[ 14 October 1997 The Linux Xterminal mini-HOWTO is not being maintained by the author any more. If you are interested in maintaining the Xterminal mini-HOWTO, please get in touch with me at . ] The X Terminal HOWTO How to connect an X terminal to a Linux PC Version 1.0 BETA (July 1995) Scot W. Stevenson This document gives a brief introduction to how to connect an X terminal to a Linux PC. It assumes a basic knowledge of the X Window System, TCP/IP addressing, and ethernet cards. 1.0 Introduction This is the first version of the document and should be considered BETA. It is more of a been-there, done-that text than a comprehensive treatment. Discussions of access control mechanisms (e.g. xaccess, xhost, MIT-COOKIEs), and the use of NFS, are not yet included. Most X terminals now have a whole host of advanced features which allow them to be more than mere X servers. For the most part, these features will be ignored. 1.1 Changes from previous versions (There are no previous versions, so everything was changed) 1.2 Disclaimers Neither the author nor the distributors of this HOWTO are in any way responsible for physical, financial, or moral damage incurred by following the suggestions in this text. In short: "Yea though I talk...." 1.3 Copyright The Linux Xterminal HOWTO is copyrighted (C) 1995 by Scot W. Stevenson. Linux HOWTO documents may be reproduced and distributed in whole or in part, in any medium physical or electronic, as long as this copyright notice is retained on all copies. Commercial redistribution is allowed and encouraged. The author, however, would like to be notified of any such distributions. All translations, derivative works, or aggregate works incorporating any Linux HOWTO documents must be covered under this copyright notice. In othe words, you may not produce a derivative work from a HOWTO and impose additional restrictions on its distribution. Exceptions to these rules may be granted under certain conditions. In short, we wish to promote dissemination of this information through as many channels as possible. However, we do wish to retain copyright on the HOWTO documents, and would like to be notified of any plans to redistribute the HOWTOs. Should you have any questions, please contact Greg Hankins, the Linux HOWTO coordinator, at gregh@sunsite.unc.edu. You may finger his address for phone number and additional contact information. 1.3 New Versions and Feedback New versions of this document can be found on sunsite.unc.edu in the /pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/ directory. If you do not have FTP access, you can try to get Linux Help Files via Bill Riemers. Send email to bcr@physics.purdue.edu with a subject of "help" for more infomation and an index file. Any additions to, corrections of, or comments about this document would be most welcomed! Please send email to scot@catzen.gun.de (Scot W. Stevenson) I would especially like to hear from you if you already have experience with linking an X terminal to a Linux machine, even if is only something like "worked on this machine with this terminal." On the board for the next versions are access control mechanisms and the use of NFS filesystems for booting. 2.0 Background This section provides some very basic information for those not familiar with the X Window System and its terminal-ology. If you have at least some experience with X and X terminals, you should be able to skip this part with no ill effects. 2.1 What is X? The X Window System, or just X (never X Windows), is "a portable, network-transparent window system" as the man page has it. It provides a graphic environment that cuts across operating systems, vendors, and hardware types. When people talk about a window system in connection with Unix, they almost always mean X. The most important characteristic of X in our case is the strict division between the programs that control the local hardware that the user interfaces with (screen, keyboard, mouse, etc.), and those programs the user actually wants to run (editor, spreadsheet, DOOM). This means that the interface software, which is called the X server, can be on a one machine, while the actual programs, or X clients, can be on one or even more than one machine at a totally different location. Note that the terms "server" and "client" are used in the reverse sense of what they usually are. Linux comes with a collection of X servers from the XFree86 project, that is, servers for SVGA Video cards, as well as a whole host of X clients such as xv, maze, and xterm. If you are new to X, you might want to get some hands-on experience with X on the Linux machine before attempting to link up an X terminal. 2.2 What is an X terminal? An X terminal (referred to as XT from now on) is a specialized piece of hard- and software which combine into an X server, that is, the part of X that manages in- and output to and from the user. In the most primitive case, only the X server program and communcication software are included. Even the window manager comes from the host computer, to which the XT is connected by ethernet (or in rare cases serial lines), using TCP/IP. The hardware of an XT will include at least a (large) screen, keyboard, mouse, some RAM, and jacks for ethernet cables. Most XTs do not have a hard disk, a floppy drive, or other such means of data transfer. This means that the XT either has its operating system in ROM (rare), or gets it from a host on the net that it is attached to. To get to its operating system from the Linux computer at boot time, the XT usually does something like this: It sends out a cry of help through the net with its ethernet number as a name tag. A "real" computer on the net compares this number with a list of them, and if a match is found, sends the XT the IP number it has been assigned to (via the bootpd daemon). This allows the XT to download its operating system and other data it needs from the hard disk of the host computer (usually via tftp). This is the procedure explained here in detail. An XT is therefore actually a full-fledged computer, with its own IP number, RAM, program, and independent hardware, albeit more like an idiot savant. It's great at what it does best, managing X graphics, but not much good for anything else. 2.3 Advantages and Disadvantages Ideally, an XT is silent, swift, and deadly. Usually without fan, floppy or hard disk, they make no noise at all, and with a few meters of ethernet cable you can put your loudish computer in a different room and have the silent XT on your desk. Since the XT is built for X and graphics, it is faster than, say, an X server program unter MS Windows or DOS. With the server on one machine and the client on another, the processor doesn't have to handle both at once. Though this might not be noticable in terms of speed (since the data now has to be moved over the ethernet), it will reduce the CPU load and save memory on the Linux machine that would otherwise be swallowed by the X server. On the flip side, you will need an ethernet card, which usually means giving up a slot and an IRQ. Depending on the manufacturer, the software for the XT can take up around 20 MBytes of hard disk space on your Linux machine. You can almost always delete a lot of unused stuff once you figure out what is really needed. Most XTs will require the host machine to have the bootpd and tftpd daemons installed and running - both are potential security holes. You will probably want to have a further daemon, xdm, running in the background. And yes, that big XT screen will take up a lot of desk space. 2.4 What do I need? Kind of you to ask! But more appropriately, what do you need? First of all, you need an XT. If you have lots of money, and we do mean lots, you can go out and buy one. Jim Morton posts a list of XTs and their prices to comp.windows.x on a regular basis. Or fortune might smile on you. Since old XTs can't be used with DOS, MS Windows, or OS/2, some firms solve the problem of what to do with their old ones by just throwing them out. On the Linux computer side, you will need an ethernet card. Though it is in theory possible to run an XT via serial line and SLIP, this is not recommended unless you have masochistic tendencies. Check out the Ethernet-HOWTO maintained by Paul Gortmaker on how to purchase and set up ethernet cards. SLIP und CSLIP are covered in the same document, should you have no other choice. In this case, you might also want to look at the Serial-HOWTO by Greg Hankins for information on how to get the best performance. You will also need to have TCP/IP support compiled into the kernel, as well as a IP number for at least your machine and the XT. The Net-2-HOWTO by Terry Dawson covers this. Finally, you will need to have X installed on you Linux machine. In theory you should be able to have just the X clients and programs like xdm installed, without the servers package. But it is probably not worth the effort to untangle the various parts. The XFree86 HOWTO by Helmut Geyer will tell you how to get X up and working. 3.0 Cables, Nets and Daemons This section discusses the changes to hard- and software required to get the XT connected to the Linux machine. Some conventions are that the XT is called "whisper" (because it makes no sound), and the Linux host machine "imlinux" (I am Linux). They are both part of the "frog" domain in Germany (".de"). Their IP numbers are 192.168.13.1 for imlinux.frog.de (the Linux machine) 192.168.13.41 for whisper.frog.de (the XT linked to it). Note that these are standalone IP numbers for systems not connected to the greater Internet, and that to my knowledge there is no frog domain in Germany. We will assume that there are no other machines on the net, and that NFS is not installed. [Bummer. If someone has used NFS in connection with his or her XT, I'd love to hear from you.] 3.1 Physical connection This should be as easy as plugging cables into both machines. Please note that some XTs have two serial inputs that can only run at certain speeds if both are in use. Check your XT manual for details. You will need the ethernet number of the XT later on. It is displayed during boot of the XT, even if no connection is yet established. As soon as you have the wires in place, you should be able to test the ethernet link. After booting the XT, it should start off by complaining that its calls for a bootpd and/or tftpd are not being answered, and then start a boot operating system (usually part of the XT ROM). This should include a primitive ping command which will allow you to test the ethernet from the XT to the Linux machine. Don't panic if it doesn't work the other way around yet. The XT probably needs its full operating system to be able to respond. 3.2 Configuring the Net Your basic configuration needs should be covered by the Net2-HOWTO as mentioned above. We'll assume here that you already have TCP/IP and such up and running. Since the XT is considered to be just another computer on the net, you will now have to make sure both Linux machine and XT know each other's IP address and that of the net they are on. 3.2.1 Configuring the Linux Machine Information on the XT will have to be included in at least these files: /etc/hosts Add a line with the IP number of the XT, such as # /etc/hosts line for Linux machine. lprhost and loghost # are optional 192.168.13.1 imlinux imlinux.frog.de lprhost loghost # The new line for the XT is next 192.168.13.41 whisper whisper.frog.de /etc/ethers This file provides a list of ethernet numbers and the corresponding host names. This does not seem to be needed in all distributions and setups, but in case it is, you will need to include the ethernet number of the XT and its hostname. This would be something like 04:03:e8:cc:0d:24 imlinux 0f:03:11:31:45:f1 whisper (Yes, the ethernet numbers are fakes) [You might have to change further files if you are running programs like named, routed, or gated. As I am not, I would be grateful if someone could fill me in on which files, if any, must be modified.] You will have to reboot your Linux machine to make sure all changes take effect. 3.2.2 Configuring the X Terminal Check your XT manual for which files will have to be edited. In my case, there was a central configuration file which needed to have the following entries changed: ip_host_table 192.168.13.1 imlinux ip_host_table 192.168.13.1 imlinux.frog.de ip_host_table 192.168.13.41 whisper ip_host_table 192.168.13.41 whisper.frog.de file_access_1 TFTP file_host_name_1 imlinux.frog.de file_path_1 /usr/local/xterm/liveshere display_access_table whisper display_access_table imlinux enable_access_control YES xdmcp_server imlinux broadcast_address 192.168.13.255 default_telnet_host imlinux Note that the XT picks up its files via tftp from the directory /usr/local/xterm/liveshere, and the terminal is able to do XDMCP (important for the configuration of xdm). There will also be other configurations files for things like fonts. You should be able to use the fonts already installed with Linux. In my case, the file for the fonts (font.tbl) looks something like this /usr/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi /usr/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi ... /usr/local/xterm/misc /usr/local/xterm/openlook with a few more lines to the same effect. Later, when the XT boots off the Linux machine, you should see a list of files it has successfully loaded. Another thing you will probably want to have on your XT is "backing store," which means that those window parts covered by other windows are not stored in the Linux' RAM, but in that of the XT. Check your XT manual for further details. 3.3 bootpd Bootpd is the daemon that hears the X terminal's cry for help at boot time and responds by telling the XT who it is, and where it can find the software it wants to download. For some odd reason bootpd is not included in some current distributions, notably Slackware 2.2.0.1. This means you will have to get it via FTP or some other source. It should then be placed in /usr/sbin/ (not in /etc, as the man page would have it) as in.bootpd. Add or uncomment the following line in /etc/inetd.conf: bootps dgram udp wait root /usr/sbin/tcpd /usr/sbin/in.bootpd This will ensure that inetd can start bootpd if a boot request is found. The configuration file for bootpd is /etc/bootpd. The syntax is explained in the man page. In our example, the /etc/bootpd file should look something like this ("server" is now used in the classical sense again): # Sample /etc/bootpd file # First, global entry for stuff every host uses allhost:hd=/usr/local/xterm/liveshere:\ # Home directory XT software :ds=192.168.13.1:\ # Domain name server (imlinx) :sm=255.255.255.0:\ # Subnet mask :gw=192.168.13.1:\ # Gateways :ts=192.168.13.1:\ # Time Servers :lp=192.168.13.1:\ # lpr Servers :to=-7200: # Time Offset in seconds # Next, individual entries of every single host. Futher XTs would # have their own entry whisper:ht=ethernet:\ # Type of hardware link :ha=0f03113145f1:\ # Ethernet number of X terminal :ip=192.168.13.41:\ # IP number of X terminal (whisper) :tc=allhost:\ # Template for standard options as above :bf=xtermOS: # Boot file name - the X terminal's OS The name of the XT's operating system may not be included as part of the hd (home directory) entry. In our example, the file that the XT grabs as its operating system is /usr/local/xterm/liveshere/xtermOS, but the hd entry is /usr/local/xterm/liveshere. bootpd will write information to both /var/adm/syslog and /var/adm/messages, which should look something like this after a successful boot: Jul 17 05:19:42 imlinux in.bootpd[110]: connect from 0.0.0.0 Jul 17 05:19:42 imlinux bootpd[110]: reading "/etc/bootptab" Jul 17 05:19:42 imlinux bootpd[110]: read 2 entries from "/etc/bootptab" Jul 17 05:19:43 imlinux bootpd[110]: request from hardware address 0F03113145F1 Type 1 Jul 17 05:19:43 imlinux bootpd[110]: found 192.168.13.41 whisper After helping the XT to boot, bootpd will stick around for about 15 minutes, then remove itself if there is no further work to do. 3.4 tftpd The Trivial File Transfer Program is used by the XT to load its operating system from a Linux hard disk. It should be included in every distribution and does not have a configuration file. You can test tftp by just typing "tftp" from a command shell. As with bootpd, you will have to include or uncomment the following line in /etc/inetd.conf: tftp dgram udp wait root /usr/sbin/tcpd /usr/sbin/in.tftpd Note that tftp can only access files that have world read access set. Note also that tftp is a potential security hole that you will have to keep in mind, and that the version of tftp included in some Linux packages does not include the -r (or -s) flags for more secure use. tftp will also write to /var/adm/messages. If bootpd has successfully done its stuff, the next lines should be something like Jul 17 05:19:43 imlinux in.tftpd[111]: connect from whisper Jul 17 05:19:58 imlinux in.tftpd[113]: connect from whisper Jul 17 05:19:59 imlinux in.tftpd[115]: connect from whisper Jul 17 05:20:00 imlinux in.tftpd[117]: connect from whisper Jul 17 05:20:03 imlinux in.tftpd[125]: connect from whisper Jul 17 05:20:05 imlinux in.tftpd[127]: connect from whisper and so on for quite a while. These are the files that the XT is requesting from its home directory on the Linux computer. You should see messages on the XT's screen while this transfer takes place. 3.5 Testing the link Once you have modified the files mentioned above, you should be able to boot the XT. Depending on the manufacturer, more or less verbose messages on the XT's screen will tell you what is happening. Look carefully for messages about files that cannot be found. If all is well, it should progress to the point where the XT can launch its own version of X. This means a grey background and the X cursor. If you already have xdm running on the Linux machine, it might even put up the xdm login prompt, though things might go a little haywire since some definitions are not in place yet. Be prepared to kill xdm as root from the Linux machine as a last resort. Most XTs have an inbuilt set of functions, like a telnet client, as part of their boot operating system. You can test the link further by telneting into the Linux computer. At this point, depending on how access is set up, you might also be able to start X programs on the XT by using the display option. From the Linux computer, try something like xclock -display whisper:0 & This should produce the xlock on the XT. You can even start a window manager such as fvwm this way. 4.0 X on the run This section deals with setting up xdm so that a login prompt is available on the XT, and will return when a user has logged out. The xdm program is a display manager that is the (very) rough equivalent of the login programs for normal terminals. It should be included in every Linux X package. 4.1 xdm configuration xdm's configuration files live in /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xdm (/usr/X11R6 may be a link to /usr/X11). The main configuration file is xdm-config. You should find, among others, the following lines already in place: DisplayManager._0.authorize: true DisplayManager._0.setup: /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xdm/Xsetup_0 DisplayManager._0.startup: /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xdm/GiveConsole DisplayManager._0.reset: /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xdm/TakeConsole These are the files that control the screen when X is run on the Linux machine itself. For the XT, we add four lines of the same type: DisplayManager.whisper_0.authorize: true DisplayManager.whisper_0.setup: /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xdm/Xsetup_whisper DisplayManager.whisper_0.startup: /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xdm/Xstartup DisplayManager.whisper_0.reset: /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xdm/Xreset Note that whisper_0 is the xdm notation for whisper:0, just as _0 is :0. Note also that GiveConsole has been replaced by Xstartup, which in my case is a dummy file, and TakeConsole by Xreset, is also a dummy file. The original files both control the ownership of the console when X is run on the Linux machine, and there is no reason to fool around with the Linux console just because the XT is running. The setup files run programs before the login prompt is placed on the screen. This is the place to, say, use xv or a similiar program to have a picture in the background. You should be able to simply copy the given Xsetup_0 file to Xsetup_whisper. [Since this question comes up again and again: One way of putting a picture in the root window is by placing the line nice xv -root -quit -rmode 5 & or such in the setup file. picture_file will then be displayed in the root window under the xdm login prompt. Note that some XTs will give an error message if the file is too large or too complex.] Xaccess controls who can have access to the machine. You should be able to leave the defaults as they are. Note hat Xaccess will let you greet the user with a chooser, in case you have different machines on the net that can service the XT. Xresources controls the shape and size of the login prompt. You might want to have different messages for the XT and Linux machine by replacing the DisplayManager*resources: /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xdm/Xresources with two lines such as DisplayManager._0.resources: /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xdm/Xres_0 DisplayManager.whisper_0.resources: /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xdm/Xres_wh_0 where Xres_wh_0 is the name of the whisper resource file. You should be able to leave the Xsession file unchanged, too. Configuration of the Xservers file is slightly more tricky. Out of the box, there is probably only one line uncommented (Slackware 2.2.0.1) :0 local /usr/X11R6/bin/X or something to that effect. This starts the Linux machine X server when xdm is called. Commenting this line means that when xdm is called, there will be no X started on the Linux machine. This is what you need to do if you only want to have xdm managing the XT, but not the local Linux X server. In this case, X can still be started with startx at any time on the Linux machine with no ill effects found so far. If your XT does not have XDMCP, you must also include a line for the XT, such as whisper:0 foreign XDMCP is a standardized method that for example lets X terminals talk to their hosts. If your terminal does have XDMCP, don't repeat do not include that line here. This would make xdm think that there is an XT out there that doesn't know XDMCP, while at the same time a terminal with the same name is trying to get in, too. This can lead to all kinds of ugly effects, such as two xdms fighting for control. Note that you can use the xdm-config entries even if there is no line in Xservers for the XT, that is, you can still customize the xdm login prompt, etc, for a XT that uses XDMCP. To make xdm start with every reboot, you can include a line such as /usr/bin/X11/xdm in /etc/rc.d/rc.local. Other people start xdm with the /etc/inittab file. In any case, xdm should appear with the list of processes after a reboot of the Linux machine. 4.2 Access questions [BummerRank1. This is important, and we're working on it.] To see if a user can access the XT screen from the Linux machine, log in as non-root on the Linux machine and try a command like xsetroot -solid white -display whisper:0 & or xterm -display whisper:0 & Try this when somebody is logged in on the XT and when there is only the xdm login to be seen. Depending on where you are, the ability to put stuff on the XT screen from the console might more of a feature than a bug. 5.0 Errors, Unknowns, and Thanks 5.1 Known problems These are problems which have turned up, as well as interesting features that might be considered problems. If you have come up with any interesting features, or even solutions, please let me know. talk - The interactive chat will work if the user at the XT starts the session with a user at the Linux machine, but fails the other way around. I'm sure I read a fix for this once, but have forgotten it. who - A user logged in via the XT does not appear in the output of the who command, even if it is sent from the XT itself. This is probably the reason why talk fails when initiated from the Linux machine ("On an XT, nobody even knows you're a human"). xlock - Normal call of xlock will only produce a message to the effect that the XT's screen can't be grabbed. The -remote option must be included in the xlock call to allow terminal locking. Note that some xlock modes are more resource hungry than others. Qix seems to be more suited for XTs than others - check out the FAQ by Art Mulder (below) for more details. xv - Some XTs will not have enough video memory to be able to handle large and/or complex colored background pictures. Try removing any old pictures (with `xsetroot' or such) and refreshing the screen before you move xv's window into the root. 5.2 Terminals tested The procedures described in this text have so far only been seriously tested on a Tektronix XP23 in connection with a 386DX-33MHz, 16 MByte RAM running Linux 1.2.3 and the XFree86 Version 3.1.1 files from the Slackware 2.2.0.1 distribution. 5.3 Futher reading More information on X can be found on the net as: David B. Lewis posts the detailed and extensive Comp.windows.x Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) to comp.windows.x, news.answers, and comp.answers on a regular basis. This document also contains entries on where to get more information on X. Steve Kotsopoulos posts the X on Intel-based Unix Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list to the same groups. Art Mulder maintains the Comp.windows.x: Getting more performance out of X FAQ, which is als posted regularly to these groups. It includes tips very useful for Linux under X, too. 5.4 Thanks First thanks, as always, go out to Linus B. Torvalds . Futhermore to Klaus ter Fehn , for making it possible and Douglas K. Stevenson , for making it passable.