This document discusses Ubuntu and the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) for creating thin client computing environments. It provides an overview of how LTSP works by allowing thin clients to connect to a central Linux server where all programs are run, with only the display forwarded to the clients. The document outlines the hardware and software requirements, installation process, advantages and disadvantages of LTSP, and provides examples of thin, fat, and lowfat client scenarios.

1. Ubuntu and Linux Terminal Server Project Dr. Sameer Verma, Ph.D. Associate Professor Information Systems Department College of Business San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA 94132 USA Ubuntu Community Day, LinuxWorld 2008

2. About teach: information systems strategy and governance research: diffusion and adoption (open source, mobility) fun: ubuntu, olpc, mythtv, etc. Me SF State University Open Source at SF State http://opensource.sfsu.edu OLPC-SF list http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/olpc-sf One of the largest live environments of Moodle Software Freedom Day 2006, 2007 (and 2008)

3. Courses I Teach Managing Open Source Information Systems elective Free and Open Source Software in general Collaborative software development Licensing Business models Software maturity models Multimedia App Development Information Systems elective Use of multimedia applications Graphics, Animation, Desktop Publishing, Audio, Video, Web Content creation and licensing Business models

4. Managing Open Source Introduction to FOSS on Windows The Open CD/The Open Disc Introduction to Ubuntu Live CDs + voluntary installs Linux Lab with Ubuntu Introduction to the Open Source “community” Field study: Attend a LUG meeting Guest Speakers

5. Multimedia Business Application Development The experiment Software needed for the class: Approx. $200 Will a student at a public university spend $200 on software for a semester? Can FOSS tools adequately fill the need? Important constraint Choice of tool should be based on the curriculum and not the other way around.

6. Applications GIMP – Bitmapped graphics Blender – 3D rendering Inkscape – Scalable Vector Graphics Audacity – Audio editing and manipulation Scribus – Desktop Publishing Tux paint – Fun for kids...and grown ups! Kino – Non-linear Digital Video Editor Drupal * – Web 2.0 CMS *Server-side

7. Examples Elephant's Dream CG animation made entirely with FOSS

8. Assignment ccmixter.org Audio assignment based on ccmixter.org samples and loops Students download vocals, drum loops, effects, etc. and use Audacity to mix and recreate tracks. Learn audio tools and legal aspects via Creative Commons licenses

9. Our “Linux” Lab Communication and Advanced Computing Lab Limited/specialty software lab Dual-boot Windows XP and Linux Windows XP Simulation Statistical Analysis Linux GIMP Inkscape Audacity ...

10. Lab Dual boot Ubuntu Dapper and Edgy and Windows XP. Installation and upgrades are labor-intensive. Actively explored LTSP on Edubuntu platform (Feisty and Gutsy) Multiboot environment: PXE boot for Linux with Windows XP on local disk

12. Medusa Project

13. Thank you! Bo Kim – taking up the challenge Jack Tse and Don Strickler – loaning us a switch Tony Chan and Karl Schackne (BUS computing) – for letting us use the lab. Edubuntu team – making an excellent LTSP distro!

14. What is LTSP? Linux Terminal Server Project Allows “thin” clients to connect to a Linux Terminal Server. All programs run on the server Clients run a thin Linux base with network and X session capabilities. LTSP allows for a single point of configuration and control Great for lab environments LTSP until 4.x LTSP 5

15. A “thin” client performs a Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) boot and retrieves an IP from the LTSP server via DHCP. /etc/ltsp/dhcpd.conf points to a bootable img file Note location of the dhcpd.conf file DHCP response PXE DHCP request How it works

16. How it works A small footprint Linux image is sent to the thin client computer via TFTP. The client loads the Linux image and starts the X window system via secure shell (ssh) client images and server have ssh keys X session forwarded over ssh DHCP response + TFTP Linux image

17. How it works All programs execute in a X session on the server, but are forwarded via ssh and displayed on the thin client. Feedback from the user (keyboard & mouse) are sent back to the server over ssh as well. X session forwarded over ssh mouse+keyboard

18. What Does it Look Like? 192.168.0.0/24 eth1 eth0 firewall SFSU 130.212.14.0/24

19. Hardware Requirements Server CPU should be powerful enough to run multiple simultaneous X sessions. Intel Xeon processor(s). 75-150MB of RAM per client. 2 Network Interface Cards Private interface preferably Gigabit

20. Hardware Requirements Client Minimum Pentium II with 64 MB RAM and a 2MB display card. Recommended Pentium II and above with 64MB RAM and 4MB display card. Identical hardware for each client preferred

21. Networking Requirements Network Avoid Hubs 10-BaseT cards Preferred: 100 Mbps switch 100-BaseT cards Ideal: Gigabit switch. 100 Mbps switch with 1 Gbps uplink to the LTSP server.

22. Software Requirements A Linux distribution with or without LTSP included. LTSP (if not installed natively) OR LTSP 5 LTSP 5 is significantly different Builds thin-client environment off of the server environment. sudo apt-get install... sudo chroot /opt/ltsp/i386/ sudo apt-get update...

23. Software Requirements Four services running on the LTSP server: DHCP for IP address leases TFTP for initial netboot kernel NBD for filesystems SSH for all communication on the LAN subnet 192.168.0.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 { range 192.168.0.20 192.168.0.250; option domain-name "sfsu.edu"; option domain-name-servers 130.212.10.163; option broadcast-address 192.168.0.255; option routers 192.168.0.254; option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0; if substring( option vendor-class-identifier, 0, 9 ) = "PXEClient" { filename "/ltsp/i386/pxelinux.0"; } else{ filename "/ltsp/i386/nbi.img"; } option root-path "/opt/ltsp/i386"; } /etc/ltsp/dhcpd.conf

24. Advantages Diskless clients Highly centralized patches firewalling Cost effective Customized profiles LDAP auth Change lab footprint as needs grow Invest in powerful server Need a fast network Documentation is weak Many references to LTSP 4.x Latency sensitive apps will not work well, especially multimedia Disadvantages

25. Thin Client Scenario Client Server Pentium II 128 MB RAM Pentium 4 4 GB RAM Distribution of “crunch”

26. Fat Client Scenario Client Server Pentium III 512 MB RAM Pentium III 512 MB RAM Distribution of “crunch” Individual installs

27. Lowfat Client Scenario Client Server Pentium 4 2 GB RAM Pentium III 1 GB RAM Distribution of “crunch” PXE Boot images LDAP + NFS Authentication Storage Configuration Backup

28. Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron) Alternate CD At boot screen, hit F4 and select LTSP server If your server has two NICs, the installation is seamless You will be ready to boot into a thin client after the install

29. LTSP 5 Many more options for building images Default image is a thin client based on what's running on the server Custom images (lowfat, kiosk, mythbuntu...) sudo ltsp-build-client --workstation --Kubuntu sudo ltsp-build-client --workstation --Ubuntu sudo ltsp-build-client --kiosk sudo ltsp-build-client --mythbuntu ...

30. LTSP and Sugar sudo apt-get install sugar*

31. Ten steps for fun and profit! Get the alternate CD http://releases.ubuntu.com/releases/8.04/ Get a machine (PIII will do) with two NICs Boot from CD Hit F4 at the boot screen Select LTSP Server Install Plug in a crossover CAT5 into eth1 Plug in a PXE Bootable client into the other end Boot Profit!

32. Links to check out http://ltsp.org/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_Terminal_Server_Project https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuLTSP/LTSPQuickInstall http://edubuntu.org/Documentation http://doc.ubuntu.com/edubuntu/edubuntu/handbook/C/customizing-thin-client.html https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuLTSP/LTSPFatClients

33. Contact