Red Hat Bugzilla – Bug 1105590
[Docs] [CLI] The --password option has been removed and replaced by .rhevshellrc
Last modified: 2014-09-18 21:33:01 EDT
Title: Connect to RHEVM (connect) Describe the issue: In RHEV 3.3+ or perhaps earlier, the --password option was removed. The documentation is out of date. Suggestions for improvement: The option should be removed and the user should be pointed to the section on the .rhevshellrc file: https://access.redhat.com/site/documentation/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Virtualization/3.3/html/Command_Line_Shell_Guide/sect-Other_Commands.html#rhevmshellrc_Configuration Additional information: Changing this will help end users find what they are looking for much quicker!!!
Also, in the .rhevshellrc (4.3.1) section it might be useful to discuss that vim or the rhevm-shell command will automatically create and populate the file with defaults so the user does not need to create the file by hand.
The relevant section is now in the Technical Guide: https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Virtualization/3.4/html-single/Technical_Guide/index.html#rhevmshellrc_Configuration (In reply to Scott McCarty from comment #1) > Also, in the .rhevshellrc (4.3.1) section it might be useful to discuss that > vim or the rhevm-shell command will automatically create and populate the > file with defaults so the user does not need to create the file by hand. Hi Scott, Thanks for filing this bug. Unfortunately we don't have the resources to edit 3.3 guides unless they are mission critical bugs. We can, however, add a note to the upcoming release to clarify the .rhevshellrc configuration section. Many thanks, Julie
Updated the '.rhevmshellrc Configuration' topic (13040) to include mention of the file being automatically created and populated. Scott, I am not incredibly well-versed in using the rhevm-shell, but from my tooling around in it I saw that the password option is still listed in 'connect --help'. I was also able to use that option to connect to my RHEV 3.5 Manager; there was no error message indicating that the option wasn't valid. I don't know whether this is because the option 'works', or it is just ignored because the shell looks elsewhere for that information. Can you give me a bit more of an explanation about how .rhevmshellrc replaces the need for the --password option (if that is a correct read of the bug description)? I just want to be sure of the reason for removing the option. Thanks, Lucy
Lucy, yes, it is listed, but it doesn't work. I am not quite sure what you are experiencing. Perhaps, the password is configured and being picked up from your .rhevmshellrc?
Scott, I'm not sure either. I did think that it might be grabbing the parameters from there, but I don't have anything configured in my .rhevmshellrc. I am happy to go ahead and remove the option from the documentation; I just wanted to double check it was definitely gone even though it was listed. Removed the --password option from 'Options for connect' table in topic 'Connect to RHEVM (connect)' (10156). Thanks for your help, Lucy
Hi Scott, I see a problem with just removing the --password option from that section of the documentation. There is an example in that topic for using the connect command and its options. If I remove the --password option from this example, and run that command, it throws an error: 'missing configuration variable: password'. I understand that by entering the parameters in the .rhevmshellrc file, you can avoid using any of the options at all. When I used this method, I was able to simply type 'connect' with no other options, and successfully connect to the RHEVM. So, we have two options: 1. Leave all of the parameters as they are, but point users to the .rhevmshellrc 2. Remove all of the parameters, and simply tell users to configure the parameters in the .rhevmshellrc I think choosing one of these will be better in the long term. Lucy
Lucy, I am using the following package: rhevm-cli-3.4.0.6-3.el6ev.noarch When I run the following command, to connect to my RHEV-M box, I get the following error: Command: rhevm-shell -u admin@internal --password 'PASSWORD' -A rhevm-cer -c -l https://austin.crunchtools.com/api Error: option "--password" is not supported, see help for more details. It is my understanding that this option was removed under the context of a risk from a security perspective. While I do not agree with it's removal, I can only adhere to the fact that it has been done and ask that the documentation be updated to match the behavior of the command. It would be GREAT to have the .rhevmshellrc file documented very clearly as an alternative.
Hi Scott, I'm sorry to drag this out. I am using: rhevm-cli-3.5.0.1-1.el6_5.noarch I get the same error that you have when I run that command from outside of the rhevm-shell (this is, to connect to it initially). The error that I described in my earlier comment, about the missing password variable, only happened when I was using the 'connect' command while inside [RHEVM shell (disconnected)]#, as per the docs (http://documentation-devel.engineering.redhat.com/site/documentation/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Virtualization/3.4/html-single/Technical_Guide/index.html#Connect_to_RHEVM_connect). In the section of the docs that describes connecting automatically, using the command you provided above, there is no password field documented; this section is correct. There is a note at the bottom of the section (http://documentation-devel.engineering.redhat.com/site/documentation/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Virtualization/3.4/html-single/Technical_Guide/index.html) that says: "Although users can use the --file option to call a file that includes their password information, this practice is not recommended for security reasons. Users with a non-interactive shell are able to connect to the Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Manager from within the shell, where the --password option can be used. " The second sentence of the note correctly reflects my experience. I would, however, remove the first sentence, because that seems to be what we're now telling users to do with the .rhevmshellrc file. With the username, password, and url values configured in the .rhevmshellrc file, I was able to use both the 'rhevm-shell' command and the 'connect' command with no options (other than --insecure, in lieu of a certificate). If we are recommending that users take this path, then we are really keeping the options documented for legacy reasons. To keep things clear for customers, I will mention configuring the .rhevmshellrc file as the first choice for connecting, and leave the options as they are for any customer who chooses not to configure the file. In this case, I would opt for providing additional information, rather than removing existing content. Lucy
I have made the following changes to the Technical Guide (3.5 beta): 'Running the CLI' [10163]: Added a sentence and a note advising users to configure the .rhevmshellrc file to avoid adding options to the rhevm-shell command every time they use it. Removed sentence about the '--file' option from the note box. 'Connect to RHEVM (connect)' [10156]: Readded '--password' option to table and example, but in first paragraph pointed users to configure the .rhevmshellrc file. Options remain in the topic for users who do not configure the .rhevmshellrc file. '.rhevmshellrc Configuration' [13040]: Added a sentence explaining that the .rhevmshellrc file is created and populated automatically. Moved this topic so that it appears before 'Running the CLI'. This way, users are directed to configure the file before they attempt to connect to the rhevm shell.
Documentation Link ------------------------------ http://documentation-devel.engineering.redhat.com/site/documentation/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Virtualization/3.5-Beta/html-single/Technical_Guide/index.html#rhevmshellrc_Configuration http://documentation-devel.engineering.redhat.com/site/documentation/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Virtualization/3.5-Beta/html-single/Technical_Guide/index.html#Running_RHEVM-shell http://documentation-devel.engineering.redhat.com/site/documentation/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Virtualization/3.5-Beta/html-single/Technical_Guide/index.html#Connect_to_RHEVM_connect What Changed ------------------------------ The following topics were updated to point to configuring the .rhevmshellrc file as the first option for connecting to the rhevm-shell. (The --password field referred to in the original bug description has been maintained, as have all other options, for users who do not configure .rhevmshellrc.): .rhevmshellrc Configuration [13040-691384] Running the CLI [10163-698098] Connect to RHEVM (connect) [10156-698097] Updated Revision History [34616-700633] NVR ------------------------------ Red_Hat_Enterprise_Virtualization-Technical_Guide-3.5-Beta-web-en-US-3.5-7.el6eng Moving to ON_QA.
Peer reviewed. All listed changes appear in the doc; no errors found. VERIFIED
Looks great!