X-win32 5.2.2 for Windows 2000/XP |
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X-Win32 is an application that will allow your Windows 2000/XP system to run X-Windows applications over USC Ethernet, DSL or PPP connections.
What You Will Need
In order to use X-Win32, you will need the following:
An IBM PC compatible with a Pentium processor or better
At least 13MB of free hard disk space
A connection to the USC Network.
A UNIX account on one of the ITS time-sharing facilities such as SCF, RCF, HSC, or ITS.
Getting the Software
X-Win32 is available for download at http://software.usc.edu.
Installing the Software
To use X-Win32, you will need to install the application. The installation process is as follows:
Download the software from software.usc.edu.
Find the icon for the file you saved (xwin522}.exe) and double click on it.
An Installation Wizard will launch. Click on the button to begin.
You will be presented a license. Click on I accept the terms in the license agreement.
Depending on the network you're connecting to, you will need to select the appropriate IP class. This is because the license StarNet distributes with X-Win32 must be used on a specific address class. 128.125.x.x represents the ResNet and USCNet commmunitiy, while 128.9.x.x represents ISINet.
Click on the button to continue and then click on the button to install with the selected settings. After a few moments, the completion notice will come up. Click on .
X-Win32 5.2.2 consists of several components, the X-Win32 application, the X-Win Config, and the F-Secure SSH Client.
To run the X-Win32 application and open a xterm session, follow these directions:
From the menu, select followed by and then , and the X server program will start.
A button will appear in the System Tray (down in the lower right-hand corner). Right-click on the button to bring up a menu of X-Win32's functions.
The menu has several sessions pre-configured for use with USC Systems; you may select one of those sessions to initiate an X client program on a properly configured remote system.
Note: If you are using Windows NT4, 2000 or XP and have multiple user accounts, the sessions that the installer creates are only available for the user who installed it. You will need to manually create sessions from other user accounts in order to use X-Win32.
may be selected to bring up a text window containing informational and error messages received by the X server. This is useful to diagnose problems that you are having insofar as connecting to the server or launching applications.
The menu option will start the X-Config program. This is the tool that will allow you to manage and edit your sessions.
The option will allow you to configure printing options such as orientation and margins.
The menu option will allow you to copy and paste between the Windows and X clipboards.
The menu option will allow you to use X-Win32's on-line help.
The menu option will quit X-Win32 altogether. Be sure you don't have any open sessions when you click this or your processes may be killed without saving, or stay running on the system. You can check your processes with the ps -gx command.
The menu option will kill all active sessions. You will lose unsaved data in open applications when you activate this option.
To start a X-Windows session:
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Select from the X-Win function menu.
Select from the list of pre-configured hosts (RCF, SCF, ITS, or HSC).
You'll be prompted for your User ID (your username) and UNIX password.
If your login and password are accepted, X-Win32 will display an xterm window. From there, you may run other X-windows applications.
Creating Sessions
The second program, X-Config, is used to edit sessions and configure various aspects of X-Win32's behavior. You may use X-Config to do several things that will modify the way X-Windows look and run.
To create a new session, the steps are as follows:
From the Sessions tab, select
If you're connecting to an ITS host, select ssh as your Connect Method. Click on the button to continue.
Enter relevant information into the New Session box.
Typically, this is provided as follows:
The session name is just the name that will appear in the menu (i.e. HSC).
The host name you wish to connect to (i.e. hsc.usc.edu)
Your login userid on that host (i.e. ttrojan)
The command to be executed. The command to be executed for the session must include a display parameter.
xcommand -display string:X.Y [options]
where xcommand is the X-Windows client command. Replace string with the actual name of the computer whose X-server is to receive the client display, and X.Y is a code indicating on which screen it will be displayed.
If you are on campus, an example would be mymachine.usc.edu:0.0 (if your machine were named mymachine)
If you are working from a USC PPP or ResNet connection, you can use the string $MYIP:0.0
So, the command above becomes
/usr/usc/X11/bin/xterm -display $MYIP:0.0
You can make modifications to the way your xterm window appears by placing the following on the command field: /usr/usc/X11/bin/xterm -display $MYIP:0.0 -ah -bg Black -fg Gray -ls -sb -sl 500 -geom 80x24+0+0 -T "xterm"
Please refer to the command man xterm for information on what these modifications do.
If you would like your entire X session to be tunneled and encrypted
with SSH, use the command
/usr/openwin/bin/xterm
-ah -bg Black -fg Gray -ls -sb -sl 500 -geom 80x24+0+0 -T "xterm"
Using the command without the -display flag can be slower and problematic, but will securely encrypt all traffic.
Click on the button to create the session. It will now be listed under the Sessions tab.
Click on the button to close X-Config.
Quitting X-Win 32
Quiting all currently running X-applications is recommended before exiting from the xterm. If you do not quit all applications properly, they may stay running after you exit. You can check running processes with the ps -gx command.
To quit X-Win, right-click on X-Win in the Windows Taskbar at the bottom of your screen and select Close .
Last Updated: Friday, June 02, 2006 at 12:07PM PDT