[bf1942] nice'ing processes

[Boris Ceranic]

hey....

i juz want to ask you a few simple questions... they will be simple as much
as you are experienced in linux :)
1. i am running ded. server under regular user acct, but when i try to
change nice level of server application, i get an error message saying that
i cant set priority level. how can i allow a regular user to set priority
level for some application?
2. what priority level is suitable for use with these applications which
needs greater priority level than, for example, file sharing service? can it
be, lets say, -1, as it will be greater (or mathematicaly smaller) that
pri.lev. of some system service?
3. i am running mandrake 9 linux on intel p4 1.7g, asus k7v (or so)
mainboard, and hd drive maxtor 60gb 7200 rpm. mainboard supports ultra dma
level6, and that limits file transfer speed at about 20mb/s (from one hdd to
another on another ide controller), but i have JUST 1mb/s !!!!! :((((( BUT,
when i put on mandrake 8.1, the problem disappears... (?!) any1 have an idea
how can i solve this?
4. about application screening.... i use command (as regular user)
"screen -m -S <scr_name> <app_name>", without -d parameter, just to be sure
that everything went fine with server startup, then i detach from that
screened app., i logout from that user running screen (and some app inside),
and sometimes, when i login back again, i cant see screen named <scr_name>
when doing "screen -list" command, but in "ps -A|grep screen" list, i can
see that screen is still running under my username. but sometimes,
everything is working fine. why?
5. what is the best way to start game server during the system startup, but
under username other than root? i was using script that starts screened app
during sys.startup, and i insert reference to this script at the end of
rc.local or rc.sysinit files, but when i login as root, i cant attach on
these virt. console. i can see that it still exists in /tmp/screen/S-root
(along with its pid and screen name), but there is (as i think) no way to
connect on it.

i am sorry because of my bad english, and thank you for help... (in advance
:)) )

bye! poz!

----- Original Message -----
From: "Rick Buford" <rickbuford at greeblesnort.com>
To: "BF1942" <bf1942 at icculus.org>
Sent: Wednesday, January 29, 2003 5:32 AM
Subject: [bf1942] nice'ing processes


> As a production linux admin for several years now, I can suggest a
> couple of things:
> 1. NEVER RUN ANYTHING AS ROOT that you don't ABSOLUTELY have
> too...ever...period - create a user with userad <username>; passwd
> <username>
> 2. nice'ing processes to -20 will not work for any normal
> process...that's a level usually reserved for system processes and if
> you disrupt them, yer gonna get hosed
> 3. clean up your system: a) remove unneeded processes if this box is
> devoted to BF ("man ps" & "man top"); this includes GUIs. KDE & GNOME
> are nowhere near the hogs that winblows is, but they still take system
> resources, even if they're just sitting there to give you an xterm ("man
> init" & "man inittab")
> 4. do not fear the command line: "man apropos", "man locate", & "man
> find" will help you to find CLI nirvana
>