Terminal Services via X and Linux
Sam Alex
RDP. How difficult is it to share applications like Star Office,
Gimp, and other apps to users from X on Linux to Linux or Windows
clients? I don't want to purchase Citrix, which I know is compatible
with Linux.
I'd like to share out only the application itself, but if I have to
share out the entire desktop, that's fine as well.
Thanks,
Sam Alex - sam...@hot.rr.com
--- STOP THE WORLD, I WANNA GET OFF!!! ---
Todd Knarr
> I'm sure most of you are familiar with Citrix's ICA and Microsoft's
> RDP. How difficult is it to share applications like Star Office,
> Gimp, and other apps to users from X on Linux to Linux or Windows
> clients? I don't want to purchase Citrix, which I know is compatible
> with Linux.
If your client's any variety of Unix that runs an X server, or an X
terminal of any sort, then it's trivial. rsh/ssh/telnet/whatever in to
where your app lives, set the DISPLAY environment variable to point to
your display, and run the program. This is the normal environment for X,
so it has no problems whatsoever with it.
If your client's a Windows box, you'll need to obtain an X server for
it. XFree86 works but only runs full-screen so it's a pain to use X and
Windows apps at the same time. There's commercial X servers for
Windows. Or you can go the cheap but more complex route of using VNC,
which will let you open an entire X desktop in one window on your
Windows box.
--
It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations.
-- JRR Tolkien
'Professor' J Frink
>I'm sure most of you are familiar with Citrix's ICA and Microsoft's
>RDP. How difficult is it to share applications like Star Office,
>Gimp, and other apps to users from X on Linux to Linux or Windows
>clients? I don't want to purchase Citrix, which I know is compatible
>with Linux.
>
>I'd like to share out only the application itself, but if I have to
>share out the entire desktop, that's fine as well.
From remote linux machine:
$ ssh -X user@server
[enter password]
$ program &
[or $ xhost +server
$ telnet server
log in with user details
$ export DISPLAY=remote_machine:0
$ program &
but this is insecure in many ways]
This serves the program to the remote machine. It does, however, mean that
the central cpu server is running all the programs not the thin client, but
that's the point I think ;0). Making apps available to be run on remote
machines can be pretty easily done with NIS/NFS but it's a fair bit more
complicated than the simple X server model.
On Windows you will need an X server (as you do on Linux but it usually
comes with one by default). eXceed is a good one but commerical.
There are some nice free ones but I don't have any details to hand. You
don't need X running on the server at all if you don't want to, just the
necessary X libraries for the applications to run. And logins for whoever
wants to access the programs naturally.
You can run the entire desktop as well through XDMCP ie run a DM on your
server such as XDM or KDM. This handles the connections from the remote X
Terminals. Then on the remote machines use something like
$ X -query server
you will then get the login screen as if you were on the server. This is the
quick and dirty method ;0).
For more info you might want the Linux Terminal Server Project at
but a copy of (open)ssh and an X Server (and a network connection ;0) should
pretty much do the job for accessing a few big apps on one big machine from a
lot of smaller ones.
Good luck,
Frink
Frink
--
'Professor' J Frink - Ringtail to the Stars & Professional Mossbauer Guru
SciGraphica, Plotting and Analysis: http://scigraphica.sourceforge.net/
shrike at cmp dot liv dot ack dot ook
"Don't get mad, get mice!"