The SGD Client

The SGD Client is the part of SGD that is installed on client devices. The SGD Client is required to run applications.

This section includes details of how you can install and run the SGD Client.

This section includes the following topics:

• Overview of the SGD Client

• Installing the SGD Client

• Running the SGD Client From the Command Line

• Using SGD Without Java Technology

Overview of the SGD Client

The SGD Client can operate in either of the following ways:

• Using a browser. You can use a browser to display a special web page, called a webtop. The webtop lists the applications a user can run through SGD and provides controls for managing application sessions and printing. This is the default way of using SGD.

  See the Oracle Secure Global Desktop 4.6 User Guide for more details about the webtop.

• Integrated mode. The list of applications that a user can run through SGD is shown in the desktop Start or Launch Menu on the client device. Using Integrated mode enables users to run remote applications in the same way as local applications. Depending on other configuration factors, users might not need to use a browser.

  See Integrated Mode for more details.

Depending on the client platform, users see an icon in the System tray or Workspace switcher when the SGD Client is running.

The SGD Client performs the following functions:

• Gets information about the client device, such as the operating system, local printers, and client drives.

• Manages the display of applications.

• Maintains a communication connection with the SGD server, using the Adaptive Internet Protocol (AIP) protocol.

• Receives and acts on events from the SGD server. For example, the arrival of a print job.

Configuring the SGD Client

The SGD Client needs to be configured so that it can connect to an SGD server. The connection settings for the SGD Client are defined in a client profile. The client profile is stored on the client device.

The client profile controls things such as the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) that the SGD Client connects to when it starts, and the operating mode of the SGD Client.

See Client Profiles for more information about how SGD uses client profiles and the settings you can configure for a client profile.

The SGD Client Helper

When using a browser with Java technology enabled, the SGD Client is supported by the SGD Client Helper.

The SGD Client Helper is a Java applet that performs the following functions:

• Downloads and installs the SGD Client. This only applies if automatic installation is used. See also Automatic Installation of the SGD Client.

• Obtains proxy server settings from the browser and sends them to the SGD Client. This depends on the settings in the user’s client profile.

• Starts the SGD Client. This only happens when a user starts a browser and goes to the login URL.

• Responds to instructions received from the SGD Client. For example, prompting the browser to redraw the screen.

Use of the SGD Client Helper is optional. See How to Use SGD Without Java Technology.

Installing the SGD Client

The SGD Client can be installed in the following ways:

• Automatic installation. Download and installation of the SGD Client can be handled automatically, using a browser with Java technology enabled. See Automatic Installation of the SGD Client.

• Manual installation. The SGD Client can be downloaded to the client device and installed manually. See Manual Installation of the SGD Client.

Automatic Installation of the SGD Client

If you are using a browser with Java technology enabled, the SGD Client is installed automatically when you visit the http://server.example.com/sgd URL, where server.example.com is the name of an SGD server.

With automatic installation of the SGD Client, different versions of the SGD Client are installed in separate directories. This means the following:

• Users only have to log in to an upgraded SGD server in order to upgrade the SGD Client

• Users who log in to different SGD servers always run the correct SGD Client for the version of SGD

The SGD Client is installed in the following directories:

• Microsoft Windows client devices. A user-specific writeable directory.

  On Microsoft Windows XP platforms, for example:

  C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Temp\tcc\version

  On Microsoft Windows Vista platforms, for example:

  C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Temp\tcc\version

  The actual location depends on the user’s privileges, the operating system, and the version of the Java Plugin tool being used.

  Users with Microsoft Windows client devices can have roaming user profiles. Roaming user profiles provide the user with the same working environment, no matter which Microsoft Windows computer they use.

  If Microsoft Windows users have roaming user profiles, the SGD Client is installed in one of the following directories:

  On Microsoft Windows XP platforms:

  C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Temp\tcc\version

  On Microsoft Windows Vista platforms:

  C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Temp\tcc\version

  For details of how to configure SGD to work with roaming user profiles, see How to Enable Automatic Installation for Roaming User Profiles .

• UNIX, Linux, or Mac OS X platform client devices. The user’s home directory:

  $HOME/.tarantella/tcc/version

If you want to use automatic installation and have more control over where the SGD Client is installed, you can develop your own web application for installing the SGD Client and use SGD web services to specify the installation location.

See the Oracle Secure Global Desktop 4.6 Installation Guide for more details about automatic installation of the SGD Client.

How to Enable Automatic Installation for Roaming User Profiles

To enable the SGD Client to be installed automatically in a directory that is roamed, perform the following procedure on each SGD server in the array.

Ensure that no users are logged in to the SGD server, and that there are no application sessions, including suspended application sessions, running on the SGD server.

1. Log in as superuser (root) on the SGD host.

2. Change to the jsp directory.

   # cd /opt/tarantella/webserver/tomcat/tomcat-version/webapps/sgd/resources/jsp

3. Edit the webtopsession.jsp file.

   Change the tccRoaming line in webtopsession.jsp, as follows:

   String tccRoaming = "true";

   Save the change.

4. Restart the SGD web server.

   # tarantella restart webserver

Manual Installation of the SGD Client

With manual installation, you have full control over where the SGD Client is installed.

On Microsoft Windows platforms, you need administrator privileges to install the SGD Client.

You download and install the SGD Client from the SGD web server Welcome Page. The SGD web server Welcome Page is at http://server.example.com, where server.example.com is the name of an SGD server.

Click the Install the Oracle Secure Global Desktop Client link on the Welcome Page. The Oracle Secure Global Desktop Client download page has instructions for downloading and installing the SGD Client.

On Microsoft Windows client devices, the default installation directory is: C:\Program Files\Sun\Secure Global Desktop Client. A shortcut for the SGD Client is also added to the Windows Start Menu.

See the Oracle Secure Global Desktop 4.6 Installation Guide for more details about manual installation of the SGD Client.

Running the SGD Client From the Command Line

Typically, users log in to SGD by starting a browser and visiting the http://server.example.com/sgd URL, where server.example.com is the name of an SGD server.

Connecting to SGD in this way, automatically downloads and starts the SGD Client. However, you can also start the SGD Client from the command line and connect to an SGD server. From the command line, you can run the SGD Client either using a browser or in Integrated mode.

You start the SGD Client with the tcc command on Microsoft Windows client platforms, or the ttatcc command on UNIX, Linux, or Mac OS X client platforms, as follows:

tcc
  [ -profile name ]
  [ -loginurl url ]
  [ -preferredlanguage lang ]
  [ -logdir file ]
  [ -use-java ]
  [ -version ]

The following table lists the arguments for the tcc and ttatcc commands.

Argument Description -profile name The name of the profile to use when starting the SGD Client. Currently there is only one profile for each SGD server, called Default. To specify the profile for a particular server, use -profile server.example.com::Default where server.example.com is the name of an SGD server. Note - Profile names are case sensitive. -loginurl URL The login URL. This overrides the URL defined in the profile. Use a fully qualified domain name. -preferredlanguage lang The language to use in any dialogs and messages displayed by the SGD Client. This overrides the language defined in the profile. The following are the supported languages: en for English de for German fr for French ja for Japanese ko for Korean zh_CN for Simplified Chinese zh_TW for Traditional Chinese -logdir file The directory where the SGD Client log file is created. -use-java Enable the detection of Java technology in the SGD Client. -version Displays the version number of the SGD Client. -help Displays help information. This option is only available on UNIX, Linux, or Mac OS X client platforms.

The command line does not allow you to supply a user name and password. However, the SGD Client can be configured to log a user in automatically. This is called Integrated mode. See Setting Up the SGD Client for Integrated Mode for more details.

Command-Line Examples

The command line for the SGD Client can be used to create your own shortcuts and shell scripts.

If either the Connect on System Login or the Add Applications to Start Menu options are enabled in a user’s profile, the SGD Client automatically adds shortcuts for itself in the user’s desktop Start menu. The desktop systems that support these features are listed in the Oracle Secure Global Desktop 4.6 Platform Support and Release Notes available at http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/doc/821-1928.

The following are some examples of running the SGD Client from the command line.

Starting the SGD Client Without Any Arguments

The following example starts the SGD Client and uses the settings defined in the Default profile, available from the user’s profile cache.

$ ttatcc

If there is no profile, or the profile does not contain a login URL, the SGD Client starts but it cannot connect to an SGD server.

If the user has previously connected to more than one SGD server, the SGD Client connects to the last SGD server the user connected to, using the profile for that server.

Use this command to start the SGD Client if the user always connects to the same SGD server.

Connecting to a Particular SGD Server

The following example starts the SGD Client and uses the settings defined in the profile for server.example.com, available from the user’s profile cache.

$ ttatcc -profile server.example.com::Default

If there is no profile available in the cache for server.example.com, the SGD Client prompts for connection settings.

Use this command to start the SGD Client if the user might connect to different SGD servers.

Overriding the Login URL

The following example starts the SGD Client and uses the settings defined in the Default profile, available from the user’s profile cache, but connects to the specified URL.

$ tcc -loginurl url

where url is the URL of a login page on an SGD server, for example http://server.example.com/sgd.

Depending on the URL, this can be used to start an application.

Use this command to start the SGD Client and connect to a single SGD server, but connect to different web applications on that server.

Web Services Developer Options

The SGD Client also supports the following command-line arguments. These arguments are useful only when developing applications with SGD web services.

Argument Description -port tcp The port on which the SGD Client connects to the SGD server. Usually, this is Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) port 5307 when the user has a secure connection to SGD. -baseroute The base network route the SGD Client uses to traverse a SOCKS proxy server. -firewalltraversal Indicates that the SGD server is using firewall traversal. Connections to the SGD server and the webtop both use the same port, usually TCP port 443. -connectioncookie cookie Supplies the cookie used by the SGD server to identify the user session which the SGD Client is being used for. -portfile file The name of a file where the SGD Client writes its listening port number. -psn For use with Mac OS X client devices only. Ensures an X server is running. -server server The fully-qualified Domain Name System (DNS) name of the SGD server. -no-browser Do not start a browser when starting the SGD Client.

Using SGD Without Java Technology

If your organization prefers not to use Java technology, you can still use SGD, but with the following limitations:

• The SGD Client must be manually downloaded and installed.

• To log in to SGD, users must start the SGD Client first, either from the command line or from the shortcut in the desktop Start menu. Users cannot log in by starting a browser first.

• Proxy server settings must be configured users’ client profiles. The settings cannot be obtained automatically from a browser.

• The webtop must be reloaded manually to show the current state.

The following procedure describes the steps needed to use SGD without Java.

How to Use SGD Without Java Technology

1. Download and install the SGD Client.

   You download the SGD Client from the SGD web server Welcome Page, for example at http://server.example.com, where server.example.com is the name of an SGD server.

   Click the link to Install the Oracle Secure Global Desktop Client.

   The download page and the Oracle Secure Global Desktop 4.6 Installation Guide have details of how to install the SGD Client.

2. Start the SGD Client and connect to SGD.

   Use either of the following methods:

   • Start the SGD Client from the shortcut in the desktop Start menu.

     The first time you start the SGD Client, it prompts you for the URL to connect to. This is normally http://server.example.com/sgd, where server.example.com is the name of an SGD server. The SGD Client also prompts you for the proxy server settings to use.

     When the SGD Client connects, it starts your default browser and displays the SGD login page.

   • Start the SGD Client from the command line.

     See Running the SGD Client From the Command Line for more details.

3. Log in to SGD.

   The SGD webtop is displayed.

4. Edit the profile for your client device.

   On the webtop, click the Edit button in the Applications area of the webtop. Go to the Client Settings tab and edit the client profile.

   See also Client Profile Settings.

   1. Configure the operating mode of the SGD Client.

      You can access SGD either by using a browser or by using Integrated mode.

      Integrated mode gives users the best user experience when Java technology is unavailable. Select the Add Applications to Start Menu check box. See also Integrated Mode.

      To use automatic logins to minimize the use of a browser, select the Automatic Client Login check box. See Authentication Token Authentication.

      Whenever the SGD Client needs to display a page in a browser, for example to display a webtop or a login page, it always starts the default browser.

      To update the webtop display, users might have to manually reload the page.

   2. Configure the proxy server settings.

      You must specify the proxy server settings in the profile, because these settings cannot be obtained from the browser. See Configuring Client Proxy Settings.

   3. Click Save.

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   Note - SGD Administrators can preconfigure many of these settings for users, by editing the profile for an organization or organizational unit.

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5. Log out of SGD.