Changes between Version 7 and Version 8 of GettingStarted


Ignore:
Timestamp:
Aug 28, 2013, 3:12:20 PM (12 years ago)
Author:
lfaraone@mit.edu
Comment:

merge in barnowl-specific documentation to this page

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  • GettingStarted

    v7 v8  
    11= Getting Started with Zephyr using BarnOwl on Athena  =
    22
     3For general information about Zephyr at MIT, see the [http://sipb.mit.edu/doc/zephyr/#screen SIPB documentation].
    34== Using BarnOwl ==
    45
    … …  
    6364“personal”.
    6465
    65 === Common Classes ===
     66== Startup ==
    6667
    67 Some common classes include:
    6868
    69  help::
    70     `-c help` is a class for asking (and answering) questions on
    71     virtually any topic imaginable. Be sure to use an instance (such
    72     as “linux”, “barnowl”, “campus”, or so on) when asking questions,
    73     since it's a fairly high-traffic class.
     69There might be some options that you want to be consistent from
     70session to session; you don't want to have to set the same variables
     71each time.  You can fix this by adding the commands to your "startup"
     72file, for example, `.owl/startup`.  This can be done from within
     73BarnOwl, by using the `startup` command:
    7474
    75  sipb::
    76    `-c sipb` is where most SIPB members hang out. It's a place for
    77    technical discussion, questions, support, and organizing SIPB
    78    events or projects. You should also always use an instance when
    79    sending to `-c sipb`.
     75    :startup set foo bar
    8076
    81  Personal Classes::
     77Where `foo` is the variable you want to set, and `bar` is the value.
     78You do not necessarily have to use the `set` command, either, any
     79command you can type in BarnOwl can be added to the startup file.
    8280
    83    By convention, nearly every Zephyr user has a "personal" class that
    84    is the same as their username. How this class is used varies from
    85    person to person, but it's often a sort of mini-blog, a place to
    86    report what one is working on or up to, or ask friends questions,
    87    or just rant about something.
     81== Logging ==
    8882
    89 == Screen ==
    9083
    91 BarnOwl can also be run in a screen session to continue receiving messages while offline. For instructions on how to set this up on Athena, see the [http://sipb.mit.edu/doc/zephyr/#screen SIPB documentation].
     84It is handy to be able to log your conversations so you can refer back
     85to them later.  To log classes, for example:
     86
     87    :set classlogging on
     88
     89And to log personals:
     90
     91    :set logging on
     92
     93This will log to the "zlog" directory in your locker. You probably
     94don't want people to see what classes you're on or what people you
     95talk to, so you can run the Athena commands
     96
     97    mkdir -p ~/zlog
     98    fs sa ~/zlog system:anyuser none
     99    mkdir -p ~/zlog/people
     100    mkdir -p ~/zlog/class
     101
     102to create the necessary directories and make them completely hidden.
     103
     104Note that if you want the logging option to still be set after you
     105quit and relaunch BarnOwl, you will need to prefix the "set" command
     106with "startup". This is how you would write that:
     107
     108    :startup set classlogging on
     109    :startup set logging on
     110
     111See the "Startup" section above for more information.
     112
     113
     114== Persistence ==
     115
     116BarnOwl can also be run in a screen session to continue receiving messages while offline.
     117
     118It can be very annoying to have to close BarnOwl when you turn off
     119your computer.  During the time your computer is off, you're missing
     120many (possibly important) zephyrs.  It can be aggravating to be using
     121zephyr via an unreliable network connection.  It can also be
     122frustrating if you leave your computer on with Zephyr up, but go to a
     123different computer and want to check your zephyrs - how do you do
     124this?  These problems can be solved with the magic of screen.
     125
     126A more detailed and extensive explanation of this can be found at
     127[http://web.mit.edu/kchen/arch/common/bin/owl-screen.txt]. Basic commands are [Ctrl-a] followed by [c] to open a new window (like a tab), [Ctrl-a][w] to see a list of open windows, and [Ctrl-a] followed by a number to go to that window.
     128
     129Do note that running `owl-screen` as apposed to just runnning `screen` and then a barnowl instance provides niceties such as reminders to renew your tickets (the process `/mit/kchen/arch/i386_rhel4/bin/cont-renew-notify`). Also, BarnOwl will always be located on the `0` tab of an `owl-screen` instance, so [Ctrl-a][0] will always take you back to BarnOwl.
     130
     131=== Screen ===
     132
     133You should find a computer or server on which to run your screen
     134session(s) that is up all the time, for example, linux.mit.edu.
     135Screen allows you to run programs inside of it on one computer, and to
     136access those same programs from other computers via ssh.
     137
     138=== Quickstart ===
     139
     1401.  Pick a machine to host your screen session on.
     141    If you don't know of any options, linux.mit.edu (Linerva) is a good choice.
     1422.  ssh to that machine.
     1433.  Run "add kchen".  You may want to add this to your `~/.environment` file.
     1444.  Run "owl-screen"
     145
     146Your screen session is now ready.  Once you start the screen session,
     147you'll need to get renewable Kerberos tickets in order to run it for
     148any extended period of time.  Press C-a C-c to open a new screen
     149window, and run
     150
     151    kinit -l7d -54
     152
     153(length 7 days, both Kerberos 5 and Kerberos 4). Press C-a 0 to return
     154back to your BarnOwl window.
     155
     156When you're ready to log out, press C-a d to "detach" your screen, and
     157then type `exit` or `logout` to log out.  Later, when you want to
     158"reattach" your screen, ssh to the machine again, and run `screen -r`.
     159
     160=== Kerberos Tickets and AFS Tokens ===
     161
     162In order to keep your screen session authenticated, you'll need to
     163keep your Kerberos tickets and AFS tokens up-to-date.  There is a
     164script that will do this for you, located in the `kchen` locker.
     165After you ssh into the machine that hosts your screen sessions, run
     166the following commands:
     167
     168    add kchen
     169    owl-screen
     170    C-a C-c
     171    kinit -l1d -r7d
     172
     173=== Attaching and Detaching Sessions ===
     174
     175To detach a screen session (for example, if you want to log out),
     176press C-a d (Control-A, then D).  Screen continues to run, but is no
     177longer active.
     178
     179To reattach a screen session, possibly detaching from wherever it's
     180currently attached, run:
     181
     182    screen -dr
     183
     184`screen` can do a whole lot more.  To find out about it, see
     185[UsingScreen](https://sipb-www.scripts.mit.edu:444/doc/wiki/UsingScreen).
    92186
    93187== Questions ==