On Tuesday April 29 2003 01:01 am, you wrote:
> I've been playing with Linux Terminal server recently and Knoppix seems to
> have a very neat version installed with the new 3.2 rev. It will allow you
> to PXE boot a system and pull down a full linux session off the Knoppix CD
> which is hella-cool. I was wondering how would I do the same thing from
> within a booted Windows OS. In other words I have, for example, Windows
> 2000 up and running and I want to boot up a session off of the Terminal
> Server from within Windows. Is there a client I would need. I know I can
> get a Xserver for Windows and do it that way but to my understanding, the
> Linux TS functions a little differently and X over the network is kinda
> slow and bandwidth intensive. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
>
>
> Pace
I don't really understand your question and I suspect it has a lot to do with
the fact that many people are confused by the LTSP name. Some people are
aware of Terminal Services in the Windows/Citrix world. For those that
aren't, Windows Terminal server runs a login session on the server and sends
the screen's output information back to a remote client machine. This is
similar to remote control software such as PCAnywhere. However, it differs
from remote control programs in that the server can host multiple different
sessions, hundreds if the hardware is up to it, at one time. Whereas remote
control programs can only support a single session at one time.
Those familiar with X11 in the Unix world know that X11 though technically
very different, offers very similar functionality in the sense that it can
"export the display" to a remote client, which X11 confusingly calls the
server. In any case a program is executed on a particular machine and the
screen output from that program is displayed on a remote client, as is the
case with Windows Terminal server.
Linux Terminal Server is completely different. The purpose of this software is
to remotely boot the operating system itself. That is, a client machine that
has no operating system, such as a diskless workstation, uses a Boot-ROM on
the clients network card to connect to the LTSP server and download a copy of
the operating system to the local machine's memory. The local client machine
then executes its programs locally on the client machine just like a regular
PC with a disk drive would. But, because there may be no hard drive in the
machine, when the client is turned off, it loses everything in the sense of
an operating system. When it is turned on again it again connects to the LTSP
server and downloads the OS.
This type of arrangement was once common in the Windows world too. Where,
diskless workstations connected to a central server and downloaded a copy of
DOS into memory. It then ran a network copy of Windows 3.1. The practice was
discontinued when hard drives became cheaper and Windows 95 came out. Things
like the registry made diskless workstations very difficult to do.
Now, to answer your question. I do not believe that it is possible to download
the vmlinuz image from the LTSP server and "boot" it from within Windows.
Once Windows boots PXE support is bypassed, it only runs right after the POST
when the PC is first booted. I also do not see the point of trying this. If
you wish to have Linux access from within Windows simple get an X11 client
and use the exported display, as you said in your post.
It is however possible, to have a Windows workstation with a PXE network card
in it download and boot Linux from an LTSP server. You simply need to choose
the PXE network boot option when you first power on the PC. This would give
the effect of having a dual boot Windows/Linux machine even though only
Windows would be stored on the local hard drive. Choosing a hard disk boot by
bypassing the PXE boot process would thus boot Windows.
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