Can multiple remote sessions be run simultaneously under v4.2.0?

[Harold Hunt]

Victor,

Yes, what you describe is supported... but there are some rough edges that
you will encounter.  The idea is that you start one X Server that runs
multiple screens, each connected to a different host.  The primary problem
that you will encounter is that sometimes the Windows mouse cursor is not
hidden or revealed correctly.

An example command line would be:

XWin -screen 0 1024 768 -query host1 -screen 1 1024 768 -query host2 -screen
2 640 480 -query host3

Unfortunately, you have to specify the width and height of each window (1024
width by 768 height, etc.) when using the -screen parameter.  All
screen-specific parameters that follow one -screen parameter will apply to
that screen only, until another -screen paramter is encountered.  Thus the
first -query parameter applies to screen 0, the second -query applies to
screen 1, etc.  The window will be made as large as will fit on the screen
if you specify a screen size that is as large or larger than the current
graphics mode (i.e. if you are running at 1024x768 then a 1024 768 or larger
screen parameter will create a window slightly smaller than 1024 768 to
account for the Start menu; increasing the parameter to 1280 1024 will not
create a larger window).

Hope that helps,

Harold

> -----Original Message-----
> From: cygwin-xfree-owner@cygwin.com
> [mailto:cygwin-xfree-owner@cygwin.com]On Behalf Of Victor Atkinson
> Sent: Tuesday, March 19, 2002 10:49 AM
> To: cygwin-xfree@cygwin.com
> Subject: Can multiple remote sessions be run simultaneously under
> v4.2.0?
>
>
> Greetings,
>
> I recently installed Cygwin and XFree86 v4.2.0 on my Windows 2000 laptop.
> My intent is to use it to remotely manage and use my small lab of 6 (and
> growing) PCs running RH Linux v7.2, from my office.  I am
> familiar with VNC,
> to the extent that I have set it up and used it for about a year.
>  However,
> I am always looking to simplify my installations as much as possible, and
> would like to maintain a more "native" approach, with as few daemons (e.g.
> vnc-server) as possible running on my Linux boxes.
>
> I have set up all of the Linux boxes to use xdm (well, gdm
> actually) and can
> start the XFree86 X Server on my Win2K laptop, and use -query and
> -indirect
> with XWin to connect to any desired Linux host.  This work very well.
>
> My question is:  Is it possible to create multiple simultaneous sessions,
> which are are resident in separate windows on my Win2K display, yet each
> connected to a different Linux host?  As it stands now, I must
> use a single
> server window, with which I can only sequentially log into one
> Linux machine
> at a time.  (I can get a second window up, by launching a second
> server with
> XWin, but it appears either inactive, or at best I can get clients to
> display, but not on the session that I want in any predictable fashion.)
>
> I have researched everything that I can find on X and the servers
> and client
> interactions at Red Hat, Linux Doc, your mailing list archives,
> Google, etc.
> I have also experimented with various methods of specifying the
> display and
> screen parameters to the X Server.  However, at this point, I am
> frustrated
> and out of ideas.
>
> Reading over the To-Do List, it seems as though this capability may not
> exist in Cygwin-Xfree86 yet.  However, the man files, and other
> documentation included with the Xfree86 package seem to indicate that this
> is all possible.
>
> Any guidance in this matter would be appreciated.  (I am working very hard
> on out engineers here to consider Linux as a much better way of
> getting our
> job done that Windows, and am looking at many different ways to ease the
> transition.)
>
> Thank you.
>
> Victor Atkinson
> Syracuse, NY, USA
>
>