[GRLUG] Using Ubuntu instead of windows at work.

Fri Oct 28 16:05:51 EDT 2011

err, yeah. You are correct. That won't work with ESXi.
Remmina works well in daily use with around 100 machines, using both
RDP and VNC, but it does lock every once in a while when a server
terminates the connection abnormally. I don't keep a bunch of
connections open at all times though so I just xkill and restart it.

On Fri, Oct 28, 2011 at 1:25 PM, John Wesorick <john at wesorick.com> wrote:
> 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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