Hi...

I already configured EL-4 server character mode. Now I need to configure the same in GUI (GNOME).now I don't have physical access that server so all I can do is remotely (putty). Can any one help in this regard.

Thanks in Advance
ulaganaathan

Do you mean that the server is running in run-level 3 but you want run level 5, or do you mean that you want to access gui config utilities (such as system-config-packages) remotely using putty?

Do you have xorg server installed on the Red Hat server? You may need to install at least xorg-x11-server-Xorg so that the needed libraries are installed.

Then install an x server on your remote windows machine. A good choice would be Cygwin/X. With cygwin/x installed, you can enable x forwarding in putty and have a program running on the server displayed in a window on the windows machine. Since you can install an ssh client in cygwin/x, you don't need putty. Run "startx" in the cygwin bash shell and then ssh into the server from the xterm shell, and start your program.

For example, I just switched an FC6 dell laptop on my lan to init level 3. Then from an hp laptop, I ran
ssh -X delllap
<password>
sudo /usr/sbin/system-config-packages

The package manager is running on the dell laptop but is being displayed on the HP laptop.

One thing to keep in mind is that the x server is not what is running on the server, but on the computer you are running as a terminal. The program on the RH server is an x windows client. That is why you need an x server on your windows computer.



Then you could simply log into the server in putty.

Thanks for your reply.....

i have installed GNOME* package and Xorg* package x* and system- config-disply. i have changed init 5 [ /etc/inittab]file.

after that i restarted xfs service.

could u pls provide the step by step procedure...



Regards,
ulaganaathan

You don't need to have the server running in init level 5. Level 3 is fine and maybe more secure.

There are two ways you can go. You can use the remote desktop protocol and install tightVNC in Windows. For this you do need the server running in init level 5.

The other way is to use the x protocol and have the program running on the server displayed on Windows. For this you need to install an x server (on windows). I would recommend installing cygwin/x. This has the additional advantage of having the bash shell and tools like sed, and awk available on windows.
http://x.cygwin.com/
This will allow you ssh into the server, and run any gui program, yet have it displayed on the remote windows computer. You can configure it to run each program in a windows like window, on the normal windows screen; or you can run a windows manager on the server and have it displayed full screen on the windows machine. In other words, you can use your windows computer as an x terminal.

To use ssh, you will want an account on the server, so that you can ssh into it. Login at the server and run "ssh-keygen". This will create a pair of keys in ~/.ssh/.
Make sure the port that you use for ssh (22/tcp by default, but can be changed in /etc/ssh/sshd_conf) is open in the server firewall. On the windows machine, you can enable x forwarding in the putty configuration. Or you can run "ssh -X username@server-ip" from the xterm terminal. After logging in all you need to do is enter the name of the program to run. The program's window will open on the windows screen.

Hi jschiwal,

I am following the second step. I have installed cygwin/x from http://x.cygwin.com/ link after installing when I go to configure according that document:

Starting Cygwin/X
There are several methods of starting the Cygwin/X X Server with a startup script that optionally starts
initial clients and loads keyboard modifier maps. Several startup methods are described below.
startxwin.bat
startxwin.bat - Use a MS-DOS batch file as the startup script. An example startxwin.bat is
included in X-startup-scripts, which is extracted according to the instructions in
the Section called Installing Cygwin/X in Chapter 2. Run /usr/X11R6/bin/startxwin.bat by
double-clicking it in Windows Explorer.
startxwin.sh
startxwin.sh - Use an sh shell script as the startup script. An example startxwin.sh is included in
X-startup-scripts, which is extracted according to the instructions in
the Section called Installing Cygwin/X in Chapter 2. Run /usr/X11R6/bin/startxwin.sh in a
Cygwin shell:
Username@CygwinHost ~
$ sh /usr/X11R6/bin/startxwin.sh


when i run that command i am facing this error
C:\>startxwin.bat
'startxwin.bat' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

Thanks & Regards,
Ulaganaathan.

Can you start cygwin from the menu?
Also look at "echo $PATH" and see if "/usr/X11R6/bin/" is in your path. If so, you can enter "startxwin.sh" in the bash shell. If not, use the full path. I will start the cygwin shell and then enter "startx" in the cygwin bash shell.

I use cygwin at work a lot, even without X. For example, I wrote some very short scripts that takes a directory listing of a DVD where I made a back up; extracts the filenames and dates plus the disc name; adds the entries to a tab separated text file; and then uses enscript & ps2pdf to produce a catalog of spots that I have backed up. I drop that on the server, so if someone needs to restore a spot from backup, they simply need to open the pdf file and use the search function to find it. Then they know which disc it is on.

I'll use "startx" to start the x server. It will pop up an xterm. You can enter the ssh command in the xterm. The default setting is for each program to run in a separate window. You could even have different programs running on two separate remote servers, being displayed side by side. This would allow you to, for example, run the same config program on both and use the first as a reference. You could run "kdesu kate <config-file>" on each server, and use cut & paste to copy from one to the other.

If ssh is setup on the servers, you can also use the scp and sftp. This allows you to transfer files to and from the server without having a samba or nfs share setup. Also, suppose that you download a config file so that you can study it and edit it locally. You can use vim to edit it locally on your windows machine and then copy them back. You couldn't download it to windows to edit it because the NL/CR line endings inserted by a windows editor will cause the config file (which often is a bash script defining variables) to fail. So you need to edit it in the cygwin environment.

Hi jschiwal,

Thanks for your mail and sorry for my later reply.
I have completed sucessfuly.

Thanks & Regards
Ulaganaathan.

I'm glad you got it working.