s390-tools/iucvterm/doc/hvc_iucv.9

.\" hvc_iucv.9
.\"
.\" z/VM IUCV hypervisor console (HVC) device driver
.\"
.\" Copyright IBM Corp. 2008, 2017
.\" s390-tools is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
.\" it under the terms of the MIT license. See LICENSE for details.
.\"
.\" -------------------------------------------------------------------------
.TH "hvc_iucv" "9" "March 2015" "s390-tools" "z/VM IUCV HVC device driver"
.
.
.
.SH NAME
hvc_iucv \- Introduction to the z/VM IUCV hypervisor console (HVC) device driver
.
.
.
.SH SYNOPSIS
.BR hvc_iucv "=" \fInumber\fP

.BR hvc_iucv_allow "=" "\fIcomma-separated list of z/VM user IDs"
.
.
.
.SH DESCRIPTION
The Hypervisor Console (HVC) device driver is a generic TTY device driver
providing terminal devices with pluggable transport device drivers.

The z/VM IUCV hypervisor console (HVC) device driver is a transport plug-in
that uses z/VM IUCV communication to establish terminal connections and to
transfer terminal data.

The kernel parameter \fBhvc_iucv\fP controls the number of HVC terminals managed
by the z/VM IUCV HVC device driver.  \fInumber\fP is an integer in the range
0 to 8.  If \fInumber\fP is zero, the z/VM IUCV HVC device driver is
switched off; otherwise up to \fInumber\fP z/VM IUCV HVC terminal devices are
created.
.\"(The maximum of 8 is a hypervisor console layer constant and might change
.\"in future kernel versions.)

The \fBhvc_iucv_allow\fP kernel parameter optionally specifies a comma separated
list of z/VM user IDs. If the kernel parameter has been specified, the z/VM IUCV
HVC device driver accepts IUCV connections from listed z/VM user IDs only.

The first z/VM IUCV HVC terminal device is registered automatically for use as
the Linux console.

The
.BR iucvconn (1)
program establishes connections to z/VM IUCV HVC terminal devices. If a terminal
is disconnected, output written by Linux is not displayed or saved.
Therefore, a newly opened connection to a terminal is always blank. For most
applications, like login or shell prompts, it is sufficient to press "Return" to
obtain a new prompt.

.
.
.
.SH USAGE
.SS "Connecting to z/VM IUCV HVC terminal devices"
Connections to z/VM IUCV HVC terminal devices are established with the IUCV
terminal application
.BR iucvconn (1).
.PP
To connect to the first z/VM IUCV HVC terminal device on the z/VM guest virtual
machine "LNX1234", run:
.PP
.ft CR
.in +0.25in
.nf
iucvconn LNX1234 lnxhvc0
.fi
.in -0.25in
.ft
.PP
The \fBlnxhvc\fP\fIn\fP identifier refers to the IUCV name of z/VM IUCV
HVC terminal devices; where \fIn\fP corresponds to the terminal device number.
.PP
For z/VM IUCV HVC terminal devices,
.BR iucvconn (1)
does not set the terminal environment. See section "Setting up the terminal
environment" below for further instructions.
.PP
The terminal connection is disconnected if the terminal session ends by logging
off (for example, by typing exit).
Alternatively,
.BR iucvconn (1)
provides an escape function for disconnecting from the terminal at any time.
See also the manual page of
.BR iucvconn (1).
.
.TP
.B Note:
If the first z/VM HVC terminal device is configured as the preferred Linux
console, a logoff might be followed by a new login prompt.
End the terminal session by using the disconnect escape function. Reconnecting
always resumes the existing terminal session. Explicitly logging off before
using the disconnect escape function assures that users must log in again.
.
.
.SS "Using the magic sysrequest function on the first z/VM IUCV HVC terminal"
The first z/VM IUCV HVC terminal, which can be used as Linux console, supports
the "magic sysrequest" function if the Linux kernel has been built with
\f(CWCONFIG_MAGIC_SYSRQ\fP.
.PP
To invoke the "magic sysrequest" function, press "Ctrl\^+\^o" followed by a second
character that designates the debugging or emergency function.
.PP
The most important magic sysrequest functions are:
.RS 4
.IP "0 .. 9" 8
Set the Linux console log level and control which kernel message are written to
Linux console devices.
.
.IP "b" 8
Re-IPL immediately (without syncing or unmounting file systems).
The re-IPL configuration is used for the re-IPL of the Linux system.
.
.IP "s" 8
Emergency sync all file file systems.
.
.IP "u" 8
Emergency remount all mounted file systems read-only.
.
.IP "t" 8
Show task info.
.
.IP "m" 8
Show memory.
.
.IP "e" 8
Send the TERM signal to end all tasks except
.BR init (8).
.
.IP "i" 8
Send the KILL signal to end all tasks except
.BR init (8).
.
.RE
.PP
See \fBsysrq.txt\fP of the Linux kernel documentation for a more complete
list of functions.
.PP
This feature can be switched on or off during runtime by echoing "1" (on) or
"0" (off) to \fB/proc/sys/kernel/sysrq\fP.
.
.
.
.SH CONFIGURATION
.SS "Using the z/VM IUCV HVC terminal device as Linux console"
The first z/VM IUCV HVC terminal device can display kernel messages
and it can also be used as the preferred Linux console (i.e. become
\fB/dev/console\fP).
The preferred console is used as the initial input and output device,
beginning at the stage of the boot process when the
.BR init (8)
program is called. Messages issued by programs that run at this stage are
only displayed on the preferred console.

.TP
.B Note:
Console messages are not displayed if the z/VM IUCV HVC terminal
is not connected.
If console messages flood the terminal, the z/VM HVC terminal device driver
might discard console messages if they come in too fast.
.PP
To use the z/VM IUCV hypervisor console as the preferred console, append the
\fBconsole=hvc0\fP parameter to the kernel command line.

To display console messages only and use another device as preferred console,
append \fBconsole=hvc0\fP, followed by an additional \fBconsole=\fP
parameter that explicitly defines the preferred console,
e.g. \fBconsole=ttyS0\fP.

.TP
.B Note:
The last \fBconsole=\fP parameter designates the device for use as the
preferred console. For Linux on System z, the default preferred console device
is \fBttyS0\fP.
.
.
.SS "Restricting terminal connections using a z/VM user ID filter"
The z/VM IUCV HVC device driver can filter incoming connection requests based
on the user ID of the originating z/VM guest virtual machine.

The z/VM user ID filter is specified as a comma separated list of user IDs for
the \fBhvc_iucv_allow\fP kernel parameter.  If an user ID ends with an asterisk
(*), only the characters up to the asterisk must match.  You can use the
asterisk to match multiple z/VM user IDs.
The kernel parameter can be set initially on the kernel command line or through
a sysfs attribute at runtime.

For changing the parameter value at runtime, see the
.BR chiucvallow (8)
command.

If the z/VM user ID filter is changed at runtime, the new filter applies only
to new incoming connection requests. Existing terminal connections remain active
until they get closed.
Any re-connection attempt is subject to the new z/VM user ID filter.

.TP
.B Note:
If z/VM user ID filtering is active, connection attempts from the z/VM
guest virtual machine to itself are also subject to filtering. If the local
z/VM user ID is not listed, local connection requests are refused.
.
.
.SS "Configuring HVC terminals for user logins"
Typically, \fBgetty\fP programs initialize terminals and prepare terminals for
user logins.

For each HVC terminal device, a \fBgetty\fP program must be started.
To configure and start \fBgetty\fP on a HVC terminal, open
.BR /etc/inittab (5),
and add a new entry similar to this one:
.ft CR
.in +0.25in
.nf

h0:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty hvc0

.fi
.in -0.25in
.ft
Add new entries for each HVC terminal device that is designated for user logins.
You can use
.BR ttyrun (8)
to start a getty program on each HVC terminal device and to prevent respawns
through  the
.BR init (8)
program when a HVC terminal is not available.  You can then change the number
of HVC terminal devices without adding or removing entries every time.

See
.BR inittab (5)
about the format of \fBinittab\fP entries; see
.BR getty (8),
or
.BR mingetty (8)
for options that are related to terminal setup and user login.
.
.
.SS "Setting up HVC terminals for root logins"
To allow root logins on HVC terminals, ensure that the respective terminal
device names are listed in
.BR /etc/securetty (5)\fR.\fP
HVC terminal device names start with \fBhvc\fP followed by an integer in
the range 0 to 7.
.
.
.SS "Setting up the terminal environment"
The terminal environment is changed by assigning the terminal name to the
\fBTERM\fP environment variable. This can be done manually, or by a
getty program.

Complete the following steps for setting up the terminal environment for a z/VM
IUCV HVC terminal:
.RS 4
.IP "1." 4
To display the current terminal name, issue the command:

.ft CR
.in +0.25in
.nf
user@host:~$ echo $TERM
xterm
.fi
.in -0.25in
.ft

.IP "2." 4
To connect to a z/VM IUCV HVC terminal, run
.BR iucvconn (1)
and log in as usual:

.ft CR
.in +0.25in
.nf
user@host:~$ iucvconn MYLNX01 lnxhvc0
     ...
user@MYLNX01:~$
.fi
.in -0.25in
.ft

.IP "3." 4
To assign the terminal name from step 1. to the terminal environment variable,
issue the following command:

.ft CR
.in +0.25in
.nf
user@MYLNX01:~$ export TERM=xterm
.fi
.in -0.25in
.ft
.RE

If unsure which terminal name to use, assign "\f(CWlinux\fP" to the terminal
environment variable.

.PP
For getty programs, a sample terminal environment configuration might look like:

.ft CR
.in +0.25in
.nf
h0:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -L 9600 hvc0 linux
.fi
.in -0.25in
.ft

The terminal name typically follows the terminal device name. In the example,
.BR agetty (8)
sets the terminal environment variable to "linux" before
.BR login (1)
is started.

Some getty programs do not support the terminal name parameter, see
the manual page of the respective getty program for more information.
.
.
.
.SH "DIAGNOSTICS"
The z/VM IUCV hypervisor console device driver uses the kernel message
infrastructure for its messages. The message prefix is \fBhvc_iucv\fP.
.
.
.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.BR iucvconn (1),
.BR chiucvallow (8),
.BR af_iucv (7),
.BR bootparam (7),
.BR inittab (5),
.BR getty (8),
.BR agetty (8),
.BR mingetty (8),
.BR ttyrun (8),
.BR login (1),
.BR securetty (5)

See
.BR kernel-parameters.txt " and"
.BR sysrq.txt
of the Linux kernel documentation for more information about kernel boot
parameters and the magic sysrequest function.

.I "Linux on System z - Device Drivers, Features, and Commands"