[K12OSN] one more time
Sharon Betts
sbetts at msad71.net
Thu Mar 3 20:33:32 UTC 2005
Thanks for all the information. We are now going to do some groundwork
and see how things progress. I will be back with a report.
Sharon
"Support list for opensource software in schools." <k12osn at redhat.com> on
Tuesday, March 01, 2005 at 9:39 AM +0000 wrote:
>Because of the additional work of providing an X server on the Windows
>clients, I'd start with providing apps to the Linux clients. I think
>you still want the Windows box to be the single point for
>authentication, so have a look at Trask & Oquist's smbldap installation
>script. While it's designed to make Samba use LDAP, I think it
>includes, or could be made to include, making regular shell
>authentication also use LDAP, which then talks to the Windows AD (which
>is a 'extended' LDAP). So, the first step is to get that working, where
>you can telnet or ssh from the Linux client to the Linux app server.
>Then you need to get the DISPLAY variable automatically set; SSH has the
>advantage here because it can set the DISPLAY variable automatically.
>See the wiki at http://www.k12ltsp.org/phpwiki/ and follow the links to
>Gavin Spurgeon's How-to for setting up an app server.
>
>Once that's working, then we can tackle the next step (your project has
>too many aspects to be entirely covered in single email messages, so
>let's break it down into sections and deal with them one at a time).
>
>Petre
>
>Sharon Betts wrote:
>> "Support list for opensource software in schools." <k12osn at redhat.com>
>on
>> Monday, February 28, 2005 at 2:34 PM +0000 wrote:
>>
>>>Do you want to just provide those apps--Gimp, StarOffice, etc.--to the
>>>Windows clients, but from a central server so you don't have to install
>>>them on each individual Windows client machine? Or do you also want to
>>>setup linux thin clients? These are not mutually exclusive, but
>they're
>>>different problems/projects (both of which should be fun).
>>
>> Both -- I presently have both windows fat and linux slim (flash booted)
>> clients. They are all using the Windows terminal server now for apps.
>I
>> want to add a linux box to server Gimp, StarOFfice etc.
>>
>>
>>>Re-reading your message, it sounds like the former is your first
>>>priority. To run Linux X-based apps on Windows clients you'll need to
>>>
>>>1. Get the linux server to use the Windows AD for authentication when a
>>>client connects. Have a look at David Trask's smbldap installer
>>>script. There has been much discussion of it in the past few weeks. I
>>>think it's geared more for OpenLDAP than AD but I don't think that
>>>should be a show stopper.
>>>
>>>2a. Install an X server on the Windows boxes. The X-LiveCD allows you
>>>to run the CygWin X server from a CD, and it also has an option to
>>>install the X server on the Windows machine (the installer has a few
>>>bugs regarding the icons and menu choices it's supposed to add, but the
>>>actual X server installs without problems). If you're trying to get to
>>>the point of users just clicking on an icon and having it automatically
>>>connect to the Linux app server and loading the Gimp, say, you'll have
>>>to setup encryption keys with SSH & putty, and use those to
>>>automatically launch the apps. I haven't done this, but it's an
>>>interesting problem; but it may require more effort than step 2b below.
>>>
>>>OR
>>>
>>>2b. Install VNC client on each Windows client, and have the users
>launch
>>>that to connect to the Linux app server. This route doesn't provide
>the
>>>click-on-icon-and-app-magically-appears aspect that may be possible
>with
>>>2a, but it would be easier to setup. However, make sure your Linux box
>>>is big--that is, LOTS of memory, fast CPUs--because now it will have to
>>>support a whole desktop environment for each user rather than just an
>>>application or two.
>>>
>>>Anyone have any alternative suggestions?
>>>
>>>Petre
>>>
>>>Sharon Betts wrote:
>>>
>>>>Hi Petre,
>>>> I am grateful for all your thoughts and help. I have answered your
>>>>questions below.
>>>>In short -- I want to add a linux applicaiton server to an existing
>>>>windows network to serve GIMP, SCRIBUS, STAR OFFICE etc.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>It sounds like you have several projects rolled into one here. ;-)
>>>>>1. Get LTSP server to use Windows server for authentication.
>>>>>2. Get LTSP server to mount users' homedirs that live on Windows
>server.
>>>>>3. Get LTSP server to print to same printers as Windows server.
>>>>>4. Get rdesktop working on LTSP server so users can access apps on
>Win
>>>>>server.
>>>>>5. Allow Windows clients to run apps from LTSP server (?).
>>>>
>>>> Sure
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>I wasn't sure if #5 was something you had in mind or not.
>>>>
>>>> Yes, to minimize the winders TS cals needed.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>As to the
>>>>>first four items, they're listed in order of decreasing difficulty,
>but
>>>>>probably in the order you need to get things working in order to pull
>>>>>this transition off. And I may be incorrect about #1; are you
>running
>>>>>Active Directory on the Windows server?
>>>>
>>>>Yes, running Active Directory.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>Or are the Windows clients just
>>>>>using local authentication (info which is then passed to the Windows
>>>>>server when a user connects to his/her home directory on the Windows
>>>>>server)? The users care about #2, getting to their files. You care
>>>>>about #1 because it may affect how you handle #2. Others may have
>>>>>tackled automatically mounting Windows shares on the LTSP server
>>>>>(anyone?), but I haven't.
>>>>>
>>>>>With #3, are the printers all connected directly to the network (they
>>>>>each have their own ethernet jack) or are they connected to a
>computer
>>>>>which is then connected to the network?
>>>>
>>>>Both.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>In either case, defining the
>>>>>printers on the LTSP server is fairly easy and can be done via cups
>or
>>>>>webmin. I would avoid using the print queues on the Windows server
>as
>>>>>it's unnecessary and just makes the LTSP server dependent on the
>>>
>>>Windows
>>>
>>>>>server.
>>>>>
>>>>>#4 is just a matter of installing rdesktop on the LTSP server. Seems
>>>
>>>to
>>>
>>>>>me someone on the list once described setting up icons for users that
>>>>>called rdesktop and specific apps on the Windows server.
>>>>>
>>>>>So, if you can clarify #1--that is, do you want the Windows server,
>>>>>where you presumably have all the user IDs and PWs stored, to handle
>>>
>>>the
>>>
>>>>>user authentication for the LTSP server so that you only have to
>>>>>maintain one user store, and is the Windows server running AD--then
>we
>>>>>can try to figure out what you need to do there, which should then
>>>>>dovetail into #2. HTH.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Yes to both of these. We are running Windows DHCP.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Sharon
>>>>MSAD#71 Director of Educational Technology
>>>>sbetts at msad71.net http://www.msad71.net 207-985-1100
>>>>"To err is human - and to blame it on a computer is even more so."
>>>>Robert Orben
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Sharon
>> MSAD#71 Director of Educational Technology
>> sbetts at msad71.net http://www.msad71.net 207-985-1100
>> "To err is human - and to blame it on a computer is even more so."
>> Robert Orben
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>
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Sharon
MSAD#71 Director of Educational Technology
sbetts at msad71.net http://www.msad71.net 207-985-1100
"To err is human - and to blame it on a computer is even more so."
Robert Orben
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