Hello,
I am using x2go as an alternative to the overpriced commercial product from NoMachine. So far the road has been bumpy. Here is an honest description of problems I encountered when trying to install x2go server on an rhel6 machine:
- Contrary to debian packeages, the repo to use for rhel 6 is not advertized on the main download page. This leads to attempts to install from source, when a binary package is in fact available.
- Instructions for installation from source are unclear and outdated. GIT paths no longer work, configuration info is not sufficient etc.
- Once the repo has been found, and installation does not work out of the box, because no package for fuse-sshfs.x86_64 available on RHEL6. Could you add that package to your repo?
- Once installation is is complete, several things do not work as expected...
4.1) File permissions are incorrect: sudo: /etc/sudoers.d/x2go is mode 0644, should be 0440 4.2) On a server with gnome installed, but no complete X installation, creating a connection fails (session terminates during session start procedure with no clear error message). It turns out that with X installed and running (runlevel 5) x2go works properly. At runlevel 3, even with all packages installed it does not work. This differs from the free trial version of the commercial NX-server. Is this the way it is supposed to work or is there a service that is required and missing at runlevel 3? 4.3) In the install from source documentation, reference is made to int scripts needed which should run 'x2gocleansessions' in background/daemon mode. No such script is installed but connections still can function (at runlevel 5, see point 4.2 above).
The X2Go project is a great initiative and fills a clear need in the community. With a little effort, you could increase your visibility, gain more traction and increase both your user and your developer bases.
Regardless.. good work so far. I would appreciate an answer to the runlevel question (point 4.2). With the rest, take it as constructive criticism and act on it as you like.
Best regards and keep up the good work,
Burnce
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Hi Burnce,
thanks for your detailled feedback.
On Di 05 Jun 2012 14:14:33 CEST wrote:
I am using x2go as an alternative to the overpriced commercial
product from NoMachine. So far the road has been bumpy. Here is an
honest description of problems I encountered when trying to install
x2go server on an rhel6 machine:
Note, that non of the upstream developers works under rhel or
opensuse. We have to rely on people like you giving feedback. So, may
I ask you to help us improving X2Go for RPM-based distributions.
- Contrary to debian packeages, the repo to use for rhel 6 is not
advertized on the main download page. This leads to attempts to
install from source, when a binary package is in fact available.
Please sign up for our wiki and prepare such a page. I have just
provided a skeleton.
http://wiki.x2go.org/doku.php/wiki:x2go-repository-redhat
- Instructions for installation from source are unclear and
outdated. GIT paths no longer work, configuration info is not
sufficient etc.
Please point us to the relevant (outdated) pages in the wiki. Send us
the URLs please.
- Once the repo has been found, and installation does not work out
of the box, because no package for fuse-sshfs.x86_64 available on
RHEL6. Could you add that package to your repo?
The RPM repositories are not maintained by us directly (at the
moment). I know that Alex has got involved with RPM packaging lately,
so he might give an update here. The RPM packaging had been induced by
Michael Kromer, the developer was Jan Engelhardt.
- Once installation is is complete, several things do not work as
expected...4.1) File permissions are incorrect: sudo: /etc/sudoers.d/x2go is
mode 0644, should be 0440
-> PING@MichaelKromer -> this needs fixing in the RPM repositories
4.2) On a server with gnome installed, but no complete X
installation, creating a connection fails (session terminates during
session start procedure with no clear error message). It turns out
that with X installed and running (runlevel 5) x2go works properly.
At runlevel 3, even with all packages installed it does not work.
This differs from the free trial version of the commercial
NX-server. Is this the way it is supposed to work or is there a
service that is required and missing at runlevel 3?
This is not so on Debian. If all packages mentioned in Debian control
files of x2goserver and x2goagent / libnx-x11 are installed (on
Debian/Ubuntu) then it is possible to draw in a minimal GNOME setup
(gnome-session package) and to use that with X2Go.
http://code.x2go.org/gitweb?p=x2goserver.git;a=blob;f=debian/control http://code.x2go.org/gitweb?p=nx-libs.git;a=blob;f=debian/control
About the runlevel issue, I am not sure. Is SSH started on runlevel 3?
I guess so. Hmmm... Once you can login via SSH, X2Go login should
normally work as well...
4.3) In the install from source documentation, reference is made to
int scripts needed which should run 'x2gocleansessions' in
background/daemon mode. No such script is installed but connections
still can function (at runlevel 5, see point 4.2 above).
An example script can be this: http://code.x2go.org/gitweb?p=x2goserver.git;a=blob;f=debian/x2goserver.init
If that is not in the RPM x2goserver package, then this needs fixing.
The X2Go project is a great initiative and fills a clear need in the
community. With a little effort, you could increase your visibility,
gain more traction and increase both your user and your developer
bases.
Please give us a hand and help improve the RPM aspects of X2Go! Thanks!
Regardless.. good work so far. I would appreciate an answer to the
runlevel question (point 4.2). With the rest, take it as
constructive criticism and act on it as you like.Best regards and keep up the good work,
Burnce
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X2Go-User mailing list X2Go-User@lists.berlios.de https://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/x2go-user
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On Wed, 2012-06-06 at 08:07 +0200, Mike Gabriel wrote:
Hi Burnce,
<snip>
4.2) On a server with gnome installed, but no complete X
installation, creating a connection fails (session terminates during
session start procedure with no clear error message). It turns out
that with X installed and running (runlevel 5) x2go works properly.
At runlevel 3, even with all packages installed it does not work.
This differs from the free trial version of the commercial
NX-server. Is this the way it is supposed to work or is there a
service that is required and missing at runlevel 3?This is not so on Debian. If all packages mentioned in Debian control
files of x2goserver and x2goagent / libnx-x11 are installed (on
Debian/Ubuntu) then it is possible to draw in a minimal GNOME setup
(gnome-session package) and to use that with X2Go.http://code.x2go.org/gitweb?p=x2goserver.git;a=blob;f=debian/control http://code.x2go.org/gitweb?p=nx-libs.git;a=blob;f=debian/control
About the runlevel issue, I am not sure. Is SSH started on runlevel 3?
I guess so. Hmmm... Once you can login via SSH, X2Go login should
normally work as well...
<snip> I do not know if it is true in the latest versions but when we first tested with 3.0.1-5 on Debian, we found the X had to be started or X2Go would not work. I suspect the problem was not actually X but a permissions issue somewhere where the x2go client running as a non-root user was not able to start some process needed by X - John
On Wednesday 2012-06-06 08:07, Mike Gabriel wrote:
- Once installation is is complete, several things do not work as expected...
4.1) File permissions are incorrect: sudo: /etc/sudoers.d/x2go is mode 0644, should be 0440
What is the rationale for requiring 0440?
4.2) On a server with gnome installed, but no complete X installation, creating a connection fails (session terminates during session start procedure with no clear error message).
About the runlevel issue, I am not sure. Is SSH started on runlevel 3? I guess so. Hmmm... Once you can login via SSH, X2Go login should normally work as well...
I also think that the x2go software needs to convey error messages better. Like, when the session sqlite db is not writable, you will only know if you actually perl -d the relevant scripts, because stderr is never relayed to the user and his login GUI, for example.
4.3) In the install from source documentation, reference is made to int scripts needed which should run 'x2gocleansessions' in background/daemon mode. No such script is installed but connections still can function (at runlevel 5, see point 4.2 above).
An example script can be this: http://code.x2go.org/gitweb?p=x2goserver.git;a=blob;f=debian/x2goserver.init
If that is not in the RPM x2goserver package, then this needs fixing.
That init script requires love. Using killall looks like a Thor's hammer to kill a fly. (Luckily users with systemd don't have that problem.)
Hi Jan,
On Fr 29 Jun 2012 21:34:42 CEST Jan Engelhardt wrote:
On Wednesday 2012-06-06 08:07, Mike Gabriel wrote:
- Once installation is is complete, several things do not work as
expected...4.1) File permissions are incorrect: sudo: /etc/sudoers.d/x2go is
mode 0644, should be 0440What is the rationale for requiring 0440?
Not sure either, we do not provide this /etc/sudoers.d/x2go config
file. Someone else (I cannot remember who) reported it to one of the
lists.
4.2) On a server with gnome installed, but no complete X installation, creating a connection fails (session terminates during session
start procedure with no clear error message).About the runlevel issue, I am not sure. Is SSH started on runlevel
3? I guess so. Hmmm... Once you can login via SSH, X2Go login should normally work as well...I also think that the x2go software needs to convey error messages better. Like, when the session sqlite db is not writable, you will only know if you actually perl -d the relevant scripts, because stderr is never relayed to the user and his login GUI, for example.
Yes, these messages should also end up in our i18n team... Music of
the future.
4.3) In the install from source documentation, reference is made to int scripts needed which should run 'x2gocleansessions' in
background/daemon mode. No such script is installed but connections still can function (at
runlevel 5, see point 4.2 above).An example script can be this: http://code.x2go.org/gitweb?p=x2goserver.git;a=blob;f=debian/x2goserver.init
If that is not in the RPM x2goserver package, then this needs fixing.
That init script requires love. Using killall looks like a Thor's hammer to kill a fly. (Luckily users with systemd don't have that problem.)
AFAICT the script looks fine. All the daemonization is in
x2gocleansessions and the script works as simple as it is.
Mike
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GnuPG Key ID 0xB588399B mail: mike.gabriel@das-netzwerkteam.de, http://das-netzwerkteam.de
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-
Burnce＠gmx.net -
Jan Engelhardt -
John A. Sullivan III -
Mike Gabriel