[ale] Running like a thin client after boot up in Xubuntu

[Brian Pitts]

Daniel Howard wrote:
> I have an older laptop, also recently donated to GOSEF, that works 
> reasonably well with Xubuntu using a PCMCIA card for Ethernet, so I went 
> ahead and installed it.  I'd really like to use it as a thin client 
> since one of the schools I did recently had a break-in and lost 4 of the 
> laptops I'd set up previously there as thin clients.  Is there an easy 
> way for me to have this laptop fully boot in Xubuntu while hanging off 
> the network switch that the K12LTSP server uses to feed the thin 
> clients, and then automatically launch a remote X session on the server 
> so it can run apps off the server like the other thin clients?

Answer #1

This is appropriate if you want to be able to choose whether to use the
laptop as a thin client or as standalone system when you login. It's not
appropriate if you're concerned about security of data sent across the
local network.

On the machine that acts as the server for the thin clients, enable
XDMCP. You can do this graphically under the "remote" tab of gdmsetup.
Alternately, in gdm.conf add a section like

[xdmcp]
Enable=true
HonorIndirect=true
MaxPending=4
MaxPendingIndirect=4
MaxSessions=16
MaxWait=15
MaxWaitIndirect=15
DisplaysPerHost=2
PingIntervalSeconds=15
Port=177

On the machine running Xubuntu, I think GDM will display the hostname
chooser menu item by default. If not, you can enable it from gdmsetup as
well. For an explanation of what's going on behind the scenes, see
wikipedia. [0]

Answer #2

This is appropriate if you want the laptop to be a dedicated "thin
client" that just happens to boot off a hard disk instead of the network.

On Xubuntu, install LDM. Edit /etc/X11/default-display-manager,
switching gdm to ldm. I believe you should then create the file
/usr/lib/ltsp/get_hosts with the ip address of the the machine that acts
as the server for the thin clients. You may need additional
configuration in /usr/lib/ltsp/ltsp_config.

[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_display_manager

-Brian