topic Re: DRD commands fail when using X11 forwarding in Operating System - HP-UX

DRD commands fail when using X11 forwarding

ABC Unix — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 15:51:59 GMT

I recently noticed an interesting problem when trying to secure my X Window.

When I run "drd runcmd swinstall" on my 11.31 host I get the following error:

# drd runcmd swinstall

======= 02/03/11 08:37:46 MST BEGIN Executing Command On Inactive System
Image (user=root) (jobid=testserver1)

* Checking for Valid Inactive System Image
* Analyzing Command To Be Run On Inactive System Image
* Locating Inactive System Image
* Accessing Inactive System Image for Command Execution
* Setting Up Environment For Command Execution
* Executing Command On Inactive System Image
* Using unsafe patch list version 20080324
* Starting swagentd for drd runcmd
* Starting fsdaemon for drd runcmd
* Executing command: "/usr/sbin/swinstall"
NOTE: The interactive UI was invoked, since no software was
specified.

Xlib: connection to "localhost:13.0" refused by server
Xlib: PuTTY X11 proxy: MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 data did not match

The DISPLAY environment variable is set to "localhost:13.0", but
the current configuration won't allow swinstall to run on that display.

The DISPLAY environment variable may be incorrect, or, if you are
running swinstall remotely, you may need to allow the remote system
to access your local X server by typing

/usr/bin/X11/xhost +testserver1

on your local machine.

Do you want to proceed using the terminal version of swinstall?
(yes or no) [yes] no
ERROR: The interactive UI failed to start. If you wish to run
non-interactively, you must specify some software as part of
the swinstall command.
* Stopping swagentd for drd runcmd
* Stopping fsdaemon for drd runcmd
ERROR: Command executed on inactive system image returned an error
- The command "/usr/sbin/swinstall" failed with 1.
* Executing Command On Inactive System Image failed with 1 error.
* Cleaning Up After Command Execution On Inactive System Image

======= 02/03/11 08:38:48 MST END Executing Command On Inactive System Image failed with 1 error.

**However, when I run just a simple "swinstall" I get the GUI as expected.

When I turn off X11 forwarding and run "xhost +testserver1" then the drd runcmd swinstall works properly.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Re: DRD commands fail when using X11 forwarding

Steven E. Protter — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 16:49:42 GMT

Shalom,

Generally, though I'm two weeks into hands on with DRD I do:

drd runcmd swinstall -s

I believe the GUI output and X are functioning normally base on your post. Your forwarding is redirecting your display.

DRD at least so far IMO is a tool best used non interactively.

SEP

Re: DRD commands fail when using X11 forwarding

ABC Unix — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 17:53:14 GMT

Thanks for the response Steven,

I typically run it non-interactively as well but by random chance just noticed this anomaly. Running non-interactively is a good workaround for this for sure but I'd like to know the cause as well.

The X traffic isn't being forwarded properly, for whatever reason I get a "refused by server" error ($DISPLAY is set to localhost, but the traffic should be forwarded through my ssh connection to my desktop) when I run swinstall through drd.
When I run swinstall by itself (not through drd), X traffic is forwarded properly to my desktop and I see the swinstall GUI.

Re: DRD commands fail when using X11 forwarding

Steven E. Protter — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 18:01:10 GMT

I think this is a security feature.

Does the xhost +testserver1 work even with X11 forwarding?

SEP

Re: DRD commands fail when using X11 forwarding

Torsten. — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 18:04:51 GMT

I think the problem might be the X server running on your PC doesn't allow the hpux host to send the display.

Re: DRD commands fail when using X11 forwarding

ABC Unix — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 18:05:26 GMT

Technically yes, but I would have to change my DISPLAY variable to the X server hostname, thus bypassing X11 forwarding entirely and allowing anyone with access to "testserver1" to connect to my x server.

Re: DRD commands fail when using X11 forwarding

ABC Unix — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 18:07:52 GMT

Oops that last reply was to Steven

@Torsten: I'm not sure what you mean. But when I run "swinstall" I get the interactive GUI to display on my X server properly.

Re: DRD commands fail when using X11 forwarding

Torsten. — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 18:27:46 GMT

The message

"connection to "localhost:13.0" refused by server"

normally means the client (swinstall) cannot connect to the Xserver (your PC). The question is why this is set to localhost now.

Maybe there is a wrong setting in your Xserver (whatever you use).

Strange ...

Re: DRD commands fail when using X11 forwarding

ABC Unix — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 18:42:33 GMT

I'm using Cygwin/X. I have a feeling it's something to do with the drd wrapper of swinstall and its interaction with my ssh program (PuTTY).

I wouldn't quote me on this, but under normal conditions when X11 forwarding is enabled the HP-UX server is fooled into thinking that it is displaying X applications to a directly connected console (hence why $DISPLAY is set to localhost). PuTTY then forwards the X traffic through SSH to my Cygwin/X server (workstation).
Because swinstall/xclock/etc all work from the same host I'm pretty sure my X server and tunneling are setup correctly so the only variable I can think of here is the effect drd is having on the swinstall command.

Re: DRD commands fail when using X11 forwarding

Torsten. — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 18:45:10 GMT

I would try another ssh/Xserver combination to rule this out.
I really like "mobaxterm"; this is a combination of several cygwin/X components in a single EXE file.

Re: DRD commands fail when using X11 forwarding

ABC Unix — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 20:03:20 GMT

Never heard of it, I'll take a look and let you know :)

Re: DRD commands fail when using X11 forwarding

Mark M. Bunner — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 17:44:23 GMT

I am on the DRD team, and will look into this one. Seems suspicious that 'swinstall' works fine by itself, but doesn't forward when invoked by 'drd runcmd' -

Regards,
Mark

Re: DRD commands fail when using X11 forwarding

ABC Unix — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 18:43:33 GMT

Thanks Mark, I'm still using the workaround (disabling access control to my x session) anytime I need to run drd swinstall.

Trying a different x product (mobaxterm) didn't resolve my issue by the way.

Re: DRD commands fail when using X11 forwarding

Mark M. Bunner — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 19:08:41 GMT

We can get this fixed in the next release of DRD. We basically need to import the booted systems X11 authorization entry to the clone when it is mounted.