UbuntuOnSunRay

Revision 13 as of 2005-11-09 22:52:29

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An annotated, step-by-step guide to running Ubuntu on the SunRay thin-client architecture by Naaman Campbell.


Adapted from the [http://wwwcip.informatik.uni-erlangen.de/~simigern/sunray-debian/ SunRay Debian] guide, more specifically, the 3.1 Final guide and various postings on the [http://www.filibeto.org/mailman/listinfo/sunray-users/ SunRay Users Mailing List].

WORK IN PROGRESS - CURRENTLY IN TESTING PHASE - INCOMPLETE DOCUMENT

TableOfContents

Introduction

[http://www.sun.com/sunray/sunray1/index.xml SunRay Thin-Clients] are a definate competitor in the business desktop arena providing an attractive alternative to the Citrix/Windows thin-client solution. Prior to SunRay 3.x, SunRay was only available on Solaris, however the release of 3.x SunRay Server Software (SRSS) allowed for the deployment onto Linux-based servers.

Sun's officially supported Linux distributions only included the following commercially-available distributions - RedHat Enterprise, SUSE and Sun's own Java Desktop System (SUSE-based). Many thanks have already been given to the pioneering work carried out by Michael Gernoth & Thomas Glanzmann for providing their tools and guide on how to run SunRay on Debian Sarge. From the SunRay Debian guide, users have managed to successfully run SunRay on other distributions such as Fedora Core 3 and Ubuntu.

After successfully setting up Ubuntu to run SRSS 3.1, I wish to provide an easier-to-follow, Ubuntu-tailored version of the SunRay Debian guide. The guide outlines the configuration of a SunRay LAN interconnect w/o failover on a base Breezy Badger installation. Failover may be covered in future revisions of this guide.

Pre-Installation Foreword

It is recommended that all DNS, LDAP and IP address settings are finalised, prior to the installation of the SunRay Server Software. SRSS alters many network-related settings and may require reinstallation if these settings are changed later on.

Packages

The following packages are to be installed:

  • ldap-utils
    • SRSS utilises an LDAP server to store configuration info
  • dhcp3-server
    • SunRays require a DHCP server to be assigned an address along with SunRay-specific options

  • nscd
    • SRSS uses nscd to lookup info such as passwd and hosts
  • pdksh
    • SRSS requires the use of the Korn shell
  • alien
    • converts Sun's supplied RPMs to a superior package format - deb
  • atftpd
    • allows SRSS to serve firmware to SunRay thin-clients via TFTP

  • wdm
    • chosen desktop manager for SunRay instead of gdm

      • any assistance with the documentation of a working SunRay+gdm configuration would be greatly appreciated

  • build-essential
    • necessary for the compiling of audio modules
  • linux-headers-uname -r

    • necessary for the compiling of audio modules
  • apache
    • runs the web-based SunRay Configuration pages

  • java-package
    • provides a wrapper package for Sun's self-extracting binary
  • java-common
    • sets up Java environment
  • fakeroot
    • allows regular users to create packages
  • gawk
    • SRSS requires the use of gawk in scripts
  • iputils-ping
    • for pinging stuff..
  • libraries: libdb3-util libx11-6 xlibs

Additional repositories, including multiverse, are required to obtain these packages (see AddingRepositoriesHowto).

Install Commands

ncampbell@naaman:~$ sudo apt-get install ldap-utils nscd gawk iputils-ping pdksh unzip alien libdb3-util libx11-6 xlibs atftpd wdm build-essential linux-headers-`uname -r` java-package java-common fakeroot

ncampbell@naaman:~$ sudo apt-get install apache

ncampbell@naaman:~$ sudo apt-get install dhcp3-server

Additional Downloads

Along with the SRSS zipfile from Sun, other software required includes Java, SRSS Debian Patch, scripts, SASL libraries, example DHCP configuration file, audio source zipfile and the audio source patch. Apart from the SRSS zipfile and Java, all the remaining downloads are provided via the Debian SunRay guide. To keep things tidy, create a SunRay directory to save the additional files to.

The SRSS zipfile requires logging in to the Sun and can be found at - [http://www.sun.com/download/products.xml?id=43138999 SunRay Server Software 3.1].

The remaining downloads are retrievable via wget. The following changes to the wget configuration file (/etc/wgetrc) are necessary for a proxied network:

http_proxy = http://username:password@proxy.domain.com:3128
ftp_proxy = http://username:password@proxy.domain.com:3128

use_proxy = on

Manual Downloads

ncampbell@naaman:~/SunRay$ wget -O jre-1_5_0_05-linux-i586.bin http://jdl.sun.com/webapps/download/AutoDL?BundleId=10274

ncampbell@naaman:~/SunRay$ wget http://wwwcip.informatik.uni-erlangen.de/~simigern/sunray-debian/files/sray31fcs-debian.patch http://wwwcip.informatik.uni-erlangen.de/~simigern/sunray-debian/files/zsunray-init http://wwwcip.informatik.uni-erlangen.de/~simigern/sunray-debian/files/libsasl7_1.5.28-6.4_i386.deb http://wwwcip.informatik.uni-erlangen.de/~simigern/sunray-debian/files/xkbinstall http://wwwcip.informatik.uni-erlangen.de/~simigern/sunray-debian/files/dhcpd.conf.example http://wwwcip.informatik.uni-erlangen.de/~simigern/sunray-debian/files/10SUNWut http://wwwcip.informatik.uni-erlangen.de/~simigern/sunray-debian/files/makefiles-2.6.tar.gz http://wwwcip.informatik.uni-erlangen.de/~simigern/sunray-debian/files/SUNWut-modules-2.6.patch

Conversion and Installation

Extract and convert the SRSS Linux packages to deb format.

ncampbell@naaman:~/SunRay$ unzip srss_3.1.zip
ncampbell@naaman:~/SunRay$ mkdir srsspkgs
ncampbell@naaman:~/SunRay$ cd srsspkgs
ncampbell@naaman:~/SunRay/srsspkgs$ for i in ../srss_3.1/Sun_Ray_Core_Services_3.1/Linux/Packages/* ../srss_3.1/Sun_Ray_Data_Store_2.1/Linux/Packages/* ../srss_3.1/GDM_2.4.4.7.1/Linux/Packages/* ../srss_3.1/Docs/Linux/Packages/*; do
  fakeroot alien -d $i
done

Patch SUNWut Package

Establish Init Scripts

Java Installation

HMAC-MD5 Encryption Installation

Sun Keyboard Support

SunRay LAN Interconnect Setup

SRSS Administration Setup

DHCP Server Configuration

XF86 Compatibility

SunRay Variables

WDM Setup

Audio Configuration

Document To-Do List

  • Provide an unannotated, script-like version of this document at UbuntuOnSunRaySimple

  • Create a script to automate the installation of SunRay - maybe a precursor for the development of a package (sudo apt-get install sunray - lovely)

  • Create CorporateUbuntu - a suggested locked-down base "business" desktop environment guide

  • Investigate failover

Further Steps

last edited -- NaamanCampbell DateTime(2005-10-24T12:57:27Z)