X Applications

This section describes how to configure X application objects.

This section includes the following topics:

• Configuring X Application Objects

• Supported X Extensions

• X Authorization

• X Fonts

• Keyboard Maps

Configuring X Application Objects

In the Administration Console, the configuration settings for X application objects are divided into the following tabs:

• General tab – These settings control the name and the icon used when creating links for users

• Launch tab – These settings control how the application is started and whether application sessions can be suspended and resumed

• Presentation tab – These settings control how the application is displayed to users

• Performance tab – These settings are used to optimize the performance of the application

• Client Device tab – These settings control how the user’s client device interacts with the application

The following table lists the most commonly used settings for configuring X application objects and how to use them.

Attribute Description Name The name that users see. Icon The icon that users see. Application Command The full path to the application that runs when users click the link. The application must be installed in the same location on all application servers. The following are commonly used commands for desktop sessions: /usr/dt/config/Xsession.jds – For a Sun Java Desktop System desktop /usr/bin/gnome-session – For a Gnome desktop /usr/bin/startkde – For a K Desktop Environment (KDE) desktop See also Configuring Common Desktop Environment Applications, and Configuring VMS Applications. Arguments for Command Any command-line arguments to use when starting the application. Note - Never specify a -display argument. This is set by SGD. Connection Method The mechanism SGD uses to connect to the application server, for example telnet or ssh. Number of Sessions The number of instances of an application a user can run. The default is three. Application Resumability For how long the application is resumable. The following options are available: Never – The application can never be resumed During the User Session – The application keeps running and is resumable until the user logs out of SGD General – The application keeps running for a time, controlled by the Timeout setting, after the user logs out of SGD, and can be resumed when the user next logs in Session Termination The circumstances when the SGD server ends the application session. Window Type How the application is displayed to the user. Use Kiosk for full-screen desktop sessions. Selecting the Scale to Fit Window check box for the Window Size enables SGD to scale the application window to fit the client device display. Use Client Window Management to display the application as though it is running on the client device. For other window types, you must specify a Height and Width for the Window Size or select the Client’s Maximum Size check box. Color Depth The application’s color depth. SGD supports X applications with multiple color depths. So you can run an 8-bit application within a 24-bit desktop session by selecting 24/8-bit, for example Application Load Balancing How SGD chooses the best application server to run the application. See Application Load Balancing for more details. Hosting Application Servers tab Use the Editable Assignments table to select the application servers, or group of application servers, that can run the application. The application must be installed in the same location on all application servers. Assigned User Profiles tab Use the Editable Assignments table to select the users that can see the application. Selecting Directory or Directory (light) objects enables you to give the application to many users at once. You can also use an LDAP directory to assign applications. See LDAP Assignments.

In addition to this configuration, you can also configure the following:

• Printing – See Printing.

• Client drives – See Client Drive Mapping.

• Audio – See Audio.

• Copy and paste – See Copy and Paste.

Creating X Application Objects on the Command Line

On the command line, you create an X application object with the tarantella object new_xapp command. You can also create multiple X application objects at the same time with the tarantella object script command. See Populating the SGD Organizational Hierarchy Using a Batch Script.

X application objects can only be created in the o=applications organizational hierarchy.

Supported X Extensions

The supported X extensions are listed in the Oracle Secure Global Desktop 4.6 Platform Support and Release Notes available at http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/doc/821-1928.

X Authorization

By default, SGD secures X displays using X authorization. This prevents users from accessing X displays that they are not authorized to access.

For information about troubleshooting X authorization for X applications, see Applications Fail To Start When X Authorization Is Enabled.

X Fonts

SGD includes the standard X Window System fonts in compiled and compressed form (.pcf.gz), together with some additional fonts required by different UNIX systems. See Fonts in X11R6.8.2 for details. The fonts are installed in the /opt/tarantella/etc/fonts directory.

The following X fonts and font directories are available with SGD.

Using Your Own X Fonts

You can make your own X fonts available through SGD in the following ways:

• Use a font directory, see Using a Font Directory

• Use a font server, see Using a Font Server

After making the X fonts available, you must configure each SGD server in the array to use the fonts, see How to Configure SGD to Use Your Own X Fonts.

Using a Font Directory

To use a font directory, copy your fonts in .pcf format to a directory on each SGD server in the array and include a fonts.dir file that maps filenames to X logical font descriptions.

The fonts can be gzipped (.pcf.gz), but fonts compressed using the compress command (.pcf.Z) are not supported. If a font is compressed in a .Z file, decompress it first before copying to the SGD server.

The following is an example line from a fonts.dir file:

COURBO10.pcf -Adobe-Courier-Bold-0-Normal-10-100-75-75-M-60-ISO8859-1

If your font directory does not include a fonts.dir file, you can use a program such as mkfontdir, which is available for most UNIX systems, to create one.

You can also include a fonts.alias file, that specifies aliases for the fonts in the directory. This file maps aliases to X logical font descriptions. For example:

variable *-helvetica-bold-r-normal-*-*-140-*

Using a Font Server

A font server is a program that makes fonts on a host available on the network. Font servers make font administration easier by centralizing fonts, reducing duplication.

To name a font server in a font path, you need to know the name of the font server and the port on which fonts are being served. For example, if the font server boston uses Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) port 7100, add the font path entry tcp/boston:7100.

How to Configure SGD to Use Your Own X Fonts

Before You Begin

Ensure that no users are logged in to the SGD server, and that there are no application sessions, including suspended application sessions, running on the SGD server.

1. In the Administration Console, go to the Secure Global Desktop Servers tab and select an SGD server.

2. Go to the Protocol Engines -> X tab.

3. In the Font Path field, type the path to the directory containing your X fonts, or the location of the font server.

   Each SGD server in the array can use a different font path. However, to avoid inconsistent display of applications, ensure that the same fonts, in the same order, are available to all SGD servers.

4. Click Save.

5. Restart the SGD server.

6. Check the validity of the font path.

   Use the xset command to see if the font path is set.

   $ xset q

Keyboard Maps

SGD uses a keyboard map, or keymap, file to process keyboard input for X applications. A keymap file contains a list of keys for the keyboard and the corresponding characters produced when you press the keys.

By default, an SGD server uses the keymap file corresponding to the locale specified by the Keyboard Map attribute on the Protocol Engines -> X tab for the SGD server in the Administration Console.

The available locale settings are:

• LANG Variable – Use the locale of the SGD server. This is the value of the LANG environment variable on the SGD server.

• Client’s Input Locale – Use the locale of the client device.

• Select Custom Keyboard Map – Specify your own keyboard map.

You can override the locale for a particular user, by setting the Keyboard Map (--keymap) attribute for the user profile object

To prevent an application from changing the default keyboard mappings, set the Keyboard Map: Locked (--lockkeymap) attribute for the application object.

Keymap files are located in the /opt/tarantella/etc/data/keymaps directory on the SGD server. This directory contains keymap files for the most common keyboard layouts. The keymap files in this directory have a file name beginning with x. For example, xuniversal.txt keymap file is used to map the keys of a Universal (English US) keyboard.

SGD uses the /opt/tarantella/etc/data/keymaps/xlocales.txt file to find the keymap file for the specified locale. This file maps locales to keymap files. For example, the xlocales.txt specifies the xuniversal.txt keymap file for a locale setting of en_US.