A non-exhaustive HOWTO showing the way in which a minimalist, lightweight GUI can be installed on an eBox machine. This resulted from discussions in this thread:
http://forum.ebox-platform.com/index.php?topic=1252.0It is suitable for use with the underlying Ubuntu 8.04-LTS Operating System and the entire download of files is approximately 110MB. It is lightweight but this does not imply lightest possible.
ROADMAP- Goals of the Installation
- List of Packages & Purpose
- Package Availability
- Installing the Packages
- Configuration
- References
STAGE 01 - GOALS:- Use Open Source Software
- Produce a lightweight GUI desktop capable of being run on low specification machines
- The GUI to run reliably on an eBox + Ubuntu 8.04-LTS installation
- Provide a locally installed web browser to enable access to the local eBox web-GUI
- Provide a small selection of GUI tools
- Provide a means of installing and/or removing packages via the GUI
- Provide a means of updating the installed packages via the GUI
- Provide 2-way remote control
- Allow the look of the GUI to be modified
- Require minimal post installation configuration
STAGE 02 - PACKAGES Name Purpose- xserver-xorg-core Provide an x server for GUI display
- xinit Automatic starting of x server and session at bootup
- menu Generate a 'start' menu of programs for menu aware applications
- menu-xdg Convert Debian type menu structures to freedesktop.org types
- gdm Logon Manager
- lxde Provide an (incomplete) suite of programs for management of a GUI environment
Incuded in the meta-package for this version:
openbox Window Manager
pcmanfm Desktop & File Manager
lxpanel Desktop Panel Manager (Task Bar)
lxsession-lite Session Manager
lxappearance Theme Switcher
xarchiver File Compression/Decompression
leafpad Text Editor
gpicview Graphic File Viewer
By recommendation
gdm Logon Manager - lxnm Provides basic network information
- lxterminal Provides a terminal emulator
- lxtask Provides management of running processess, reports CPU and RAM usage
- obconf Provides configuration of openbox preferences
- openbox-themes Provide a selection of themes for the Window Manager
- grandr Provide VDU configuration
- gdebi Installation of local *.deb packages, resolving and installing all dependencies
- synaptic Provide a simplified GUI based display for apt package management
- update-manager Provide a simplifed GUI based display to install updates
- firefox Provide a web browser to enable local access to eBox management controls
- vinagre Enable a remote desktop to be controlled on a machine running tightvncserver
- tightvncserver Enable the local desktop to be controlled by a machine running vinagre
- autocutsel Enable synchronization of the clipboard between local and remote machines
- evince Enable reading of PDF files
- pyneighborhood Enable the browsing and mounting of shares on the network
STAGE 03 - AVAILABILITYNotes:
1. I wanted to have the same Ubuntu repositories available as those listed when installing from the official Ubuntu 8.04 LTS CD-ROM (i.e. excluding eBox). When installing from the eBox v 1.0 CD-ROM only the security repositories were listed by default.
2. The deb-src repositories were not required for my installation and therefore manually commented out
3. Apart from the security repository the Ubuntu repositories for Great Britain are shownAssume root credentials
sudo su
Edit the file governing repository access
nano /etc/apt/sources.list
Ensure the following entries are listed:
#
# eBOX PLATFORM INSTALLATION CD_ROM
# deb cdrom:[Ubuntu-Server 8.04.2 _Hardy Heron_ - Release i386 (20090121.1)]/ hardy extras main restricted
# deb cdrom:[Ubuntu-Server 8.04.2 _Hardy Heron_ - Release i386 (20090121.1)]/pool/extras/ /
# SECURITY
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hardy-security main restricted
# deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hardy-security main restricted
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hardy-security universe
# deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hardy-security universe
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hardy-security multiverse
# deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hardy-security multiverse
# MAIN RESTRICTED
deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy main restricted
# deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy main restricted
# MAIN RESTRICTED UPDATES
## Major bug fix updates produced after the final release of the distribution.
deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy-updates main restricted
# deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy-updates main restricted
# UNIVERSE
## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
## team, and may not be under a free licence. Please satisfy yourself as to
## your rights to use the software. Also, please note that software in universe
## WILL NOT receive any review or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy universe
# deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy universe
deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy-updates universe
# deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy-updates universe
# MULTIVERSE
## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
## team, and may not be under a free licence. Please satisfy yourself as to
## your rights to use the software. Also, please note that software in
## multiverse WILL NOT receive any review or updates from the Ubuntu
## security team.
deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy multiverse
# deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy multiverse
deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy-updates multiverse
# deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy-updates multiverse
# BACKPORTS
## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from the 'backports'repository.
## N.B. software from this repository may not have been tested as
## extensively as that contained in the main release, although it includes
## newer versions of some applications which may provide useful features.
## Also, please note that software in backports WILL NOT receive any review
## or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
# deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy-backports main restricted universe multiverse
# deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy-backports main restricted universe multiverse
# PARTNER
## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from Canonical's
## 'partner' repository. This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is offered
## by Canonical and the respective vendors as a service to Ubuntu users.
deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu hardy partner
# deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu hardy partner
# eBOX PLATFORM REPOSITORIES
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ebox/ubuntu hardy main
# LXDE REPOSITORY
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/lxde/ubuntu hardy main
Ensure Packages from the Repositories are Available
apt-get update
STAGE 04 - INSTALLATIONNotes:
1. apptitude is used as, by default, it installs the specified packages together with any recommended by them
Install the GUI packages and tools
aptitude --assume-yes install [list of packages detailed in Packages by Name]
example:
aptitude --assume-yes install xserver-xorg-core xinit menu ...etc
Verify the installation is complete by checking for broken dependencies
apt-get check
Restart the machine to display a GUI logon screen
shutdown -r now
STAGE 05 CONFIGURATIONNotes:
1. Packages which require configuration to function are shown
2. Packages which provide cosmetic configuration are not shown
3. The following configurations should be performed with root credentials
AUTOCUTSEL
Automatically start at bootupEdit /root/.vnc/xstartup
Add the following lines
# Enable synchronization of the local & remote clipboards
autocutsel -fork &
FIREFOX
Notes:
1. After configuration the eBox web-gui can be started by entering https://127.0.0.1/ebox in the Firefox Address BarProvide a Menu IconEdit /usr/share/applications/firefox.desktop (Displayed as Firefox Web Browser)
Change the Icon= to the following
Icon=firefox.png
GRANDR
Provide a menu iconCreate /usr/share/applications/grandr.desktop
Add the following lines:
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Monitor Resolution Settings
Comment=Configure VDU Display
Exec=grandr
Icon=gnome-monitor.png
Terminal=false
Categories=Settings; System;
TIGHTVNCSERVER
Notes:
1. After configuration the tightvncserver can be contacted from a client running vinagre by entering the server-ip-address:5909 in the vinagre Connect-->Host field
2. A remote session to the server will start with root credentials
Generate the Configuration Files for Desktop Number 9Conduct as root in an LXterminal window
vncserver :9
create a password when requested
Set Up the Desktop to Display on a Remote Client Edit /root/.vnc/xstartup to contain the following
# Set the resources to be used by the xserver
xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
# set the desktop colour
xsetroot -solid grey
# Set the defaults for the terminal window
x-terminal-emulator -geometry 80x24+10+10 -ls -title "$VNCDESKTOP Desktop" &
# Start the window manager
#x-window-manager &
openbox &
# Display the GUI panel
lxpanel &
Specify the Default Screen Resolution for Remote Clients Connecting to the ServerEdit /usr/bin/tightvncserver
Comment out $geometry = "1074x768";
Add the line $geometry = "800x600";
Ensure a Server Session Automatically Starts at Bootup Edit /etc/rc.local
Add the lines
# Start TightVNCServer at bootup
su --command="tightvncserver :9" root
References:
http://wiki.dennyhalim.comhttp://ebox-platform.comhttp://www.lxde.orghttp://www.ubuntu.com