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display error running redhat-config-*

PROBLEM
I get an error whenever I try to run any of the redhat-config-* programs, such as redhat-config-packages...

Code:

[root@auburn root]# redhat-config-packages

Unable to import gtk module.  This may be due to running without

$DISPLAY set.  Exception was:

could not open display

Traceback (most recent call last):

  File "/usr/share/redhat-config-packages/MainWindow.py", line 11, in ?

    sys.exit(0)

NameError: name 'sys' is not defined

I'm not sure what technology these config programs use, but they seem to be more than just ANSI or VT100. I can't get them to run from either the console nor PuTTY over SSH.

ENVIRONMENT
I just completed a fresh install of RedHat 9 with the server profile, I've set my hostname in /etc/sysconfig/network, DHCP is enabled in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0, and /etc/resolv.conf is correctly being autogenerated by the DHCP client. I've even tried setting $DISPLAY per the suggestion of www . europe . redhat.com / documentation / rhl7.2 / rhl-ig-s390-en-7.2 / s1-guimode-booting . php3

These programs attempt to communicate to an X server that is assumed to be running. That means you cant use them from a remote console unless you run an X server on the ssh client-side and use X-forwarding .

For some of the redhat-config-* tools, I've seen *-gui and *-tui ( or *-nox) versions. If you don't have these, try passing it a --nox option ( I've seen atleast some RH tools take it ) so it would run in console mode.

HTH

It looks like the redhat-config-packages tool that I need doesn't have a non-X version, nor will it take a parameter like --nox, as appears the case for most others...

Code:

[root@auburn root]# ls /usr/sbin/redhat-config*

/usr/sbin/redhat-config-bind          /usr/sbin/redhat-config-network-tui

/usr/sbin/redhat-config-bind-gui      /usr/sbin/redhat-config-packages

/usr/sbin/redhat-config-kickstart      /usr/sbin/redhat-config-printer

/usr/sbin/redhat-config-network        /usr/sbin/redhat-config-printer-gui

/usr/sbin/redhat-config-network-cmd    /usr/sbin/redhat-config-printer-tui

/usr/sbin/redhat-config-network-druid  /usr/sbin/redhat-config-proc

/usr/sbin/redhat-config-network-gui    /usr/sbin/redhat-config-services

So, do most RedHat admins install X on their servers just to run the config programs? I'd hate to weigh down a server with X just so I can access a tool, in addition to introducing the complexity of installing Exceed or equiv on admin clients. I suppose VNC would be easier to deploy, but it's still a pain when ssh is so easy.

AFAIK, yes. But there may be someone else who knows these tools better.

The tools appear to be designed to emulate the WinNT/2K administration interface. If I want to stay away from X and do pure console based administration, I wouldn't use the tools anyway.

If all you want is a simple X server, use cygwin and enable X11 Forwarding on ssh, I would say. The X protocol is definitely a bandwidth hog ( and hence slow ), but I bet your server wouldn't even know it from a performance perspective because it is running an X client - no X server headaches at all. The graphics is handled by the X server running on the ssh client side.