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Posted to dev@vcl.apache.org by "Sanders, Arbin D" <as...@NCCU.EDU> on 2012/01/17 01:10:05 UTC
VCL & Thin Clients
Hello, I am wondering if anyone has successfully booted VCL via PXE boot to an thin client?
Arbin Darren Sanders
Information Technology Manager - Academic Computing
Information Technology Services
North Carolina Central University
712 Cecil Street
Suite 3033
Durham, NC 27707
919.530.6307
919.530.5097 (Fax)
Want to know more about me…Click Here<http://about.me/arbindsanders>
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RE: VCL & Thin Clients
Posted by "Sanders, Arbin D" <as...@NCCU.EDU>.
Josh,
We are not ready pursue just yet, but thanks for the idea. When we are ready for the pilot program, I will let you know.
Thanks again.
Arbin Darren Sanders
Information Technology Manager - Academic Computing
Information Technology Services
North Carolina Central University
712 Cecil Street
Suite 3033
Durham, NC 27707
919.530.6307
919.530.5097 (Fax)
Want to know more about me…Click Here
For the Latest ITS Updates and Tips Join Us Online
CONFIDENTIALITY: This email (including any attachments) may contain confidential, proprietary and privileged information, and unauthorized disclosure or use is prohibited. If you received this email in error, please notify the sender and delete this email from your system.
-----Original Message-----
From: Josh Thompson [mailto:josh_thompson@ncsu.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2012 1:53 PM
To: vcl-dev@incubator.apache.org
Subject: Re: VCL & Thin Clients
Arbin,
This could be done. Here is one way I can suggest that can be done without any modification to the current code base. You would need to write a small app that would interact with the VCL XML RPC API. The app would need to prompt users for their VCL credentials, which it would need to cache in RAM.
Then, it would get a list of the environments the user had access to. The user could then select which environment was desired. The app would then make the reservation, wait for it to be ready, and then connect to it. This would be best done under linux where rdesktop could be used which allows for passing the RDP password via the command line. The biggest problem I see with this method is the API doesn't currently provide a way to get an estimated load time for a given image. So, the user wouldn't have any way to know if the selected image was preloaded or if it was going to take 20 minutes to load.
Adding this capability wouldn't take much work, but it just isn't currently there.
I wrote an app that does some of this a few years ago. It is in python/tk and is more of the "icon on the desktop" concept. I can try to dig it up if you're really ready to pursue this.
Josh
On Tuesday January 17, 2012 11:24:12 AM Sanders, Arbin D wrote:
> Josh,
>
> I am wanting to change our labs PCs into thin clients. During this
> economic time, I am looking at other alternatives to keep our old machines running.
> It would be great to incorporate this into VCL. Any suggestions?
>
> Arbin Darren Sanders
>
> Information Technology Manager - Academic Computing
>
> Information Technology Services
> North Carolina Central University
> 712 Cecil Street
> Suite 3033
> Durham, NC 27707
> 919.530.6307
> 919.530.5097 (Fax)
>
> Want to know more about me…Click Here
>
> For the Latest ITS Updates and Tips Join Us Online
>
> CONFIDENTIALITY: This email (including any attachments) may contain
> confidential, proprietary and privileged information, and unauthorized
> disclosure or use is prohibited. If you received this email in error,
> please notify the sender and delete this email from your system.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Josh Thompson [mailto:josh_thompson@ncsu.edu]
> Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2012 10:37 AM
> To: vcl-dev@incubator.apache.org
> Subject: Re: VCL & Thin Clients
>
> Arbin,
>
> Can you explain in more detail what you are asking about? I'm not
> following what you want to do.
>
> Josh
>
> On Monday January 16, 2012 7:10:05 PM Sanders, Arbin D wrote:
> > Hello, I am wondering if anyone has successfully booted VCL via PXE
> > boot to an thin client?
> >
> > Arbin Darren Sanders
> >
> > Information Technology Manager - Academic Computing
> >
> > Information Technology Services
> > North Carolina Central University
> > 712 Cecil Street
> > Suite 3033
> > Durham, NC 27707
> > 919.530.6307
> > 919.530.5097 (Fax)
> >
> > Want to know more about me…Click Here<http://about.me/arbindsanders>
> >
> > For the Latest ITS Updates and Tips Join Us Online
> >
> > [cid:BC1F2A78-E097-4DA7-8C76-43EDFF3199B1]
> >
> > <http://www.facebook.com/pages/NCCU-Eagle-Technical-Assistance-Center-ET
> > AC/ 249508718552?ref=ts> [cid:2DD8F9C9-0282-4CD6-AC2B-77C52CBC0662]
> > <http://twitter.com/NCCUETAC> CONFIDENTIALITY: This email (including
> > any
> > attachments) may contain confidential, proprietary and privileged
> > information, and unauthorized disclosure or use is prohibited. If
> > you received this email in error, please notify the sender and
> > delete this email from your system.
> >
> >
> > ____________________________________________________________________
> > __ This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud
> > service.
> > For more information please visit http://www.symanteccloud.com
> > ____________________________________________________________________
> > __
>
> --
> -------------------------------
> Josh Thompson
> Systems Programmer
> Advanced Computing | VCL Developer
> North Carolina State University
>
> Josh_Thompson@ncsu.edu
> 919-515-5323
>
> my GPG/PGP key can be found at pgp.mit.edu
>
> All electronic mail messages in connection with State business which
> are sent to or received by this account are subject to the NC Public
> Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
> This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service.
> For more information please visit http://www.symanteccloud.com
> ______________________________________________________________________
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
> This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service.
> For more information please visit http://www.symanteccloud.com
> ______________________________________________________________________
--
-------------------------------
Josh Thompson
Systems Programmer
Advanced Computing | VCL Developer
North Carolina State University
Josh_Thompson@ncsu.edu
919-515-5323
my GPG/PGP key can be found at pgp.mit.edu
All electronic mail messages in connection with State business which are sent to or received by this account are subject to the NC Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.
______________________________________________________________________
This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service.
For more information please visit http://www.symanteccloud.com
______________________________________________________________________
Re: VCL & Thin Clients
Posted by Josh Thompson <jo...@ncsu.edu>.
Arbin,
This could be done. Here is one way I can suggest that can be done without
any modification to the current code base. You would need to write a small
app that would interact with the VCL XML RPC API. The app would need to
prompt users for their VCL credentials, which it would need to cache in RAM.
Then, it would get a list of the environments the user had access to. The
user could then select which environment was desired. The app would then make
the reservation, wait for it to be ready, and then connect to it. This would
be best done under linux where rdesktop could be used which allows for passing
the RDP password via the command line. The biggest problem I see with this
method is the API doesn't currently provide a way to get an estimated load
time for a given image. So, the user wouldn't have any way to know if the
selected image was preloaded or if it was going to take 20 minutes to load.
Adding this capability wouldn't take much work, but it just isn't currently
there.
I wrote an app that does some of this a few years ago. It is in python/tk and
is more of the "icon on the desktop" concept. I can try to dig it up if
you're really ready to pursue this.
Josh
On Tuesday January 17, 2012 11:24:12 AM Sanders, Arbin D wrote:
> Josh,
>
> I am wanting to change our labs PCs into thin clients. During this economic
> time, I am looking at other alternatives to keep our old machines running.
> It would be great to incorporate this into VCL. Any suggestions?
>
> Arbin Darren Sanders
>
> Information Technology Manager - Academic Computing
>
> Information Technology Services
> North Carolina Central University
> 712 Cecil Street
> Suite 3033
> Durham, NC 27707
> 919.530.6307
> 919.530.5097 (Fax)
>
> Want to know more about me…Click Here
>
> For the Latest ITS Updates and Tips Join Us Online
>
> CONFIDENTIALITY: This email (including any attachments) may contain
> confidential, proprietary and privileged information, and unauthorized
> disclosure or use is prohibited. If you received this email in error,
> please notify the sender and delete this email from your system.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Josh Thompson [mailto:josh_thompson@ncsu.edu]
> Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2012 10:37 AM
> To: vcl-dev@incubator.apache.org
> Subject: Re: VCL & Thin Clients
>
> Arbin,
>
> Can you explain in more detail what you are asking about? I'm not following
> what you want to do.
>
> Josh
>
> On Monday January 16, 2012 7:10:05 PM Sanders, Arbin D wrote:
> > Hello, I am wondering if anyone has successfully booted VCL via PXE
> > boot to an thin client?
> >
> > Arbin Darren Sanders
> >
> > Information Technology Manager - Academic Computing
> >
> > Information Technology Services
> > North Carolina Central University
> > 712 Cecil Street
> > Suite 3033
> > Durham, NC 27707
> > 919.530.6307
> > 919.530.5097 (Fax)
> >
> > Want to know more about me…Click Here<http://about.me/arbindsanders>
> >
> > For the Latest ITS Updates and Tips Join Us Online
> >
> > [cid:BC1F2A78-E097-4DA7-8C76-43EDFF3199B1]
> >
> > <http://www.facebook.com/pages/NCCU-Eagle-Technical-Assistance-Center-ET
> > AC/ 249508718552?ref=ts> [cid:2DD8F9C9-0282-4CD6-AC2B-77C52CBC0662]
> > <http://twitter.com/NCCUETAC> CONFIDENTIALITY: This email (including
> > any
> > attachments) may contain confidential, proprietary and privileged
> > information, and unauthorized disclosure or use is prohibited. If you
> > received this email in error, please notify the sender and delete this
> > email from your system.
> >
> >
> > ______________________________________________________________________
> > This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud
> > service.
> > For more information please visit http://www.symanteccloud.com
> > ______________________________________________________________________
>
> --
> -------------------------------
> Josh Thompson
> Systems Programmer
> Advanced Computing | VCL Developer
> North Carolina State University
>
> Josh_Thompson@ncsu.edu
> 919-515-5323
>
> my GPG/PGP key can be found at pgp.mit.edu
>
> All electronic mail messages in connection with State business which are
> sent to or received by this account are subject to the NC Public Records
> Law and may be disclosed to third parties.
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
> This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service.
> For more information please visit http://www.symanteccloud.com
> ______________________________________________________________________
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
> This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service.
> For more information please visit http://www.symanteccloud.com
> ______________________________________________________________________
--
-------------------------------
Josh Thompson
Systems Programmer
Advanced Computing | VCL Developer
North Carolina State University
Josh_Thompson@ncsu.edu
919-515-5323
my GPG/PGP key can be found at pgp.mit.edu
All electronic mail messages in connection with State business which
are sent to or received by this account are subject to the NC Public
Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.
Re: VCL & Thin Clients
Posted by "Sanders, Arbin D" <as...@NCCU.EDU>.
Henry,
Thanks for the info. I just learned today that our priorities have changed
from the ideas I have. The goal now is to reduce the computer labs on
campus. I will keep you updated when I know more.
Arbin Darren Sanders
Information Technology Manager - Academic Computing
Information Technology Services
North Carolina Central University
712 Cecil Street
Suite 3033
Durham, NC 27707
919.530.6307
919.530.5097 (Fax)
Want to know more about meŠClick Here <http://about.me/arbindsanders>
For the Latest ITS Updates and Tips Join Us Online
<http://www.facebook.com/pages/NCCU-Eagle-Technical-Assistance-Center-ETAC/
249508718552?ref=ts> <http://twitter.com/NCCUETAC>
CONFIDENTIALITY: This email (including any attachments) may contain
confidential, proprietary and privileged information, and unauthorized
disclosure or use is prohibited. If you received this email in error,
please notify the sender and delete this email from your system.
On 1/17/12 8:02 PM, "Henry Schaffer" <he...@ncsu.edu> wrote:
>On Tue, Jan 17, 2012 at 11:24 AM, Sanders, Arbin D <as...@nccu.edu>
>wrote:
>> Josh,
>>
>> I am wanting to change our labs PCs into thin clients. During this
>>economic time, I am looking at other alternatives to keep our old
>>machines running. It would be great to incorporate this into VCL. Any
>>suggestions?
>
>Arbin,
> This may be a case of choosing the right name to call something.
>
> Until a couple of years ago I had a 1998 Dell as my desktop PC -
>256MB RAM, 1 GHz processor - which got upgraded to XP. I was able to
>"run" many heavy-duty programs on it via RDP client connecting to the
>VCL. (Our support people finally took it away from me and gave me a
>new desktop because the old one was getting unreliable after 10 years.
>:-)
>
> Was I running a "thin client" at that time? I would claim I was, as
>I was using my screen/keyboard/mouse and the program execution was
>taking place remotely in the VCL. I was using the desktop's operating
>system/RDP client, but that's what one does with a "thin client" - and
>I didn't have to get a license for a thin client OS.
>
> I did use the desktop, as is, for such things as e-mail and browser
>use - and it was able to handle that load with no trouble.
>
> Might this approach work to fill your needs?
>
>--henry schaffer
>
>______________________________________________________________________
>This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service.
>For more information please visit http://www.symanteccloud.com
>______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service.
For more information please visit http://www.symanteccloud.com
______________________________________________________________________
Re: VCL & Thin Clients
Posted by Henry Schaffer <he...@ncsu.edu>.
On Tue, Jan 17, 2012 at 11:24 AM, Sanders, Arbin D <as...@nccu.edu> wrote:
> Josh,
>
> I am wanting to change our labs PCs into thin clients. During this economic time, I am looking at other alternatives to keep our old machines running. It would be great to incorporate this into VCL. Any suggestions?
Arbin,
This may be a case of choosing the right name to call something.
Until a couple of years ago I had a 1998 Dell as my desktop PC -
256MB RAM, 1 GHz processor - which got upgraded to XP. I was able to
"run" many heavy-duty programs on it via RDP client connecting to the
VCL. (Our support people finally took it away from me and gave me a
new desktop because the old one was getting unreliable after 10 years.
:-)
Was I running a "thin client" at that time? I would claim I was, as
I was using my screen/keyboard/mouse and the program execution was
taking place remotely in the VCL. I was using the desktop's operating
system/RDP client, but that's what one does with a "thin client" - and
I didn't have to get a license for a thin client OS.
I did use the desktop, as is, for such things as e-mail and browser
use - and it was able to handle that load with no trouble.
Might this approach work to fill your needs?
--henry schaffer
RE: VCL & Thin Clients
Posted by "Sanders, Arbin D" <as...@NCCU.EDU>.
Josh,
I am wanting to change our labs PCs into thin clients. During this economic time, I am looking at other alternatives to keep our old machines running. It would be great to incorporate this into VCL. Any suggestions?
Arbin Darren Sanders
Information Technology Manager - Academic Computing
Information Technology Services
North Carolina Central University
712 Cecil Street
Suite 3033
Durham, NC 27707
919.530.6307
919.530.5097 (Fax)
Want to know more about me…Click Here
For the Latest ITS Updates and Tips Join Us Online
CONFIDENTIALITY: This email (including any attachments) may contain confidential, proprietary and privileged information, and unauthorized disclosure or use is prohibited. If you received this email in error, please notify the sender and delete this email from your system.
-----Original Message-----
From: Josh Thompson [mailto:josh_thompson@ncsu.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2012 10:37 AM
To: vcl-dev@incubator.apache.org
Subject: Re: VCL & Thin Clients
Arbin,
Can you explain in more detail what you are asking about? I'm not following what you want to do.
Josh
On Monday January 16, 2012 7:10:05 PM Sanders, Arbin D wrote:
> Hello, I am wondering if anyone has successfully booted VCL via PXE
> boot to an thin client?
>
> Arbin Darren Sanders
>
> Information Technology Manager - Academic Computing
>
> Information Technology Services
> North Carolina Central University
> 712 Cecil Street
> Suite 3033
> Durham, NC 27707
> 919.530.6307
> 919.530.5097 (Fax)
>
> Want to know more about me…Click Here<http://about.me/arbindsanders>
>
> For the Latest ITS Updates and Tips Join Us Online
> [cid:BC1F2A78-E097-4DA7-8C76-43EDFF3199B1]
> <http://www.facebook.com/pages/NCCU-Eagle-Technical-Assistance-Center-ETAC/
> 249508718552?ref=ts> [cid:2DD8F9C9-0282-4CD6-AC2B-77C52CBC0662]
> <http://twitter.com/NCCUETAC> CONFIDENTIALITY: This email (including
> any
> attachments) may contain confidential, proprietary and privileged
> information, and unauthorized disclosure or use is prohibited. If you
> received this email in error, please notify the sender and delete this
> email from your system.
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
> This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service.
> For more information please visit http://www.symanteccloud.com
> ______________________________________________________________________
--
-------------------------------
Josh Thompson
Systems Programmer
Advanced Computing | VCL Developer
North Carolina State University
Josh_Thompson@ncsu.edu
919-515-5323
my GPG/PGP key can be found at pgp.mit.edu
All electronic mail messages in connection with State business which are sent to or received by this account are subject to the NC Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.
______________________________________________________________________
This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service.
For more information please visit http://www.symanteccloud.com ______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service.
For more information please visit http://www.symanteccloud.com
______________________________________________________________________
Re: VCL & Thin Clients
Posted by Josh Thompson <jo...@ncsu.edu>.
Arbin,
Can you explain in more detail what you are asking about? I'm not following
what you want to do.
Josh
On Monday January 16, 2012 7:10:05 PM Sanders, Arbin D wrote:
> Hello, I am wondering if anyone has successfully booted VCL via PXE boot to
> an thin client?
>
> Arbin Darren Sanders
>
> Information Technology Manager - Academic Computing
>
> Information Technology Services
> North Carolina Central University
> 712 Cecil Street
> Suite 3033
> Durham, NC 27707
> 919.530.6307
> 919.530.5097 (Fax)
>
> Want to know more about me…Click Here<http://about.me/arbindsanders>
>
> For the Latest ITS Updates and Tips Join Us Online
> [cid:BC1F2A78-E097-4DA7-8C76-43EDFF3199B1]
> <http://www.facebook.com/pages/NCCU-Eagle-Technical-Assistance-Center-ETAC/
> 249508718552?ref=ts> [cid:2DD8F9C9-0282-4CD6-AC2B-77C52CBC0662]
> <http://twitter.com/NCCUETAC> CONFIDENTIALITY: This email (including any
> attachments) may contain confidential, proprietary and privileged
> information, and unauthorized disclosure or use is prohibited. If you
> received this email in error, please notify the sender and delete this
> email from your system.
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
> This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service.
> For more information please visit http://www.symanteccloud.com
> ______________________________________________________________________
--
-------------------------------
Josh Thompson
Systems Programmer
Advanced Computing | VCL Developer
North Carolina State University
Josh_Thompson@ncsu.edu
919-515-5323
my GPG/PGP key can be found at pgp.mit.edu
All electronic mail messages in connection with State business which
are sent to or received by this account are subject to the NC Public
Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.