JChooser

JChooser is a modern chooser for terminals or thin stations that can be used to display to users a selection of hosts they can connect to. In contrast to the standard XDCMP Indirect Chooser, JChooser combines access to Windows (RDP) and Unix (X11) hosts in one application.

JChooser is a Java Webstart application that can be configured via files on a Web server.

Preparation

In order to configure JChooser, you will have to create a JNLP file and some configuration files on a Web server. Please download JChooser.zip and unpack in on your Web server. You will find all necessary files in the Archive. You now have to adjust the JNLP file (don't forget the baseurl parameter) and the connection files to reflect your infrastructure.

Activation

First, you will have to install a thin client, e.g. by installing a Linux (like CentOS) onto an old PC. A Java runtime (at least version 1.6) has to be installed, too. It is neccessary to have a graphical login running. Then you can replace the local login screen with JChooser. How to do this depends on your Linux.

First, create a file /etc/X11/chooser:

#!/bin/sh
. /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc-common
/opt/jdk-1.6/bin/javaws -wait http://yourjnlp

Make it executable:

# chmod 755 /etc/X11/chooser

Now change the runlevel und modify inittab:

# init 3
# vi /etc/inittab

Replace the last line "x:5:respawn:/etc/X11/prefdm -nodaemon" with "jch:5:respawn:/usr/bin/xinit /etc/X11/chooser". Then change the runlevel again:

# init 5

If you know how to configure an upstart system, please let us know!

Problems & Contact

If you have any problems or suggestions, please feel free to contact: