I am considering setting up an old machine with a few PV VMs one it. I am thinking I will go with the latest CentOS. I would like to run X11 with a custom resolution of 240x320 (or maybe even a little shorter) and some minimal full-screen web browser on these VMs. I would like connect with them through VNC, or maybe even RDP if that''s possible (VNC could run on dom0 or the domUs, if RDP could be used, presumably that would have to be on the domUs). This machine is way too old to have VT, so HVM isn''t an option. Moreover, I need to be minimal in memory usage, so I''m open to suggestions on any smaller distro that works in PV. Unfortunately, I just don''t have much time to tinker and test. However, my main question is as follows: Can X11 be run on PV with no video card passed through, and if so, does anyone have any suggestions or pointers regarding such a setup? Once I clear that hurdle, I will be more interested in things like automatic login and a minimal web browser capable of full screen browsing. For those who are curious, this setup is intended to allow me to remote to a full-fledged (albeit minimal) web browser via some old Windows-based Pocket PCs whose web browsers aren''t meeting my needs. Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated. Dustin _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
Dustin, I think the best for you (for us) is the FreeNX... Install FreeNX on each domU and then visit their X sessions with the nxclient. You do not need the VFB of Xen, you do not need the VNC (In Xen) ... you do not need to configure the xorg.conf files in your domUs... Regards, Thiago 2009/2/10 Dustin Henning <Dustin.Henning@prd-inc.com>> I am considering setting up an old machine with a few PV VMs one it. > I am thinking I will go with the latest CentOS. I would like to run X11 > with a custom resolution of 240x320 (or maybe even a little shorter) and > some minimal full-screen web browser on these VMs. I would like connect > with them through VNC, or maybe even RDP if that''s possible (VNC could run > on dom0 or the domUs, if RDP could be used, presumably that would have to > be > on the domUs). This machine is way too old to have VT, so HVM isn''t an > option. Moreover, I need to be minimal in memory usage, so I''m open to > suggestions on any smaller distro that works in PV. Unfortunately, I just > don''t have much time to tinker and test. However, my main question is as > follows: Can X11 be run on PV with no video card passed through, and if > so, > does anyone have any suggestions or pointers regarding such a setup? Once > I > clear that hurdle, I will be more interested in things like automatic login > and a minimal web browser capable of full screen browsing. For those who > are curious, this setup is intended to allow me to remote to a full-fledged > (albeit minimal) web browser via some old Windows-based Pocket PCs whose > web > browsers aren''t meeting my needs. Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated. > Dustin > > > > _______________________________________________ > Xen-users mailing list > Xen-users@lists.xensource.com > http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users >_______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
Wow, sounds too simple. Thanks for the tip. Looks like I don''t even
need virtualization and might be better off without it. I guess I should have
asked at LinuxQuestions or something first.
Dustin
From: George Lenzer [mailto:george.lenzer@cpl.org]
Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2009 15:49
To: Dustin Henning
Cc: xen-users
Subject: Re: [Xen-users] X11 on PV
You can definitely do this with PV. The key is to realize that the Xvnc server
(part of the VNC 4.x package) is pretty much a drop in replacement for X with a
few limitations. The first is that there is no 3D acceleration or any kind of
overlay support, it''s just a plain old 2D X server. The second is that
the options are extended to suit some of the VNC specific needs.
Just as an example... what I used to do in the past was modify the Gnome GDM
login manager''s default config file to launch Xvnc instead of X. In
fact I had it launch four Xvnc instances, with each being able to log into a
different account. This allowed me to have an application server that would
retain whatever I was working on even if I wasn''t connected to it.
Just for testing purposes, you can load up whatever distro you want to try as a
PV domain, then make sure you have VNC 4.x installed. Run this command (ONLY
FOR TESTING):
Xvnc -ac -geometry 240x320 -SecurityTypes=None :10
Then you should be able to point to that PV domain''s IP address with a
VNC client like this (assuming the IP is 192.168.1.15):
vncviewer 192.168.1.15:10
If you''re using a Windows client, just enter 192.168.1.15:10 in the
dialog box and you should see a raw X server with the typical herringbone
pattern. Hopefully that will give you some idea of what is possible. Currently
I''ve moved away from VNC and use the NX protocol instead for the same
PV app server. I used to use VNC when the app server was physical.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dustin Henning" <Dustin.Henning@prd-inc.com>
To: "xen-users" <xen-users@lists.xensource.com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2009 3:17:14 PM (GMT-0500) America/New_York
Subject: [Xen-users] X11 on PV
I am considering setting up an old machine with a few PV VMs one it.
I am thinking I will go with the latest CentOS. I would like to run X11
with a custom resolution of 240x320 (or maybe even a little shorter) and
some minimal full-screen web browser on these VMs. I would like connect
with them through VNC, or maybe even RDP if that''s possible (VNC could
run
on dom0 or the domUs, if RDP could be used, presumably that would have to be
on the domUs). This machine is way too old to have VT, so HVM isn''t an
option. Moreover, I need to be minimal in memory usage, so I''m open to
suggestions on any smaller distro that works in PV. Unfortunately, I just
don''t have much time to tinker and test. However, my main question is
as
follows: Can X11 be run on PV with no video card passed through, and if so,
does anyone have any suggestions or pointers regarding such a setup? Once I
clear that hurdle, I will be more interested in things like automatic login
and a minimal web browser capable of full screen browsing. For those who
are curious, this setup is intended to allow me to remote to a full-fledged
(albeit minimal) web browser via some old Windows-based Pocket PCs whose web
browsers aren''t meeting my needs. Any thoughts or suggestions
appreciated.
Dustin
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http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
Thiago, I might look into it, but I need my client software to work with MS PocketPc2002, so I''m guessing I won''t have the option of using FreeNX without a whole lot of time to figure out SDKs and compiling for that OS, which I don''t have. That''s two suggestions for FreeNX. Thanks for the tip, Dustin From: Thiago Camargo Martins Cordeiro [mailto:thiagocmartinsc@gmail.com] Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2009 16:06 To: Dustin.Henning@prd-inc.com Cc: xen-users Subject: Re: [Xen-users] X11 on PV Dustin, I think the best for you (for us) is the FreeNX... Install FreeNX on each domU and then visit their X sessions with the nxclient. You do not need the VFB of Xen, you do not need the VNC (In Xen) ... you do not need to configure the xorg.conf files in your domUs... Regards, Thiago 2009/2/10 Dustin Henning <Dustin.Henning@prd-inc.com> I am considering setting up an old machine with a few PV VMs one it. I am thinking I will go with the latest CentOS. I would like to run X11 with a custom resolution of 240x320 (or maybe even a little shorter) and some minimal full-screen web browser on these VMs. I would like connect with them through VNC, or maybe even RDP if that''s possible (VNC could run on dom0 or the domUs, if RDP could be used, presumably that would have to be on the domUs). This machine is way too old to have VT, so HVM isn''t an option. Moreover, I need to be minimal in memory usage, so I''m open to suggestions on any smaller distro that works in PV. Unfortunately, I just don''t have much time to tinker and test. However, my main question is as follows: Can X11 be run on PV with no video card passed through, and if so, does anyone have any suggestions or pointers regarding such a setup? Once I clear that hurdle, I will be more interested in things like automatic login and a minimal web browser capable of full screen browsing. For those who are curious, this setup is intended to allow me to remote to a full-fledged (albeit minimal) web browser via some old Windows-based Pocket PCs whose web browsers aren''t meeting my needs. Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated. Dustin _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users