linux box as an X terminal

[Tim Howell]

I know linux has an X server supplied with it, but how do I use a window, or preferrably the whole desktop as an HP-UX CDE (X) terminal. (The HP Entria Xterminals are no longer available). I already have linux PC's with Redhat 5.2 on them. When I try to connect to my HP server via an xterm window from these PC's, I get a "can open display message", even though I have set the DISPLAY parameter (?). (X windows is installed and working on these PC's standalone, but is not currently used for anything)

[James Specht]

Have you done this?

On the Linux PC enter

xhost +

to allow all x connection.

on then HPUX system enter

export DISPLAY=my_pc_box_name_or_IP:0.0

It works just fine like this here.

[Tony Contratto · Accepted solution]

Hi Tim,

As James stated the "cannot open display" error can be corrected with the "xhost" command. After you start X on your RedHat box, start a terminal and type "xhost". This will display the current settings. With your current settings this will probably show something like "access control enabled, only authorized clients can connect". Now if you do an "xhost +", this will disable access control and allow any client to connect to your Xserver. You can also only enable certain hosts by doing "xhost +somehost". This will allow clients from "somehost" to connect to your Xserver.

If you want to get a full CDE session do the following (assuming you are logged in at the console but not running an X session):

From the command prompt run:
X -query somehost

This should start the X server and you should get the CDE login screen. After you exit your session the Xserver will restart and present the CDE login screen again. To kill the X server press ++.

If you want the X server to exit after your CDE session ends, you will also need the "-terminate" option like:
X -query somehost -terminate

Hope this helps...
Tony

[Tim Howell]

Thank you guys for the responses!!! They solved my problem!

[Jochen Heuer]

Another nice thing that usually comes with XFree is Xnest. Then you can use a nested Xserver inside a window on your usual Linux desktop:

% Xnest :1 -query

Check the man page for further options like geometry and so on ...

Regards,

Jochen

[Donald Kok]

Hi,

I like the commands:

X -once -query 1
X -once -query 2
...

Which puts the CDE's of the hosts unde crtl-alt F8, ctrl-alt-F9 and so on.

I donot need an X-terminal now, and can use multiple machines at the same time. Works over a WAN too.

Goodluck
Donald

[Tim Howell]

Thanks again for the responses. However, I have discovered a "quirk" with the " X -query hostname " method that you guys may know how to fix. I am using Redhat 8.0 linux on a Compaq D310v, which will be my "X terminal replacement". I will be connecting to an HP rp5470 with 11i on it. When I issue the
X -query hostname on the linux PC, I indeed get the CDE Login displayed. However, the CAPS LOCK key has no effect on the letters typed. The shift key will produce uppercase letters though. HP says setting the environment variable XKB_DISABLE=1 on the HP server will fix the problem "after login". (I verified this...) However, they say that the login itself must be a linux issue. (?) My users have all uppercase usernames & passwords and for 7 years have turned CAPS LOCK on as the first step to logging in. So whereas this may seem trivial, it will actually cause a big problem at my site.
Thanks in advance for any help offered!!!