[GRLUG] Using Ubuntu instead of windows at work.

Fri Oct 28 13:25:47 EDT 2011

I use Linux at work 99% of the time, but still have a VirtualBox for
Windows, just for the vSphere client. I don't have anything to add, but I'd
just like to clarify a few things. I'm pretty sure VirtualBox got rid of the
dual licensing, and is now fully open-source (GPL v2). The proprietary stuff
(USB pass-through, some other stuff) they pushed into extensions. VirtualBox
OSE (open-source edition) is available in the repos. It is kind of redundant
now though. Correct me if I'm wrong (oh how I wish I was), but except for
SSH, the VMware solutions Bill listed only work if you have a vCenter server
or VMware ESX. They do not work with ESXi. Of course, if you are dealing
with 300-400 servers, you probably have a vCenter server anyway...

@Bill - Thanks for the Remmina recommendation. It looks pretty nice.

On Fri, Oct 28, 2011 at 10:40 AM, Bill Littlejohn <billl at mtd-inc.com> wrote:

> 3.  Remmina supports rdp,vnc,xdmcp, and sftp. It allows categorizing
> targets into groups and has a gnome panel plugin.
> 7.  VMware remote console plugin for firefox works. As does vSphere
> Web Access. These combined with ssh get the job done.
>
>
> On Thu, Oct 27, 2011 at 9:54 AM, Michael Mol <mikemol at gmail.com> wrote:
> > On Thu, Oct 27, 2011 at 9:37 AM, Michael Glaske <mglaske at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > [snip]
> >
> >> So.  What I need to do my work is this:
> >> 1. Connectivity to Exchange 2007, so I can use email, contact,
> calendars,
> >> meeting scheduling, etc.
> >>  - I have found a couple options, Evolution w/ Exchange MAPI add on,
> which
> >> seem very buggy.  IMAP which is not really acceptable, or using actual
> >> Outlook itself through Crossover.
> >
> > I'm not familiar with more/better options for your use case, with one
> > exception: IIRC, Evolution supports operating through Exchange's web
> > interface. You'd need to poke your Exchange admins to get that
> > enabled, though. I haven't played with it myself; I've never had to
> > touch Exchange.
> >
> >> 2. Connectivity to Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 OCS
> >>  - Look like empathy is supposed to do this with a SIPE plugin, but I
> have
> >> installed it, and it's not connecting.  I do have the sipe plugin
> working on
> >> my windows box through pidgin however, so I know it's possible.
> >
> > SIPE is an extension of SIP (which is used for VOIP), so you might
> > look at SIP clients. Ekiga is probably the first place I'd suggest you
> > look. I haven't played the field much beyond that.
> >
> > Pidgin is available for Linux, but I don't remember if the SIPE plugin
> > ever got ported over from Windows land.
> >
> >
> >> 3. SecureCRT or something like it for SSH/SFTP connectivity.  Needs to
> have
> >> a nice directory tree where I can sort our 300-400 servers into folders
> for
> >> easy use.
> >>  - Installed SecureCRT from Vandyke on Ubuntu, but it locks up parts of
> X
> >> when run, so maybe it's not ideal.
> >
> >
> > I'm not familiar with any particular tool on Linux which combines SSH
> > terminal, SFTP and directory support.
> >
> > Most desktop environments support SFTP as a built-in feature, and you
> > can use their concept of shortcuts to connect to network servers.
> > Think of it like Windows' built-in support for FTP, but perhaps a bit
> > better-exposed. As for terminal connections, I really don't know. I
> > use console SSH.
> >
> >
> >> 4. RDP Client like RoyalTS, where I can sort our 100 or so windows
> servers
> >> into groups, and each RDP session is contained within the window so I
> don't
> >> wind up with 20 windows open (too hard to manage)
> >
> > KDE and GOME both have decent RDP clients. Search your system's
> > package repos for 'RDP'.
> >
> >> 5. Office, word processing, spreadsheet.
> >>  - Libre office seems quite nice, so I think I'm all set here.
> >> 6. Visio and Project :(
> >
> > Closest I'm aware of is Dia. Personally, I find it drives me up a wall.
> >
> >> 7. VMWare Virtual Infrastructure Client.
> >
> > You're boned. vSphere client doesn't run on anything but Windows. Best
> > you can do, AFAIK, is remotely connect to a machine running the
> > vSphere client, or run a local Windows VM. This is one reason I've
> > been sprinting on learning Xen lately.
> >
> >> 8. NetAPP Storage Manager
> >
> > Unfamiliar with it.
> >
> >> 9. Windows Domain tools (ADUC, DNS, DHCP, DFS, GPMC,
> >> Exchange Management Console)
> >>  - (ugh. probably have to be in a VM of some type, looking
> >> for recommendations.  I like Oracle's Virtual Box, but haven't looked
> for
> >> a Linux version)
> >
> > VirtualBox is available for Linux, but it's under a noncom license.
> > It's probably your best first pass, regardless. If that doesn't work
> > out for you, try qemu-kvm. There's also Xen, but I can't recommend
> > that for workstation use quite yet. Still looking into it.
> >
> >> 10. Connectivity for Cisco VPN on ASA.
> >>  - Standard IPSEC VPN tools will probably work, but I haven't looked for
> >> any.
> >
> > OpenSWAN. Also, NetworkManager should have VPN support if you install
> > the right packages. (I don't know which these are off the top of my
> > head)
> >
> >> 11. Good LDAP Manager.  Is there Apache Directory Studio for linux?
> >
> > Without googling, I don't know. Given that it's Apache, probably.
> >
> >> 12. Cisco IP Communicator (soft-phone) - probably not. :(
> >
> > Absolutely!
> >
> > Ekiga is a very good first pass. It works well on Linux, not so well
> > on Windows. If you want to get a little nittier and grittier, give
> > Linphone a try.
> >
> >> 13. A nice multi-time-zone clock that stays on the desktop.  I use Qlock
> on
> >> windows, and it's perfect.
> >
> > Chose your desktop environment, add a bunch of clock widgets.
> >
> >> 14. A nice on-desktop task reminder list.  I use 'rainlendar' on
> windows,
> >> which I just found, and is awesome!
> >
> > Dunno.
> >
> >> I think that's about it.  Some of this stuff just isn't possible on
> linux
> >> for licensing or other stupid reasons. So I think I will have to run a
> VM of
> >> some type, so suggestions on that front would be awesome.  How far has
> WINE
> >> come ?
> >
> > It runs World of Warcraft very well, and some other things. :)
> >
> > Check the WINE application database to check application support on a
> > per-app basis:
> > http://appdb.winehq.org/
> > --
> > :wq
> >
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