I have a second monitor that I'd like to use for a text-based debugging log and/or console. I don't want to have it as part of my GUI / "desktop" / main system.
I have this display connected to an old linux box that doesn't have much processing power. When it boots up it sits ready at the login:
prompt.
It is connected to the LAN so I can SSH to it. I know I can write to the screen by running something like ssh root@ancient echo test \> /dev/tty0
I enjoy using named pipes for debugging, basically creating one named pipe with mkfifo
and then using tail -f
on it while writing data to it from other commands / scripts / etc.
Based on this explanation of what I'm attempting to do, what is a "good" / "right" way to do what I'm trying to do ("dump data" to a named pipe over the network so that the output would appear on this terminal's screen? )
I know I've got access to ssh
, tail
, netcat (nc
), and redirection via things like /dev/tty0
- but I can't quite figure out how to put it all together eloquently. I did see this: Can I pipe/redirect a console application through netcat so it can be used remotely?
It seems hackish to use something like ssh root@ancient echo test \> /dev/tty0
and create a new connection for every log item that gets sent.
A bonus would be if the data was not sent over the network as plain-text, but I suppose that criterion is not mandatory if it makes things very slow or creates too much overhead or complication.
Also, would there be any advantage in using a serial connection between the two machines instead?
I have done this in the past but it seemed to me that even at the maximum baud rate of 115,200
that when a few hundred lines of code were sent it seemed 'laggy' compared to sending the data over the network. I know 115k
is old "modem technology" so I just wanted to know if this slower-than-expected experience for this type of direct ( albeit serial) connection is normal.
tail -f fifo | ssh root@ancient cat \> /dev/tty0
doesn't work for you? I'm inferring that it doesn't but I'm not sure why.