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Bug 567522 - gdm cannot be used as a simple XDMCP server
gdm cannot be used as a simple XDMCP server
Status: RESOLVED FIXED
Product: gdm
Classification: Core
Component: general
2.24.x
Other All
: Normal normal
: ---
Assigned To: GDM maintainers
GDM maintainers
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
 
Reported: 2009-01-12 17:29 UTC by Patrick MONNERAT
Modified: 2013-11-11 17:19 UTC
See Also:
GNOME target: ---
GNOME version: 2.23/2.24


Attachments
Adds the daemon/NoConsole parameter to disable the local X terminal handling (5.15 KB, patch)
2009-01-12 17:31 UTC, Patrick MONNERAT
none Details | Review
Rename the option to xdmcp/ShowLocalGreeter (6.09 KB, patch)
2011-05-04 21:42 UTC, Josselin Mouette
none Details | Review
Add an option to use GDM as a standalone XDMCP server (6.31 KB, patch)
2013-11-11 10:47 UTC, Laurent Bigonville
none Details | Review

Description Patrick MONNERAT 2009-01-12 17:29:29 UTC
Please describe the problem:
When no local console exists, there is no way to run gdm in XDMCP mode only.
This makes it unusable on servers like the iSeries for example.
The problem has been discovered in Fedora 10 distribution package.
This bug report and patch are reported here upon Fedora maintainer request and are described at https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=473887


Steps to reproduce:
1. Start Fedora 10 on a server without graphics terminal
2. Update /etc/gdm/gdm.schemas to allow XDMCP
3. Enter init level 5
 


Actual results:
gdm exits because scheduler X server keeps stopping.

Expected results:
An operational XDMCP server !

Does this happen every time?
Yes, on a server without graphics terminal

Other information:
I have created patch "noconsole" to add the configuration parameter "daemon/NoConsole"
in /etc/gdm/gdm.schemas. This Boolean flag controls the starting of a local X
terminal: setting it to "true" resolves the problem.
Comment 1 Patrick MONNERAT 2009-01-12 17:31:55 UTC
Created attachment 126295 [details] [review]
Adds the daemon/NoConsole parameter to disable the local X terminal handling
Comment 2 holdenhao 2010-04-06 23:39:21 UTC
This option is needed for headless operations.  I currently have the same issue since my Ubuntu 9.10 (GDM 2.28.1) is installed as an OpenVZ client which normally does not have access to a local graphical console.  I would appreciate it if this option would be enabled again.
Comment 3 holdenhao 2010-04-07 01:53:56 UTC
I have just confirmed that the attached patch works with GDM 2.28.1 in Ubuntu 9.10
Comment 4 William Jon McCann 2010-06-16 20:29:32 UTC
Thanks for the bug report. This particular bug has already been reported into our bug tracking system, but please feel free to report any further bugs you find.

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 342397 ***
Comment 5 Josselin Mouette 2010-07-15 15:51:23 UTC
I don’t think this bug is a dupe of bug#342397. It is not just about being able to deal with X crashes more gracefully, but to be able to disable local logins.

Patrick’s patch is still needed for being able to do so.
Comment 6 Ritesh Khadgaray ( irc:ritz) 2010-09-29 09:30:47 UTC
gdm-binary does try to start X, and prints quite a load of messages to console. Having a manual switch ,as the attached patch does, would be very helpful.
Comment 7 Josselin Mouette 2011-05-04 21:42:04 UTC
Created attachment 187240 [details] [review]
Rename the option to xdmcp/ShowLocalGreeter

Renaming the option by Ray’s request. This way it is clear that the option is XDMCP related, and without XDMCP configured it will not be taken into account anyway.
Comment 8 Pacho Ramos 2013-07-14 12:06:52 UTC
Updated debian patch
http://patch-tracker.debian.org/patch/series/view/gdm3/3.8.3-2/22_noconsole.patch
Comment 9 Laurent Bigonville 2013-11-11 10:47:23 UTC
Created attachment 259547 [details] [review]
Add an option to use GDM as a standalone XDMCP server

This patch add an option (xdmcp/ShowLocalGreeter) to disable the local X
console and turn GDM into a simple XDMCP server

Thanks to Patrick Monnerat and Josselin Mouette for the patch
Comment 10 Ray Strode [halfline] 2013-11-11 16:41:14 UTC
I think i probably gave bad advice re comment 7.

We now, of course, support DisplayLink USB adapters too, that could also benefit from this option, and they don't use XDMCP.

Also, debian has been using daemon/NoConsole for so long now, it would be good to preserve compatibility.
Comment 11 Ray Strode [halfline] 2013-11-11 16:42:20 UTC
Josselin do you want to go ahead and push the debian patch ?
Comment 12 Laurent Bigonville 2013-11-11 16:45:22 UTC
@Ray: Well the patch that I've proposed here is the patch that debian is using from quite some times now (just reworked the style a bit)
Comment 13 Ray Strode [halfline] 2013-11-11 16:49:07 UTC
ah okay, let's just go with it then. can you push?
Comment 14 Laurent Bigonville 2013-11-11 17:19:42 UTC
This problem has been fixed in the development version. The fix will be available in the next major software release. Thank you for your bug report.

From b2fb259e7ba7cb029469c47a93988387349e7b2c Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Laurent Bigonville <bigon@bigon.be>
Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2013 10:31:48 +0000
Subject: Add an option to use GDM as a standalone XDMCP server

This patch add an option (xdmcp/ShowLocalGreeter) to disable the local X
console and turn GDM into a simple XDMCP server

Thanks to Patrick Monnerat and Josselin Mouette for the patch

https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=567522