My goals were simply to be able to connect to a VE using an NX client. This is handy for when I work from home and wish to run a web browser on my work's internal network to access local resources. I connect using a gutsy desktop and using nxclient.
Contents
Installation
Firstly i created a new VE using the gutsy template. I then installed X and XDM
apt-get install xorg xdm
Then I added this 3rd party repo to sources.list
deb http://www.datakeylive.com/ubuntu gutsy main deb-src http://www.datakeylive.com/ubuntu gutsy main
Install the repo keys and update:
wget http://www.datakeylive.com/ubuntu/dists/gutsy/wjeremy.key -O - | sudo apt-key add - wget http://www.datakeylive.com/ubuntu/dists/gutsy/alivesoftware.key -O - | sudo apt-key add - sudo apt-get update
Install FreeNX
sudo apt-get install expect openssh-server tcl8.4 libxcomp2 libxcompext2 libxcompshad nxlibs nxagent nxproxy nxclient freenx
Finally I installed XFCE
apt-get install xfce4
Configuration
Configuring X
In /etc/X11/xdm/xdm-config, comment out the line where it says DisplayManager.requestPort: 0
In /etc/X11/xdm/Xservers, comment out the line :0 local /usr/bin/X :0 vt7 (this starts a local X server, which will fail)
In /etc/X11/xdm/Xaccess, uncomment the line with * #any host can get a login window (Please keep in mind the security implications by the above line. Read the comments found in the file and set it appropriately)
Configure NX Server
Edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf. Ensure that the files section looks similar to this:
Section "Files"
# path to defoma fonts
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/misc"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi"
EndSection
Now create a local user account:
useradd -m <username>
Now we add this user to nxserver:
sudo nxserver --adduser <username>
Configure NX client
Setup the Host/Port. In the desktop section select Unix and Custom. In Settings, select "Run the default X client script on server" and select "New virtual Desktop".
Now try to connect. You should get the XFCE desktop.