A: Eric wrote a little script for this. It takes the contents of /etc/skel (the default user settings) and overwrites the current user settings. You can change what's in /etc/skel as you see fit and then run:

/opt/ltsp/templates/k12linux/reset-default-desktop <usernname> [for just one user]
/opt/ltsp/templates/k12linux/reset-all-desktops [for all users!]

A: It's best to do a fresh install. If you want to do this and have data to save here are some ways to do that.

• Backup the /home share and copy it to another computer:
  from the / directory: tar zcvf home.tar /home
  Note that this could be a huge file. You might want to make sure you have room first. Go to /home and type du -hs to find out how big the /home directory is. Once tar is finished you can copy the archive to another machine:
  scp home.tar <username>@<machinename>:/tmp
  
  Note that if you have /home on its own drive or on a separate partition you don't have to format it during the new install. Backing up the files is ALWAYS a good idea though!
  
• The other files you'll want to make copies of are in /etc:
  passwd, group and shadow contain all your user information. Copy these to another computer and then fetch them after the install to restore your users and passwords.

A: OK, so you don't want to do a fresh install, no problem. You can "upgrade" from the K12LTSP install disk. We have an UPGRADE HOWTO page just for you.

A: Yes, You'll have to edit the list of files on the install page and add entries for your clients in the dhcpd.conf file of your DHCP server. Here's an example from our server:

host icue5 {
            hardware ethernet 00:d0:09:27:67:55;
            fixed-address 10.171.13.5;
            allow bootp;
            server-name "beast.riverdale.k12.or.us";
            next-server 10.171.0.11;
            filename "/tftpboot/lts/vmlinuz-2.4.9-ltsp";
            }          

In this example we're using IP numbers in the 10.x.x.x range. Our LTSP server is called "beast" and its address is 10.171.0.11. To get your host MAC address (hardware ethernet line...) just run tail -f /var/log/messages on your DHCP server and watch the DHCP request come in from the client.

A: You can manually configure clients to point to the proxy server.
[in Netscape and Mozilla >> Edit >> Preferences >> Advanced >> Proxies ]

We're still scratching our heads on this one. When you figure out an automatic way of doing this let us know!

• Q: How can i show other people the 'what, why and how' about a Linux terminal server?
• Q: Differences between versions
• Q: Which updated packages / additional software may be useful and how can it be installed?

Performance:

• Q: IceWM - an alternative to resource-intensive KDE/Gnome desktops
• Q: How can i look for and cure bottlenecks?

Administration:

• Q: How can i view/control other user's sessions?

Connectivity:

• Q: How can i connect to K12LTSP with a machine that needs to run non-Linux apps locally?
• Q: How can i run Windows apps?
• Q: If no X server is installed on the client, how do i connect using TightVNC?

Client setup:

• Q: How can i use existing machines without any boot ROM to (Ether)boot from a K12LTSP server?
• Q: How can i make the boot process look nicer?
• Q: How can i debug the boot process?
• Q: How can i debug sound?
• Q: How can i use ISA NICs?

Web:

• Q: How do i filter inappropriate websites?
• Q: How can i impove the ugly fonts on some websites?

Client devices:

• Q: Which thin clients work as LTSP clients?
• Q: What small PC's are available?

Installation:

• Q: How can i do a network installation of K12LTSP/K12Linux?

Misc:

• Q: What services may be disabled (especially if installed 'Everything')?
• Q: Which distributions similar to K12LTSP exist?
• --- Further reading ---

A: See some presentations (not all specifically about [K12]LTSP):

• K12LTSP Linux Terminal Server Project for K-12 schools
  Presented to Intel Enterprise Platforms and Services Marketing, July 11, 2001
• Yorktown High School Linux Users Group
• K12Linux - The Linux in Schools Project
• Anywhere, Anytime, Individually - European Schools Project Conference 2002

A:

• K12LTSP 1.0: based on RedHat 7.1 with Ximian Gnome
  [K12Linux was a seperate version at this time]
• K12LTSP 2.0.X: based on Red Hat Linux 7.2
• K12LTSP 2.1.X: based on Red Hat Linux 7.3
• K12LTSP 3.0.1: based on Red Hat Linux 8.0
  
  Differences from the stock Red Hat distributions include a modified installer and default configuration files (dhcp, nfs, gdm, bind, tftp, nat...) making it very easy to install a Linux Terminal Server.
  Software: LTSP packages (able to load with EtherBoot and PXE), VNC server, lighweight window manager, some educational apps, OpenOffice, an archive manager, user shadowing app, rdesktop included though to reduce traffic it would be wise to use a traditional thin client or have a look at these

A: First upgrade to K12LTSP 3.0.1, for beta versions see: ftp://k12linux.mesd.k12.or.us/pub/K12LTSP/testing/

• Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0.6 or here (use "non-free" folder on desktop)
• RealPlayer 8 or here (use "non-free" folder on desktop)
• Flash 6 (use "non-free" folder on desktop)
  It is a known problem that some flash sites crash the web browser with v5.0 of the plugin, currently there is a beta version of v6.0 available from Macromedia which fixes that!
• Java (use "non-free" folder on desktop, then you don't need the instructions below).
  
  Alternative: v1.4.1_02 + JDK instead of JRE)
  Important: create these links if you want it working in Konqueror and Mozilla!
  
  [on servers with RedHat < 7.3 you may need to do a "rpm -e kaffe" if the link exists]
  ln -s /usr/java/j2re1.4.1_02/bin/java /usr/bin/java
  
  [wrapped for readability]
  ln -s /usr/java/j2re1.4.1_02/plugin/i386/ns610/libjavaplugin_oji.so /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/libjavaplugin_oji.so

• OpenOffice English 1.0 is included - with K12LTSP 3.0 also German (openoffice-i18n).
  Alternative: StarOffice 6.0
  Other languages: not yet tested
  Only for K12LTSP < 3.0: Remove package 'OpenOffice' and 'OpenOffice-suite-configs' first and then install with parameter '-net' to '/usr/local/OpenOffice.org-1.0'. A good replacement for 'OpenOffice-suite-configs' was/is Evolved OpenOffice
• Gnome: gtkdiff for comparing text files (Kompare is included with KDE)
• tabbed terminal windows in Gnome (for K12LTSP < 3.0):
  http://mpterm.sourceforge.net or http://multignometerm.sourceforge.net/ - (konsole is included with KDE)
• Webmin (1.070 - some versions had security holes!)
  Would use empty root password when included in K12LTSP installation - but can be added later.
  * Encrypted access is possible with the Net::SSLeay Perl module (created with cpanflute).

Educational Software:

• SEUL/edu Educational Application Index
• Freeduc Catalog

Updating systems with newer K12LTSP (or RedHat 8.0) packages using one of these methods:

1. apt-get / synaptic (preferred)

   apt-get update

   apt-get upgrade

2. Red Hat Update-Agent

   rhn_register (only first time)
   up2date

   (afaik no update of special K12LTSP packages, also see https://rhn.redhat.com/info/education/)

3. AutoUpdate (may not be as good as up2date in resolving dependencies)

   Use Mirrors !

   a) mirror with ftpcopy (select the target dir carefully, otherwise data may be lost!) or rsync, then:

   auto[upd/ins] --kernel --updatedir [directory] (updates RPMs / installs all RPMs)

   b) fetch directly with servers specified in '/etc/autoupdate.d'
   (useful for single Linux machines or local ftp mirrors on another machine):

   autodld --kernel

See where your packages are from:

rpm -qa --qf "%-25{BUILDHOST} %{NAME}\n" | sort | less
          

A: Simply select IceWM from the login screen (or make default)

Changes from default configuration:
- simple shell script for GDM that runs IceWM and Nautilus (can be removed in /etc/X11/gdm/Sessions/IceWM)
If needed a lightweight alternative for Nautilus may be ROX-Filer (not included)
- most important changes in preferences:
Network+cpu applets and seconds from clock disabled to avoid unnecessary traffic, also opaque move/resize enabled
- changed default theme, changed menus

Also included: IceME - a GUI for changing the menu files

A:

a) Memory and CPU: gnome-system-monitor (aka gtop)
Others: procman, ROX System Monitor or treeps

Solution: second CPU and/or more RAM (as a rule of thumb: 50 MB per user)

b) Network: Kdevmon (EtherApe displays nicely how much bandwith X consumes in contrast to other traffic)
More than about 30 concurrently running X clients can saturate a 100 MBit connection.

• Solution 1: server and switch with gigabit ethernet port (easiest)
• Solution 2: multiple server NICs with "channel bonding" (switch must support it!) - see http://www.lsc-group.phys.uwm.edu/beowulf/medusa/construction/channel_bonding.html and http://watson.chemical.missouri.edu/bonding.html
  Additionally in /etc/init.d/dhcpd change the line "daemon /usr/sbin/dhcpd eth0" from eth0 to bond0
• Solution 3: multiple server NICs with different subnets (hard to setup!)
• Solution 4: additional server(s) [in a classroom this could be the teacher's workstation]
  

A: Start the 'x0rfbserver' with a specific display number on each station that needs to be viewed/controlled.
Access it with 'vncviewer 192.168.0.254:[display number]'.
Giving the teacher a video beamer is usually better but expensive.

Other possible software: KRfb and Teachctrl

A: Install an (open source?) X server:

• MacOS X 10.x: XDarwin  or Apple
• MacOS 9.x: MI/X - not available anymore :-(
• Java: WeirdX
• Windows:
  Install Cygwin and select XFree86. Then create a shortcut like "C:\Cygwin\usr\X11R6\bin\XWin.exe -fullscreen -query 192.168.0.254 -once". This is all if you don't need a non-US keyboard or non-local fonts.
  Installation on a network drive is possible but needs additional configuration (see below).

  Alternative: If you want to have a minimal XDMCP client, these are the only needed 5 files:
  http://ftp.inf.tu-dresden.de/software/windows/cygwin32/release/XFree86/XFree86-bin/ (libX11.dll)
  http://ftp.inf.tu-dresden.de/software/windows/cygwin32/release/XFree86/XFree86-xserv/ (XWin.exe)
  http://ftp.inf.tu-dresden.de/software/windows/cygwin32/release/cygwin/ (cygwin1.dll + mount.exe, optional umount.exe) http://ftp.inf.tu-dresden.de/software/windows/cygwin32/release/zlib/ (cygz.dll)
  Mirrors: http://cygwin.com/mirrors.html

  You need a simple batch file on other machines, because XWin.exe will not start without:
  1. "/tmp" mounted - this would be automatically set in registry with a local installation
  2. font "fixed" - here using an enabled font server [see no-listen], the absolute minimum would be to use "/cygdrive/x/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc" instead of "tcp/%server%:7100"
  This example assumes that Cygwin is installed on a network share that is mapped to drive "x:"

@echo off
set server=192.168.0.254
x:
cd \cygwin\bin
rem copy de.xkm %temp%
mount.exe -b %temp% /tmp
..\usr\X11R6\bin\XWin.exe -fullscreen -query %server% -once -fp tcp/%server%:7100  

If it does not start please have a look at the log file in %temp% first.

Optional parameters:

• mount.exe: "-u" is needed on NT/W2K/XP for users with no local admin rights
• XWin.exe:
  "-emulate3buttons" (for 2 button mice)
  "+kb -xkbmap de" for a German keyboard mapping (de.xkm must exist in %temp%, can be created on Linux with "xkbcomp -xkm -m de /etc/X11/xkb/keymap/xfree86 /tmp/de.xkm")
  

A:

a) as terminal server technology is not very good at all for multimedia you might better use your existing Windows machines and connect to your K12LTSP server as described above.

b) connect to a Windows Terminal Server (sound only with Citrix Metaframe, Windows 2003 Server or WinConnect Server XP using WinConnect client)
Though rdesktop is included it is not wise to use it in a production environment on a Linux Terminal Server because more bandwith than necessary gets consumed - run it on the [thin] client instead or with software like DIET-PC, NetStation, PXES or the upcoming LTSP 4 instead.

c) NeTraverse Win4Lin Terminal Server - works quite well but all users need diskspace for seperate Windows installation   and an existing Windows license.

d) CodeWeavers CrossOver Office - has newer code than WINE but may not be able to run all apps

A: Connect using the following ports (see /etc/services):

vncviewer 192.168.0.254:0 (= 1024x768x16)
vncviewer 192.168.0.254:1 (= 800x600x16)
vncviewer 192.168.0.254:2 (= 640x480x16)
vncviewer 192.168.0.254:3 (= 1024x768x8)
vncviewer 192.168.0.254:4 (= 800x600x8)
vncviewer 192.168.0.254:5 (= 640x480x8)
In K12LTSP <2.1 this was :5X instead of :X!
LTSP and VNC contrasted (and why you should probably be using both)
As X is considerably faster you should use that instead if possible!!

A:
Method 1: Write an Etherboot image to a floppy disk and boot from it

• on the server do for example a cat /tftpboot/lts/boot/bootroms/[filename] > /dev/fd0 or
• use a .lzdsk image from ROM-o-matic.net and write it to disk with RawWrite for Windows

Method 2 (Windows 95/98 only):

• use a .com image from ROM-o-matic.net and add it to the boot menu similar to Loadlin
  

A: Use the '-lpp' (Linux Progess Patch) kernel. Change in '/etc/dhcpd.conf' and do a 'service dhcpd reload' - only works with Etherboot kernels yet.
For PXE clients you might add 'vga=733 quiet' to the "append" line in /tftpboot/lts/pxe/pxelinux.cfg/default

A: Use the non-lpp kernel (see above) and change the runlevel in '/opt/ltsp/i386/etc/lts.conf'' to '3', also see the LTSP docs for troubleshooting info

A: see above and http://www.ltsp.org/ltsp_sound_docs.txt, run 4x "echo $[VARIABLE]" (examples of correct output in the right column):

echo $DISPLAY	ws008.ltsp:0
echo $UID	506
echo $ESPEAKER	ws008.ltsp:16001
echo $LD_PRELOAD	/usr/lib/libesd.so.0 /usr/lib/libesddsp.so.0

Then telnet to the hostname/port "echo $ESPEAKER" returns.
For instance, if it returns "ws008.ltsp:16001", you would run:
"telnet ws008.ltsp 16001"

The output will be "Name or service not found" if it is a DNS problem,
"Connection refused" if ESD is not running on the client, or
"Escape character is '^]'." if the connection is successful. If it is
successful, hit "Ctrl-]", hit Return, and type "quit" to get out.

We have not figured out how to get remote sound to work properly in KDE.
"/dev/dsp can't be opened" is a known error.
By default, KDE tries to play sound on the server's sound card - if you don't have a sound card in the server you get this error.
This happens on a standalone workstation without a sound card as well.

A: See bottom of  http://www.ltsp.org/instructions-3.0.html

A: http://squidguard.mesd.k12.or.us/

Use the 'local-ok' and 'local-block' groups for specific additions/deletions!

Please contribute at http://cri.univ-tlse1.fr/documentations/cache/squidguard_en.html#contrib (web form or email).

If you use a seperate internet gateway machine: to prevent circumvention of squidGuard configure a transparent proxy (Squid) or disable IP masquerading (NAT) completely (chkconfig --del nat).

A: Try the script on http://corefonts.sourceforge.net/ that downloads additional fonts, the included 'fetchmsttfons' script does not work anymore because Microsoft took their fonts offline.
Also the included 'mozilla-fonts' and 'mozilla-fonts-ltsp' packages may help (K12LTSP >=2.1.0).
Additional info: Mozilla site and webFonts4Linux
Galeon: it may also be necessary for the user to set the minimum font size to 9 (Settings / Preferences / Rendering / Fonts/Colors / Min. Size)
Foreign fonts: installed with a full install can also cause a bit confusion and may be removed including input tools and other modified apps: Greek (-9), Central European (-2), Asian (-ko, -ja, -cn) [list of exact packages names may come later]

A: Usually all devices that use Linux can connect to a X server.
Important if you want working sound: check that an esound daemon is available or booting the LTSP software is supported
Advantages: usually no moving parts (no fan = silent!), low power consumption, durable, most booting locally from Flash (DOC, DOM, CF) or CD-ROM -> faster boot, less network traffic

And many more...

A: For workstations and/or server appliances you might consider a small case in MicroATX, FlexATX standard.
These are available from many vendors, often they have already Pentium 4 - also see Toaster ;-)

• Amptron ('Book Size PC Series')
• Asus ('Prodigy')
• FIC ('SFF')
• G-Alantic
• IN-WIN (only cases!)
• MSI ('Slim PC')
• Fujitsu Siemens ('SCENIC D/S/L')
• Spacewalker ('Barebone System')
• Taiwan Commate ('Industrial Applied Computer' / 'Mini-Server / Workstation Terminal Platform' )

And many more... also have a look at http://k12ltsp.org/terminal_guide.html

For new client machines Mini-ITX systems with boards from VIA might be considered.

Note that some of them might only allow low profile cards, use unsupported sound/graphic chipsets (e.g. SiS 650 - only works in ugly Vesa mode with RedHat 7.2, RedHat 7.3 has a better Vesa driver)  so you may have to use additional cards, some even have no AGP slot!

Advantages: no local CD-ROM / (floppy) drive required, no media changes necessary!
The easiest way is to use a floppy disk, the smartest to use a nic with pxe rom (here PXELINUX is described).

A:

Floppy + PXE Step 1:

Copy CD contents to HDD:

mkdir /var/www/html/install

For each CD:

cp -rf /mnt/cdrom /var/www/html/install

OR

Mount ISO images (and create them from CD):

mkdir /var/www/html/disc1 
mkdir /var/www/html/disc2
mkdir /var/www/html/disc3

For each CD:

dd if=/dev/cdrom of=k12/K12LTSP-3.0.1_discX.iso (ifthey not already exist) 
mount -o loop K12LTSP-3.0.1_discX.iso /var/www/html/discX

PXE - Step 2:

From /images/pxe(boot) on CD1 copy vmlinuz and initrd.img to /tftpboot/lts/pxe

Floppy - Step 2:

From /images on CD1 write bootnet.img to a floppy disk (use cat bootnet.img > /dev/fd0 or RawWrite for Windows)

PXE - Step 3:

In /tftpboot/lts/pxe/pxelinux.cfg:

Method I:

edit the file "default" and create a boot menu (untested)

Method II: 1. create 'netinstall': label linux kernel vmlinuz append ramdisk_size=32000 initrd=initrd.img network 2. create 'localboot': default linux label linux localboot 0 a) - 3. Installation for single machines in a LTSP network: - boot the machine to be installed and pause the PXE loader to see hex IP address or - use /tftpboot/lts/pxe/pxelinux.cfg/gethostip: e.g. 192.168.0.1 -> C0A80001 ln -s [hex IP address] netinstall After booting: rm [hex IP address] ln -s [hex IP address] localboot b) - 3. Installation for multiple machines:  (without any LTSP clients currently wanting to boot!) move the 'default' file to 'ltsp', link to 'netinstall' and later to 'localboot' or 'ltsp'.

During installation specify 192.168.0.254 as server and 'install' or '/' as directory.

Floppy - Step 3:

Boot from disk and specify 192.168.0.254 as server and 'install' or '/' as directory.

---

Non-PXE NICs may boot with NBGrub (untested).

To automate this use the file /root/anaconda-ks.cfg created during installation or ksconfig
Kickstart docs: RedHat 8.0 + see some packages on Freshmeat (none working with RH 8.0 as of 03/2003)
Further information: How to Install Red Hat Linux via PXE and Kickstart and Network Booting with PXE

A: Use 'chkconfig --delete' [service]
pcmcia (usually only needed for notebooks)
kudzu (hardware detection)
atalk (if no Apple machine needs to be connected)
iscsi
Asian languages:
canna (Kana-Kanji conversion engine)
cWnn (Chinese input system)
kWnn (Korean input system)
tWnn (Chinese input system)
FreeWnn (Japanese input system)

A:

• AbulEdu (French, based on Mandrake Linux )
• Skokelinux (Norwegian, based on Debain GNU/Linux )
• kmLinuxTSE (German, based on kmLinux / SuSE)
• Mandrake Linux 9.0 includes LTSP (also see AbulEdu, an extension to Mandrake Linux 7.2)
• KNOPPIX includes LTSP
  

LTSP for Libraries Howto

Securing Mozilla in the Public Library

Securing Netscape in the Public Library

LTSP+OpenMosix: A Mini How-To

Distribution Hacking 101: disecting anaconda

Some links to German pages: LTSP Dokumentation + Mini-HOWTO (Martin Herweg / Wolfgang Schweer, Christoph Thiel) GNU/Linux Terminalserver für Schulen (Georg Baum, Peter Bingel, Christian Selig - noch nicht vollständig) Terminal Server mit ThinClients (alt) Thintelligent.net und Kapitel 10 des Linuxbu.ch's (Bernd Burre, Uwe Debacher) Laserman's Linux Links: networking und Linux_in_der_Schule Nicht direkt auf LTSP bezogen: Linux Thin Clients (Dirk von Suchodoletz) Ältere Artikel aus dem Linux-Magazin: Gut gebootet + Diskless Generation X

Last changed: 2003-03-16

* untested with RedHat 8.0 yet