Configuration of Linux Terminal Server

Group: LNS10A6

Thebe Laxmi, Sharma Prabhakar, Patrick Appiah

Contents

Introduction to LTS Requirements Benefits Drawbacks Configuration Process Conclusion References

Introduction to LTS Key technology used in Linux operating system that

allows thin clients to boot from LTS server.• Thin Clients are the work stations that run few basic functions (i/o

specially).• Thin Clients do not need physical storage media for booting

process and no software too.

Collection of softwares turning normal GNU/Linux into terminal server

LTS server runs all the applications that are necessary for the clients to run and manage their function (heavy weightlifting, right?)

Requirements

Thin Client : • Processor 533 MHz• 32 MB RAM• PCI Video Card –

16Mb memory• Network Card (PXE

network boot loader)• PS/2 mouse,

keyboard

Server:• Pentium 4 or Amd Anthlon,

3 GHz or better• 256 + (192 * Users) MB

RAM• 80-120 GB hard disk or

RAID system• 1 or 2 network cards• PS/2 mouse and keyboard

Hardware Requirements

Requirements contd....

SoftwaresFollowing are the software requirements.• DHCP: For configuration of ip-address.• DNS server: Address resolution.(Not essential)• NTP server: Time synchronization.(Not essential)• TFTP server: For transferring the boot file. • XDMCP – opens desktop of server for clients• Port Mapper:• NFS rather than NBD (network block devices) in our case• No software in thin clients necessary.

Benefits of LTS

Suitable for educational environments, and small scale business.

Low cost . Central Administration and Management. Security Easy management. Environment friendly

Drawbacks

Single Point of failure. Requirements for high server configuration. High network load. Unable to handle Intensive Audio/Video

processes. Latency might cause programs unresponsive.

Configuration Process

Following are the configuration Process: Installation of Centos server. Installation of LTSP –iso package. • Source : sourceforge.net/projects/ltsp• Mounted on: /mnt (mount –o loop /home/lns10a6/ltsp-

4.1.0.iso /mnt) • rpm package installation: ltsp-utils(included in iso)

Configuration Process contd....

Following are the configuration Process: ltspadmin tool was run (lwpperl module should be

installed) Configure installer option was selected. .... Next Slide =>

Configuration Process contd....

Following are the configuration Process:path name: file:///mnt (note URL format) was

located. Other options : Default

Configuration Process contd... Ltspcfg utility was launched

Configuration Process contd... After service set up: • Unmount ISO image from /mnt: umount /mnt

The configuration files of other required services are in following slides.

DHCP configuration contd... Configuration file for DHCP daemon:

DHCP listening in eth1 interface:

Configuration Process contd...

NFS configuration file: what, and how you share? Chroot /opt/ltsp contains scaled-down linux

installation

Configuration Process contd..

Backbone of file transfer: linux initramfs filesystem image into RAM of thin client

Configuration Process Contd..

Host Configuration

Configuration Process contd...

Hosts allowed for local services

Configuration Process contd...

Multiple Client Hardware Platform support

Concluding our work.... Audio Settings Configuration was not performed. Printer Configuration was not performed. Understood NFS, DHCP, Portmapper, Run Level

etc in brief Last but not least, we have LTSP server running.

Thank You!!

References: -

[1]Available at: http://kent.dl.sourceforge.net/project/ltsp/Docs-Admin-Guide/LTSPManual.pdf . Accessed on Nov. 2010

[2]Available at: http://www.ltsp.org/ . Accessed on Nov. 2010[3] Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yD0QV_Cm2w. Accessed on

Nov. 2010[4] Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bARxhOn3mKo&feature=related

. Accessed on Nov. 2010[5]Available at: http://www.tuxmagazine.com/node/1000133. Accessed on Nov. 2010[6]Available at: http://sites.google.com/site/robark/vanlugmay28th2007. Accessed on

Nov. 2010