Gnome Display Manager

C H A P T E R 8

The Gnome Display Manager (GDM) is responsible for logging users into your system and starting their sessions (X11 server plus applications). It is typically used to manage the console on a system that is configured with a graphics device, but it may also be used to manage other displays attached to a system.

Note - SRSS 4.1 requires Gnome Display Manager (GDM) version 2.12 or later. If you have an older version installed, the utinstall script prompts you to authorize its removal and replacement with a newer version of GDM--in this case, version 2.16.7--that has been enhanced and optimized for Sun Ray Server Software.

Installation

During the SRSS installation process, you are asked whether the installation script should remove the existing GDM from your system if GDM version is less than 2.12. Answer Yes to this question to continue with the SRSS installation, remove the old GDM from your system and install the Sun Ray-enhanced version. If you answer No, the SRSS install process aborts.

Since the existing GDM is removed during SRSS installation, do not use a GDM-controlled display to do the install. Use either a telnet session into the server or a virtual terminal.

Uninstallation

Except on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, if you need to remove the SRSS software, you will be asked whether the Sun Ray-enhanced GDM should remain on your system. If you answer No, you may have to install the original GDM RPM if you want non-Sun Ray displays, such as the console, to be managed.

Configuration

Sun Ray installation removes the current GDM from your system, including its configuration file. Therefore, if you have modified your GDM configuration, back the file up before installing SRSS. You may then wish to reapply your changes to the /etc/X11/gdm/custom.conf that SRSS installs.

Caution - Do not simply replace the GDM configuration file that Sun Ray Server Software installs with your old GDM configuration file; Sun Ray Server Software will not work correctly if you do.

Gnome Display Manager Privileges

Many Linux systems come configured with liberal administrative privileges for non-root users. You most likely do not want these privileges offered to users who login using a Sun Ray DTU. Please review the man pages for pam_console, console.perms, and console.apps. It is also a good idea to edit the /etc/security/console.perms file to remove display numbers from the definition of console. If a definition exists for xconsole, it should be removed entirely.

For example, a line that reads:

<console>=tty[0-9][0-9]* vc/[0-9][0-9]* :[0-9]˙[0-9] :[0-9]

should instead read:

<console>=tty[0-9][0-9]* vc/[0-9][0-9]*

And a line such as:

<xconsole>=:[0-9]˙[0-9] :[0-9]

should be removed altogether.

Bundled Greeter

If you are using Kiosk mode, please see the kiosk man page for details on the bundled GDM greeter. See also Kiosk Mode of this manual and, of the Sun Ray Connector for Windows OS 2.1 Installation and Administration Guide.