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Windows Terminal Server Replacement?
Evanrude asks: "In my never ending quest to eliminate the Windows operating system from my life, I have yet to find a Linux replacement for the Windows Terminal Server product/service. I have come across the Linux Terminal Server Project but from everything I have read about it, you must boot a diskless workstation to use it, there is no client to connect to it from say a remote workstation [read: internet or remote VPN client]. There is also the Citrix Metaframe Presentation Server for Unix, but I am really looking for something that will run on Linux. I have also googled for anything related to Linux and the Remote Desktop Protocol, but have not had good luck. Has anyone had any experience with replacing a Windows Terminal Server with something Linux based or know of any other projects that might be more on track with this than the LTSP?"
I use DXPC to get into my box at home from work and it's very useable, definately better than VNC over the same connection. They'll even make X tolerable over a modem but highly graphical apps will still take a hit.
-73, de n1ywb
www.n1ywb.com
Not sure if the submitter is thinking along the same lines as me, but I had this same question recently and have just gone with VNC so far.
More to the point, everyone here seems to be saying "just use the built-in networking of X11." This is all well and good, but let me elaborate on what I was looking for when I was researching this myself (again, I can't speak for the submitter.)
Using X over SSH and Cygwin and all that was simple enough, but the functionality I couldn't achieve with it was the ability to "detach" my X session and "re-attach" it from another machine, essentially meaning the X session was permanent and the client connections to it would come and go. Is there a way to do this via the tools you're recommending?
VNC does provide this, but what it doesn't provide is the level of "desktop integration" found in WTS. That is, suppose I copy something in one, I can't paste it in the other. Moving files back and forth, etc. has the same limitations. The 2 GUI sessions basically have no knowledge of each other's existance. Again, is there a way to achieve this with the tools you're recommending?
I'm not trolling or anything, I'm honestly looking for the ideal solution for my own networking needs. I was basically looking for a setup like "screen" on my xterm, but for the whole GUI session. WTS does this beautifully on my XP box, but so far I'm only using VNC on my Linux box.
http://publicvoidlife.blogspot.com
TightVNC includes a server Xvnc that has an inetd mode. Basically, you set up identd (or equivalent) to listen on a port (say, 5901) and when a connection comes in it fires up a copy of Xvnc to serve it. Xvnc can query an XDMCP server it initallize a new desktop for the new server. That part runs like a champ.
kdm claims that it will respond to XDMCP requests when the proper config options are set, but I have not yet been able make that part happen. So for now all I get is a grey-crosshatch default X background and mouse pointer that doesn't have anything to click on.
I am not your blowing wind, I am the lightning.
how is this the best solution? out of the box, with a minimal *nix install i can do everything that microsoft wants tons of money for. in many cases, i don't have to pay anything for it.
We use TS here where I work so our remote sites can log in and use the central database-driven software without shooting tons of sql data acros the net. Our remote sites can use a PII 133Mhz computer to quickly process gobs of data, because the processing is happening at the server and not at their workstation. When you're using an app in TS, you can print to your local printer even if you're in another state. You can lose your connection and resume where you left off. You can even purposefully disconnect and reconnect with all your windows where you left them. Even if you're writing a document in Word it's right where you left it even without saving before dropping the connection.
Asking an honest question now, can *nix do that? If it can, then I'm definately interested as well.
OK several people have mentioned it, but apparently the other posters don't seem to catch the hint.
FreeNX does a new connection for each user on the fly.
It allows printer, file and sound sharing.
It works over SLOW connections.
It is cross platform.
It allows you to disconnect from a session and rejoin later.
It has a commercial version if you want support.
I can be used to connect a single app instead of a desktop.
If it doesn't do what you want then neither does Terminal Services.
Insert pithy comment here.
Ok here is your recipe:
Xvnc
Kde
Svncviewer (modified tightvnc java applet / program with ssl and thiner interface)
And optionally for ssl encryption (server side)
stunnel
And optionally for large systems
ldap / sasl for authentication
And optionally for internet access
Apache serving the svncviewer
And Optionally for network boot terminals
pxes
This allows a cheap low bandwidth internet or network boot terminal environment with linux. If you need some windows applications you can run wine (or a varient of it) or use rdesktop to run the application in a captured window and syncronize the password to windows through a automated process with a (I forget the name starts with L) file imported into AD.
xmove