[Users] Dynamic devices...

[Michael H. Warfield]

Hey all,

This is sort of a jump ball for both the OpenVZ camp and the LXC camp.
Maybe some food for thought as well.  I think it's something that needs
to be thought out.

I know udev does not work in containers.  Neither OpenVZ nor LXC.  Ok,
fine.  So devices are static.  Problem is that I've got a situation
where I need dynamic devices, specifically some USB devices.

I have an 8 port serial to USB converter used for controlling the serial
consoles of a cluster of remote servers.  So ttyS0 on each server is
hooked to a port on the controller and configured for serial console
(they also have serial BIOS console redirection as well - very VERY nice
for remote management where you don't have a remote IP KVM).

That converter then plugs into a USB sharing device which shares the
converter between 4 of the servers.  So...  Any one of the four servers
can take control of the converter and can then access all of the 8
serial consoles for all of the servers.  Nice redundancy.

I want to grant access to that subsystem to selected containers so
certain administrators can be given their very own container and be able
to access the host consoles over serial ports, then.  Simple so far.
Just allow those containers access to the usbsharing device and the
ttyUSB* devices.

Here's where the rub comes in.  The way the USB sharing device works.
Any server which does NOT have the consoles sees a USB hiddev device (it
looks like an USB human input device).  It accesses that device to
request (or demand) control of the controlled USB devices.  The server
with the consoles, does NOT see that device at all.  What it does see
are the controlled USB devices (the ttyUSB* devices in this case) which
the other servers do NOT see.  So the logic goes that if you see the
usbsharing device, you do not have the consoles but may request them. If
you do NOT have the usb sharing device you should have the ttyUSB*
devices and may access them.  So those devices come and go dynamically.

How to do this in a container?

(Yes, obviously, I can try to open the device and get an error.  But,
really...  That's an ugly answer.)

I suppose I can apply the dynamics in the udev rules in the host machine
and create matching devices in the container's dev directory using a hot
plug run script.  That's what I'm working on now.  Is that really the
answer though?

Just food for thought for developers and users alike.  There has to be
more situations that just this.

Regards,
Mike
-- 
Michael H. Warfield (AI4NB) | (770) 985-6132 |  mhw at WittsEnd.com
   /\/\|=mhw=|\/\/          | (678) 463-0932 |  http://www.wittsend.com/mhw/
   NIC whois: MHW9          | An optimist believes we live in the best of all
 PGP Key: 0x674627FF        | possible worlds.  A pessimist is sure of it!
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