
systems from multiple vendors and hundreds of users dispersed over
several buildings of a research campus is a complex task. We
developed a data model for representing pertinent information about
our computing environment and implemented this model in a database
that tracks equipment, users, and accounts. We created software
that automates much of the data collection, maintains the database,
and provides easy access to commonly requested information. For
example, a user can find out which hosts he or she has an account
on, or learn the hardware and software configuration of any host on
the local network. We also created software that automates many of
the tasks involved in account creation, deletion, and modification,
which reduces the burden on support staff by allowing privileged
users to manage accounts on their own systems.
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