[Gllug] Remote X connection questions

[Ian Northeast]

Dylan wrote:
> Hi List,
> 
> I'm setting up an audio appliance to play media files on my stereo. 
> While I'm exploring and/or writing a web-based interface, it has been 
> suggested that I use a GUI jukebox program over a remote X session. 

There are four ways of doing this that occur to me immediately:

XDM, where the server runs an XDM server and you start an X server on 
the machine with the display in XDMCP mode;

VNC;

Ssh with X forwarding;

Using xhost to give the server access to the display, telnet and setting 
DISPLAY manually. This is deprecated these days and doesn't work with X 
servers configured not to listen on TCP/IP (e.g. the default Debian 
setup). Also telnet isn't usually installed by default which is a good 
thing. Don't do this.

For running just one app I recommend ssh. VNC is good over slow links 
but I assume this isn't the case here. We use VNC for running heavy X 
apps in London with the display in India, over a 380Kb line which is not 
very reliable. You'll need XDM or VNC if you want a whole remote desktop 
rather than just X apps.

> I've never tried remote X login before so have some questions:
> 
> How much of X would need to be installed?

The libraries and any X programs you want to run. Having xterm is useful 
for testing. You don't need an XDM server if you use ssh or VNC to log 
in. You may have to enable X forwarding explicitly in sshd.

> Would it need to be configured for the server?

If you mean "do you need to configure an X server on the server" then no.

> Could the server be run at init 3?

Meaning text login only as per RH and SuSE I assume. Yes.

> Would I need to install a desktop/window manager (beyond the libs needed 
> by the app)?

Not if you log in with ssh. If you use XDM or VNC you'll need some sort 
of window manager, but it doesn't have to be a monster like KDE or 
Gnome. I like icewm. Twm is even more minimal.

> Can the login be made passwordless?

If you use ssh, yes, with RSA key authentication.

I run SuSE servers like this. I select the "graphical without KDE" option
and when the installer prompts for X server setup select "no graphical 
login". You can probably do something similar with other distros.

Regards, Ian




-- 
Gllug mailing list  -  Gllug at gllug.org.uk
http://lists.gllug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/gllug