Re: [PLUG] Simple Reliable method to determine what is running on a Linux Box

[Rich Freeman via plug <plug@lists.phillylinux.org>]

On Mon, May 10, 2021 at 7:44 PM Art Clemons via plug
<plug@lists.phillylinux.org> wrote:
>
> I've been doing Online Amateur Radio Volunteer Exam sessions and have been seeing more folks running Linux or xBSD as the OS.  For exam integrity purposes, there are some programs like for example Discord, Telegram which cannot be running while the exam is going on.
>
> I've been asking the test taker to open a terminal then type "ps ax|less" and scrolling through what comes up.  This method depends on my being able to recognize what should or should not be running.  It also won't work for other VEs who aren't used to dealing with Linux but still have to proctor an exam remotely.
>
> I wonder what other methods might work in this situation or even suggestions for a better set of commands than I use.

Honestly, I think the only way to really monitor what somebody is
doing is basically to point a camera at them and watch.  Short of
that, running ps is probably about as good a solution as any.  The
problem is that nothing keeps them from using VMs or containers from
obscuring other things going on with the computer.  (Containers are
less of an option on Windows/OSX, but VMs are going to be a problem
there as well.)  Somebody who knows what they're doing can just run
whatever screen-sharing software you're using inside a VM, and all
you're going to see is whatever is in the VM, and all running ps from
a terminal inside a VM is going to show you is whatever is running in
the VM.  Ditto for containers, though running X11 or Wayland in a
container is a little trickier to do just because it tends to be less
out-of-the-box.  You can do the same thing on Windows.  Heck, you can
run a windows VM inside Linux or OSX or whatever if you want.

There are ways to potentially detect that you're in a VM, though to
some degree they depend on the sloppiness of whoever is setting up the
VM.

Personally I'd really question how critical it is to stop somebody who
knows how to do such things from doing them on an Amateur Radio exam.
They probably won't have much difficulty remembering to give their
call sign at the end of every QSO, and they'll probably do a better
job not overdriving their mic gain than half the hams on the air
today...  :)

-- 
Rich
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