Commands on the ThinLinc Server

In this chapter, we will describe the commands shipped as part of the ThinLinc server that are meant for the common user.

Commands in /opt/thinlinc/bin

tl-session-param [options] <parameter>

The tl-session-param command is used to access the session information managed by the VSM server. This includes information sent by the client, such as if the client has exported any local drives, or what language is set on the client side. This command is used by for example tl-set-clientlang.sh, documented later in this chapter.

tl-config [options] <parameter>

The tl-config command is used to access configuration parameters used by the ThinLinc system. It is also used to set parameters from scripts, and can be used instead of an editor when some parameter needs to be changed. tl-config uses hivetool, part of the Hiveconf system. See Hiveconf for more information about Hiveconf.

tl-desktop-restore

When a user’s Gnome or KDE desktop needs to be reset to default, the command tl-desktop-restore can be run. This will move the settings directories for KDE and Gnome to a backup directory named ~/.old-thinlinc-desktop in the user’s home directory, which will make both Gnome and KDE revert to the default settings.

tl-limit-printers

This command is run by VSM Server at session startup and reconnect if the Printer Access Control feature of ThinLinc is activated. See Printer Access Control for details.

tl-memberof-group <groupname> [groupname…]

This command can be used to determine if the current user is a member of the specified groups. It returns true (0) if the user is a member of any of the groups, false (1) if the user is not a member and false (2) if any of the specified groups do not exists.

tl-run-xstartup.d

This command is run by the default session startup file (/opt/thinlinc/etc/xstartup.default) to execute all start scripts in the directory /opt/thinlinc/etc/xstartup.d/. Files with the suffix .sh will be sourced. All other files will be executed.

tl-select-profile

This command is run by the session setup file (/opt/thinlinc/etc/xstartup.default or ~/.thinlinc/xstartup) and provides a menu where the user can choose what kind of session to run. See Customizing the User’s Session for more information.

tl-set-clientlang.sh

By creating a symlink from /opt/thinlinc/etc/xstartup.d to this command, the user’s LANG environment will be set to the language environment reported by the client.

tl-shadow-notify

This command starts the tl-shadow-notify command for the lifetime of the session. This will enable notifications when the session is shadowed.

tl-single-app <command> [arguments]

The tl-single-app command can be used to execute a single application in a ThinLinc session. A window manager with a suitable configuration is automatically started. All top level windows are automatically maximized. Window titles are displayed in the title bar of the ThinLinc Client, not in the ThinLinc session. The client close button will disconnect the session as usual. Inner close buttons closes application windows. The tl-single-app command can be specified as a client supplied start program (see Session Startup with a Client Supplied Start Program), or used with the ThinLinc profile selector (see Configuring available profiles).

Tip

If the application opens multiple top level windows, you can switch between them by clicking on the application icon in the top left corner.

tl-sso-update-password

This command requests a password from the user, to be used with the Single Sign-On mechanism of ThinLinc. It is useful when the password is not already available, for example, when using One Time Passwords. See Configuration for RSA SecurID for more information.

tl-support [-p <listen-port>] [-u <user>] [host]

The tl-support command can be used to enable a support technician to login to your ThinLinc server, even though the server is behind a firewall that doesn’t allow connections to the ssh port. This is accomplished by opening a ssh connection from the server to an external server on the internet, at the same time setting up a tunnel from the remote host to the local host’s ssh port. The default server to connect to is “support.thinlinc.com” with the default username “support”. This command should only be used after contacting your ThinLinc support technician.

tl-disconnect

This command is used to disconnect from the current session. This can be used to provide an alternative to the F8 key, such as a disconnect button on the Gnome panel.

tl-sso-password [--check] [--remove]

This command can be used to hook up the Single Sign-on mechanism of ThinLinc with new applications. It can be used to test for the presence of a valid password and to feed that password out on standard output to another application.

To check for the existance of a valid password, invoke the command as tl-sso-password --check. A return code of zero indicates a valid password.

If the --remove option is specified, the password will be removed, after the retrieval or check.

There are two basic models to connect tl-sso-password to an application. The first is to use shell pipes:

$ tl-sso-password | /usr/bin/application --read-password-on-stdin

The second is to have the application invoke tl-sso-password as needed:

$ /usr/bin/application --password-prog tl-sso-password

tl-sso-token-passphrase [--check] [--remove]

This command is identical to tl-sso-password, except that it uses the smart card token passphrase (PIN) instead of the user’s password. For usage, see the tl-sso-password section above.

tl-env [-d] [-n <nr>] <command> [arg…], tl-env -s [-n <nr>]

This command can be used to save and restore the ThinLinc session environment variables. It operates on the file xstartup.env in the session directory. During session startup, tl-env is called with the -s option after everything in xstartup.d have been executed. Later, tl-env can be used to execute a command in this environment, even outside the ThinLinc session. During restore, the DISPLAY environment variable can be excluded by specifying -d. By default, this command operates on the “last” session number for the invoking user. An alternative session number can be specified with the -n option.

Commands in /opt/thinlinc/sbin

tl-notify [-u <username>] <message>

This command sends a user-visible message to ThinLinc sessions on the server. The default is to send the message to all sessions, but the -u option can be used to send the message to a single recipient instead.

To send messages to all users in a ThinLinc cluster, you can use this command in combination with the tl-ssh-all command described in this section.

tl-rsync-all

This command is used to synchronize files and directories in a ThinLinc cluster. It runs the rsync command over SSH against all agent servers in the cluster.

tl-ssh-all

This command is used to perform shell commands on all agents in a ThinLinc cluster. It works by running the ssh command against all agent servers in the cluster.

Commands in /opt/thinlinc/libexec

tl-kinit.sh

The tl-kinit.sh command is used to obtain a Kerberos ticket automatically during start of the session, using the single sign-on mechanism.

tl-kdestroy.sh

The tl-kdestroy.sh command is used to destroy the Kerberos ticket cache. It calls kdestroy during logout.