FreeNX
From ArchWiki
i18n |
---|
English |
Czech |
Русский |
Contents
|
INFO from Package Maintainer tpowa
Please don't change the docu without notifying me, please send me a short mail about your changes.
Isn't that the point of a wiki? Why not protect the page then? phrakture 14:33, 26 February 2009 (EST)
Installation
package is split up into 2 parts:
- freenx (the server)
- nxclient (the client)
If you plan using freenx to connect to a headless PC, keep in mind that you'll also need an X server configured, so you should install any relevant xorg package.
Setup
Server
The free server is the 'freenx' package.
- To allow logins please add 'sshd' to daemons array in /etc/rc.conf
The main configuration file is located at:
/opt/NX/etc/node.conf
If you use KDE or Gnome desktop environments you do not need to edit this file, as the defaults should work in this case. If you use another window manager such as Fluxbox/Openbox or Xfce, you may need to edit this file slightly (see below).
Keys
Keys are used to authenticate the clients with the server. By default a new set of random keys are generated during the install, one for the server and one for the clients. You will need to copy this client key to each of your clients that want to connect (Windows and linux).
The client key can be found here:
/opt/NX/home/nx/.ssh/client.id_dsa.key
---edit pending tpowa approval---
/opt/NX/etc/users.id_dsa
---end edit---
Alternatively you can use the default key that is provided by NoMachine with all clients. In this case you do not need to copy a custom generated key to each client. To get the server to accept the default client keys run:
/opt/NX/bin/nxsetup --install --setup-nomachine-key --clean --purge
---edit pending tpowa approval---
I have found that using --clean --purge removes the nx folder in /opt/NX/home. I suggest you use
/opt/NX/bin/nxsetup --install --setup-nomachine-key
(see http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=77139)
---end edit---
Recreation of random keys:
- /opt/NX/bin/nxsetup --install --clean --purge
Transferring nx keys to another freenx server:
- /opt/NX/home/nx/.ssh contains the key files
-rw------- 1 nx root 697 9. Okt 12:55 authorized_keys -rw------- 1 nx root 668 9. Okt 11:48 client.id_dsa.key -rw------- 1 nx root 609 9. Okt 12:55 server.id_dsa.pub.key
- Save those files.
- Add those files to your new server, they need the same permissions, names, group and directory!
# cp authorized_keys client.id_dsa.key server.id_dsa.pub.key /opt/NX/home/nx/.ssh/ # chmod 600 /opt/NX/home/nx/.ssh/* # chown nx /opt/NX/home/nx/.ssh/* # chgrp root /opt/NX/home/nx/.ssh/*
- Recreate known_hosts file:
# echo -n 127.0.0.1 > /opt/NX/home/nx/.ssh/known_hosts # cat /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key.pub >> /opt/NX/home/nx/.ssh/known_hosts # chmod 633 /opt/NX/home/nx/.ssh/known_hosts # chown nx /opt/NX/home/nx/.ssh/known_hosts # chgrp root /opt/NX/home/nx/.ssh/known_hosts
Starting the server
Once installed the server is effectively running and ready to go, you do not have to do anything manually. The only thing that must be running in order to connect is the sshd daemon.
Edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config and add the following line
ListenAddress 127.0.0.1
---edit pending tpowa approval---
The original ListenAddress in sshd_config is 0.0.0.0. This listens to all addresses. When you add 127.0.0.1, it nullifies 0.0.0.0 and you might be shut out from your lan. Actually 0.0.0.0 will also work, without 127.0.0.1 but if you want more specific listenaddresses, then you need to add them all, eg.
ListenAddress 127.0.0.1 ListenAddress 192.168.0.1
(see http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=71302)
Also you need to be careful that your hosts.deny/hosts.allow allows ssh services.
---end edit---
Save the config file and retstart sshd daemon
sudo /etc/rc.d/sshd restart
In actual fact, if you check the process list (ps aux
) you may not see the nxserver running even though it says it is. This is because the nxserver is actually started by logging into sshd as the special user 'nx'. This user has been set up to use the nxserver as its shell, much like a normal user has bash as the default shell.
Client
Arch Linux
Get the client from pacman:
pacman -S nxclient
Windows
Get the client from nomachine's homepage: http://www.nomachine.com
Tip: Nomachine tends to remove old clients from their homepage, If your setup works with a client save it at a safe place ;)
Configuration
As mentioned above, the client must contain the correct key to connect to the server. If you are using the custom keys generated during install, you need to copy the client key to the following locations:
- Windows:
<yourinstalldironwindows>/share/keys/client.id_dsa.key
- Arch Linux:
/opt/NX/share/keys/client.id_dsa.key
After moving the keys you may have use the nxclient GUI to import the new keys. From the configuration dialog press the 'Key...' button and import the new client key.
Running
Keyboard shortcuts
CTR+ALT+F Toggles full-screen mode. CTRL+ALT+T Shows the terminate, suspend dialog. CTRL+ALT+M Maximizes of minimizes the window CTRL+ALT+Mouse Drags the viewport, so you can view different portions of the desktop. CTRL+ALT+Arrows or Moves the viewport by an incremental amount of pixels. CTRL+ALT+Keypad CTRL+ALT+S It will activate "screen-scraping" mode, so all the GetImage originated by the clients will be forwarded to the real display. This should make happy those who love taking screenshots ;-). By pressing the sequence again, nxagent will revert to the usual "fast" mode. CTRL+ALT+E lazy image encoding CTRL+ALT+Shift+ESC Emergency-exit and kill-window
Leaving fullscreen
There is a magic-pixel in the top right corner of nearly every nx-application in fullscreenmode. Right-click the pixel and application-window gets iconified.
Tips on resume
- Resume is a bit experimental, crashes might appear after session has resumed. You have to find out which apps like resuming and which do not ;) .
- Resuming between Linux and Windows sessions does not work. UPDATE: It appears that version 3.2.0-14 is able to resume Windows-suspended sessions.
- If resume fails let it time out and don't use the cancel button, else sessions will stay open and consume RAM on server. To kill such sessions use the Session Admin program to kill them.
Fix DPI settings
If you like to have the same font-sizes/dpi sizes on all your client session, set the X resource "Xft.dpi". For example putting the following line into a user's "~/.Xresources" makes her/his "desktop" a 100dpi. Xft.dpi: 100
Setting up non-KDE or Gnome desktop managers
Before following anything in this part, make sure the server working setup and accepting connections. This section only deals with problems once NXClient has logged on.
It is quite simple (once the server is setup) to connect to Gnome and KDE sessions, however connecting to other window managers (fluxbox, xfce, whatever) is slightly different.
Choosing "custom" and using a command like startx of startfluxbox will either result in a blank screen after the !M logo or the Client to present an error complaining about lack of a X server. A way around this is open a session with the command "startx", and the another with the command to start your window-manager-of-choice.
If you do not want to do this, you can start X by installing a login manager like SLIM or XDM. I would recomend using SLiM because of it's small size.
(Authors note: This is how I got fluxbox, xfce and others to work on my arch installation- however, I have now removed slim from inittab and set the run level back to 3, and yet I can still login perfectly with NXClient. Possibly try this if you get your system working this way, if like me you have a low memory machine.)
Alternative fix
A simple fix without resorting to the above seems to involve a simple edit to the config file. This should work for fluxbox/openbox/xfce or any other window manager that uses the .xinitrc startup file in a call to startx.
Simply edit the config file (as root):
/opt/NX/etc/node.conf
and change
#USER_X_STARTUP_SCRIPT=.Xclients
to
USER_X_STARTUP_SCRIPT=.xinitrc
Remember to remove the # symbol from the start of the line.
Then in the client under configuration settings, choose Custom as the desktop, and click on settings:
- In the first group select -
Run the default X client Script on server
- In the second group select -
New virtual desktop
Problems
Debug problems
Edit the nxserver config file:
vi /opt/NX/etc/node.conf
Change:
#SESSION_LOG_CLEAN=1
to
SESSION_LOG_CLEAN=0
Then you can look/debug the log files in:
$HOME/.nx/T-C-<hostname>-<display>-<session-id>
For succesfull connections and:
$HOME/.nx/F-C-<hostname>-<display>-<session-id>
For failed ones.
Authentication OK, but connection fails
If you are trying to startkde
vi /opt/NX/etc/node.conf
And search for:
COMMAND_START_KDE=startkde
Replace for:
COMMAND_START_KDE=/usr/bin/startkde
Key changes
Change the key in GUI setup to new generated key.
Xorg 7
Be aware that you have to remove the /usr/X11R6 directory, else strange things can happen.
Wrong password / No connection possible
- If you get always wrong password or no connection after authentication was done and you are sure that you typed it correct, check that your server can connect to itself using localhost by ssh and that it is not blocked either by /etc/hosts.deny or not allowed by /etc/hosts.allow.
- If you messed up your key files, create new ones or fix the old ones, it's probably caused by a wrong known_hosts file.
NX Crashes on session startup
If your NX Client shows the NX logo then disappears with a Connection Problem dialog afterwards.
Then it could be due to missing fonts. Mostly applies if you have installed Arch Linux base and then installed freenx after without the whole X11 set.
Solution until FreeNX Dependencies is fixed is to install xorg-fonts-misc on your NX Server (pacman -S xorg-fonts-misc) and your NX should work.
Note: This does not apply to freenx 0.6.1-3 and above, fix has been incorporated in it and following versions.
NX logo then blank screen
If you see the NX logo (!M) then a blank screen.
This problem can be solved by running a login manager- The problem is that X11 is not started, and it appears that "startx" or similar do not work from the freenx client. Follow these instructions to setup a login manager and load it at startup: Adding a login manager (KDM, GDM, or XDM) to automatically boot on startup
Blind: If this does not resolve your issues, be aware that freenx and bash_completion do not play well together. I only got things to work after removing bash_completion from the .bashrc.
GDM/XDM Session Menu Error with non-KDE or Gnome Desktop Managers (more common with non-Arch Linux users)
Problem: A session menu comes up talking about "chooseSessionListWidget." A window manager never loads.
Fix :
Double check to see if ~/.xinitrc is executable.
ls -la ~/ | grep .xinitrc
If the file is not executable, simply
chmod +x ~/.xinitrc
Keep in mind this command should be executed along with pertinent instructions on this page about "Setting up non-KDE or Gnome desktop managers"