[Triumf-linux-managers] Please update the host database for your machines

[Andrew Daviel]

Thanks for the note.
cc. triumf-linux-managers for those interested.

I realize there are some issues with the database, but it's the best we 
have right now and sometimes unreliable information is better than none
("machine X might belong to user Y" is better than "no idea")

> 3) I cannot enter or update information for ladd13, ladd14 and ladd15 because
> database says that they do not exist.

That is odd. I see ladd13 in the logs and I'm not sure why it did not get 
entered in the db.

The database is mostly populated by scanning, primarily 
nmap/arping/fingerprint. The db key is the IPv4 address, and currently 
the only way to get an entry in the db is a non-null nmap response.
Once an entry exists, other fields may be populated such as 
manager/location.

I have added ladd13, ladd14 by manually scanning them. ladd15 appears to 
be down (does not respond to ping or arping) so I can't enter it.

> 1) something is wrong with the data in the database, for example, information for ladd11
> was completely wrong saying that it's a laptop belonging to Bob Chow. That is
> impossible, ladd11 is a new machine that never changed identities. Please
> check that the database is not silently corrupting it's data!

ladd11 was added to the DNS on 14 October 2008
The database says that 142.90.97.109 was first seen on 2004-09-09, but 
there's no history so I can't say whether that was a real machine or a 
temporary allocation that got captured.

> 2) "ide info" and "unix info" is completely wrong i.e. for ladd00 and there
> is no button to expunge this obsolete data.

I have to check how that information is populated. It may have come from 
queries via the georgesv account that is now broken, or from nodeinfo 
updates for which some sync process is broken

Expunge has always been a problem - there is no mechanism to remove old 
data, e.g. ip addresses in blocks that were moved below 142.90.128 and 
are "removed" cf. "offline". We don't want to delete machines that just 
go offline for a few days.

The database and applications were written by a couple of 
summer students in 2004. I understand them moderately well, but not as 
well as if I had written them myself, particulary the web interface 
written in PHP.

We are looking at an open-source product "netdisco" to do some device 
tracking, but that is not a complete replacement since it can only obtain 
information via SNMP.



-- 
Andrew Daviel, TRIUMF, Canada
Tel. +1 (604) 222-7376  (Pacific Time)
Network Security Manager