Cancelling a blank screen across a network.
We work in a secure environment with an obligation to check each workstation at the start and end of each day to ensure that users have logged off. With over twenty workstations on the network, we are forced to go to each workstation and move the mouse or tap some keys to "wake up" the monitor to ensure that we are we see the login screen.
Being a developer, I have often wondered what it would take to execute a command across the network to prompt each workstation to wake up, so that we don't have to physically touch each one. This would save all of us several minutes each day, which are now spent waking up the workstation and waiting for the reassuring sign on screen to appear.
Can this be done with existing utitilies, or is there some standard process that I can send a signal to cause this desired effect?
thanks for you help,
chaz.
# 1
Hi,To save you from walking around, are you able to check to see if someone is logged in on the console?or check that Xsun process is owned by the user?Are you obligated to walk around and physically see that they have logged out?
# 2
Yes,
Unfortunately, we are required to physically inspect each workstation to ensure that no one has remained logged-in. My current method is to tap the keyboard or mouse on each workstation as a visit each of the forty-some offices/cubicles to "wake-up" the workstation. I then trace my route again to have a look at the monitor, since waiting for each workstation to "wake-up" cumulatively adds another ten minutes to my closing procedures.
# 3
Why not just use this command from at telnet of RSH session into the workstations in question:
who -a
That way, you can see who is currently sitting at what terminal/monitor (either phycial or pseudo) and from where. Typically, if the output for this command only shows you listed as a remote connection and the term LOGIN listed as a user, the system has no one else physically sitting on it.
In fact, since your a developer, I don't see any reason you can't encapsulate this command within a simple script that can be added as a cronjob to expedite your closing procedures (ie: if who -a returns username values for terminal 0:0, kill the named user's session, else finish running) - just an idea you may want to try out. Unless I misunderstood what you're trying to do, I think that command should help you out.
