Once Linux is running on the client:
Now that you have the client boot image created, and the client boot parameters all set, its time to run Linux on the thin client.
Initial login user id:
Login as "root" on your client. The pre-set password is "ibmncd". Please change the password immediately, using the passwd command.
Start GUI login:
The default setup is for command line login, rather than xdm or GUI login. If you want to change to GUI login, edit the file <BOOT_DIR>/etc/inittab on the boot server as follows:
Change line id:3:initdefault: to id:5:initdefault:
This will call xdm (GUI login) as part of the initial start routines.
Start X from command line login:
If you are logging in via command line prompt, you can start Xwindows, using the startx command. This will start your default window manager (GNOME or KDE) based on your setup. Note: GUI login will give you the option to select your window manager.
Adding users:
Use the "useradd" command to add more users for the client. All users added will be saved in the client image on the server. The server has no knowledge about the new users, except for the additional home directories, and files created.
Installing and updating applications:
All the changes done while running on the client will ONLY change the settings on the client boot image. The server settings will not be disturbed. Management of all client code can now be done while on the client. If an application is added to the client image, all other clients booting from that server will have access to the new application.
From the client:
Login as "root" on the client and use one of the following methods to access the installation files:
- Use internet or ftp to get the application package. Once the package is downloaded, proceed with the installation steps for the applications (tar, rpm, etc.).
- Use the server cdrom, to access applications available on CDs. You will need to export the cdrom mount point on the server and mount the exported directory on the client.
- On the server, add an entry to /etc/exports, as follows: /mnt/cdrom (ro)
- On the client, mount the cdrom directory from the server: mount <Server IP-address>:/mnt/cdrom
/mnt/cdrom
-
Use RPMs to install packages (on the server, place the RPM file in <BOOT_DIR> so that the client has access to the file), login as "root" on the client and execute "rpm -i <RPM-file-name>". The client boot directory maintains the RPM list of the installed packages (in the /rpm directory, as seen from the client).
From the server:
- Use RPMs to install packages. Use the command:
rpm -i --dbpath <BOOT_DIR>/var.nc_shared/lib/rpm/  <RPM-file-name>
where <BOOT_DIR> is the client boot directory (default: /nstation/linux)
- All rpm commands (remove, query, etc.) issued from the server for the client setup must include the following option:
--dbpath <BOOT_DIR>/var.nc_shared/lib/rpm/
Using rdate to set the time:
If you are in a server boot environment modify /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit.IBM_NS.sboot, otherwise modify /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit.IBM_NS.eboot (or the Custom/rc.sysinit file in your Compact Flash Builder directory) and rebuild the flash card image. Uncomment the "TIMESERVER=server" line and change "server" to a timeserver on your local network.
FYI, below are the instructions to enable a timeserver on most Linux servers:
- Edit /etc/inetd.conf, and uncomment lines starting with "daytime" and "time".
- Restart inet daemon as follows:
/etc/rc.d/init.d/inet restart
Changing Keyboard mappings manually (can also be done using the /IBM/bin/nvKeyboard utility on the client):
- For Console:
The default keyboard mapping is for the US keyboard. If you want to change the mapping, edit the file /etc/sysconfig/keyboard on your client, and change the KEYTABLE parameter to point to the correct keymap file. The keymap files are located in /usr/lib/kbd/keytables/ on your client.
You can locally change the keyboard mapping on the client by using loadkeys command (as root) on the client. This is valid for that boot session and for that client only. To change the mapping file for all the clients, modify the /etc/sysconfig/keyboard client file.
- For X-windows:
The default keyboard mapping is for the US keyboard. If you want to change the mapping, edit the file /etc/X11/XF86Config.FBDev.2800 and /etc/X11/XF86Config.FBDev.2200 on your client, and change the XkbKeymap parameter, under the Section "Keyboard" to the correct keyboard layout. For example, for the US keyboard, the XkbKeymap value is "xfree86(us)", for the Japanese keyboard, the value is "xfree86(jp106)", for the German keyboard, the value is "xfree86(de)", etc. The available keyboard values are present in the file /usr/lib/X11/xkb/keymap/xfree86.