RIS...

[Joseph S. D. Yao]

In article <5922 at hubcap.clemson.edu> hubcap at hubcap.clemson.edu (Mike Marshall) writes:
>SITUATION: I want to install ULTRIX on a DECstaion 3100 using ris(8).
>           My server is a VAX 8810 running ULTRIX 3.0.

Which, of course, the DEC documentation says is impossible.  Which, of
course, we did.  Our server, though, is a DECsystem 3100 with lots of
disc but no display card.

>PROBLEM: Several things look screwy when I try to do the install:

Possibly you loaded something odd when you loaded RIS onto your 8810?
Does RIS work for other VAXen?  I really don't know what's going on
with the rejected addresses.  (DEC should be able to tell you what
their own error messages mean!  Press them on it, if you have a war-
ranty - which you should do - or software service, until they go up
their internal ladder and come down with an answer.  Then, of course,
you have to figure out whether the answer's correct or not.)

>               The installation procedure is now restoring the root file
>               system to partition 'a' of the system disk, rz3 RZ55.
>               -l: unknown host

Check that ~ris/.rhosts on the server is owned by ris, group ris.
Betcha it's still root/system.  This is an afterwards-obvious problem,
caused by DEC saying, "Oh, well, let's just have them run the RIS
install as root 'cause it's easier, and then change everything back to
be owned by RIS."  Guess what, guys, it only works 99.9% - and the 0.1%
is what's killing this Customer of Yours!

One should NEVER, EVER, EVER do ANYTHING as user 'root' that doesn't
ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY, NO WAY IN H#!! IT CAN'T BE DONE OTHERWISE, have
to be done that way.  (Is that sufficiently emphatic?)  One is never
1000% certain of the consequences.  Further, one should never force
one's Gentle Customers (money-paying types, you know, the ones that end
up financing your salaries) to do this Wicked Thing.

Thank you for the use of the soapbox; hope this fixes at least that
stage of the problem; sorry if the little lecture offends anyone - but
I stand by my position.

Joseph S. D. Yao
Hadron, Inc.:	hadron!jsdy at uunet.UU.NET
		(consulting at jsdy at dtix.ARPA)