Exceed 7.0 for UD

The document is divided into the following sections. You may read them all or skip immediately to the parts that interest you.

• Automatic Software Updates
• Starting Exceed
  • Tunneling via SSH (HIGHLY recommended)
  • Using XDMCP to Establish a Session (recommended)
  • Using an Unmanaged Connection (NOT recommended)
• "Housekeeping" Issues
  • Getting Rid of "Hummingbird Neighborhood"
  • Toggling Taskbar / System Tray Icon
  • Showing / Hiding the Toolbar
  • Adding / Removing Components
• Quitting Exceed and Logging Out
• Connecting to Systems
• Middle Mouse-Button
• Cut/Copy/Paste between X and MS Windows Applications

Before using Exceed for the first time, it's a good idea to check for software updates on Hummingbird's website. Exceed includes a tool to do this automatically, called Hummingbird Update. To run it, open the Hummingbird Connectivity V7.0 program group (on the Start menu under programs, or on the desktop), open the System Administration sub-group, and double-click on "Hummingbird Update". Click "Yes" if prompted to install any updates. It is a good idea to check for updates periodically. Information about important updates will also be posted on the addenda and errata page, as it becomes available.

Starting Exceed

There are three ways to connect to remote systems and open X applications with Exceed:

X11 tunneling via SSH is the most secure method. All information passed between your PC and the host system will be encrypted.

Connecting via XDMCP is less secure than SSH tunneling (information sent between the systems is not encrypted), but still provides some measure of security by preventing other users from opening spurious windows on your machine or otherwise interfering with your sessions.

Unmanaged connections (using procedures such as rexec or rlogin) are INsecure, and may allow other users to tamper with your system. In general, it is ill-advised to connect in this fashion unless the host you are connecting to supports neither SSH nor XDMCP.

Tunneling via SSH

1. Run the SSH program.
2. Click the "Edit" menu and choose "settings".
3. Click on the "Tunneling" sub-heading (under "Profile Settings")
4. Check the box next to "Tunnel X11 connections" on the right.
5. Click the "OK" button.
6. Click the "File" menu and choose "Save settings".

To run X applications on a remote host and tunnel their output via SSH to Exceed on your PC:

1. Start the Exceed server in passive communications mode (if you installed Exceed from the UD-customized CD or followed the UD customization instructions, Exceed is already set to start in passive mode; otherwise you'll need to run Xconfig from the Exceed program menu and change the communication mode).
2. Run the SSH client and open a shell on the remote machine that you want to run X applications from.
3. Run the application (e.g. "xterm", "xclock", "xeyes", etc.). If everything is configured properly, the application window should appear on your screen.

Note: SSH tunnelling may slow down your connection slightly on the local network. However, it can provide a significant increase in speed over modem connections if you turn on compression in the SSH client.

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Using XDMCP to Establish a Session

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Using an Unmanaged Connection

1. Download and extract the supplemental files (these files are included on the UD-customized CD but are not installed automatically).
2. Go to the Exceed user directory (in "Hummingbird Connectivity V7.0" on the desktop or in the Program menu) and double-click the "localunix.ses" file. (You may see two files just named "localunix" if you have extension hiding turned on. You want the icon that has two green windows and a clock). If you plan to use this connection method frequently, you will probably want to create a shortcut to this file somewhere more convenient.
3. A login window will appear requesting a host system, your username and password, and an application command.
4. You have several ways to select a host system to connect to, and an application (e.g., Xterm, SAS) to run. You may select an application/host combination from the pop-up list ("..." button) to the right of the "Command" line. Lists of commonly used applications on the University's central systems are provided, and you can add your own by editing the "appdb.txt" file in the Exceed user directory. Alternately, you may select a host system from the host pop-up list ("..." button to the right of the "Host" line) and then select an application from the other pop-up list. Or you may type in a host system and/or application command manually.
5. Fill in the User ID and Password fields, and click "OK" to connect.
6. If the login process succeeds, the program you specified should appear.

NOTE: If you already have one or more X windows open, attempting to open open additional windows via the method described above will cause a dialog box to pop up stating that the server is already running and asking if you'd like to re-start it. Click No. Clicking Yes will close all of your currently open X windows.

ALSO NOTE: you can not mix unmanaged connections in the same session with XDMCP-managed connections - attempting to start one while the other type is running will require a server reset, which will kill all of your open X windows.

"Housekeeping" Issues

The following items address minor configuration settings which you may want to change from the defaults:

Getting Rid of "Hummingbird Neighborhood"

Toggling Taskbar / System Tray Icon

Showing / Hiding the Toolbar

Quitting Exceed and Logging Out

All X windows are terminated whenever you exit or restart the Exceed server, regardless of which connection method you use. To exit the Exceed server:

• If the Exceed "X" icon is in the taskbar, right-click on it and select "Close".
• If the icon is the system tray, right-click it, choose "File" and then "Exit".

If your session is managed by XDMCP (see above), you can also shutdown the Exceed server by closing the controlling X window. The controlling window is whichever application is listed last in your .xsession file, without an ampersand (&). (If you have the default .xsession file, the last and only application that is started is an xterm window). All other X windows you have opened will be automatically terminated and you will be logged out.

Note: When you are done with your work and ready to quit, make sure that the Exceed server is completely shutdown (no "X" icon in your taskbar or system tray). Otherwise you may inadvertantly leave unwanted processes running on the remote system.

Connecting to Other Systems

• On the UNiversity's central systems (Copland, Strauss, and Mahler) you can use the following shortcuts at any shell prompt to open a new program on another of the composers:

  At the shell prompt (%) in an Xterm window, type:

  onstrauss        to connect to Strauss.
  oncopland        to connect to Copland.
  onmahler         to connect to Mahler.
  

  These commands are especially useful if you log into copland initially (where you can't run a lot of software, such as compilers) and then want to run something on Strauss/Mahler. The command "onhost" by itself will open an Xterm window. Appending a command (e.g. "oncopland netscape") will run that command on the specified host. These commands will work only if you already have completed the steps outlined in Customizing Your Composers Account. You can create the aliases manually by editing the .alias file in your directory on the composers and add the following lines:

  alias onstrauss 'xrsh -auth none strauss'
  alias oncopland 'xrsh -auth none copland'
  alias onmahler 'xrsh -auth none mahler'
  

  After you've made the changes, you must type the UNIX command:

  source ~/.alias

  to make the changes take effect (or log out and log back in again).

• Connecting to other hosts:

  From a shell on any of the composers (or any other system which has xrsh installed), you can open an xterm or other X application on another system by typing:

  xrsh hostname [application]
  (replacing hostname with the target machine's name, and application with an (optional) application to run - if no application is given, an Xterm is opened); or xrsh -l username hostname [application]
  (where hostname and application are the same as above and username is replaced with your username on the target machine) - use this form when your username on the target system is different than your username on the composers).

  To use xrsh, you must have a properly configured .rhosts file on the system to which you are connecting. If xrsh fails, use the special telnet tnxhost alias:

  tnxhost hostname
  (replacing hostname with the machine's name). This alias is created on your UNIX account when you get the special UNIX files described in the document Customizing Your Composers Account.

Warning: using xrsh between the composers is relatively secure because the connections only traverse dedicated paths between those machines. Using xrsh/tnxhost between the composers and other hosts is not recommended, because these connection methods are insecure. X11 tunnelling via SSH is the recommended connection method for all hosts. You can open multiple secure shell sessions to different hosts simultaneously, and run X applications on each of these hosts.

Middle Mouse-Button

X applications that require you to press the middle mouse-button of a 3-button mouse can still be used with a 2-button mouse. Simultaneously press both buttons of your 2-button mouse to emulate the 3-button mouse's middle button. (In order for this third-button emulation to work, it must be turned on in the Exceed configuration. This feature is turned on by default in the UD-customized installation. For more information see the Mouse section of Customizing Exceed.)

If you have a wheel mouse, you can press down on the wheel for the third button.

Cut/Copy/Paste Between X and MS Windows Applications

In X applications that run in an Xterm window, you can copy and paste within the same Xterm window or between Xterm windows by first highlighting the section to be copied. Paste the highlighted area into an Xterm window by pressing the middle mouse-button, just as you would on an X-terminal. The pasting occurs at the point designated by the X cursor. Instructions above describe how to press the middle mouse-button when you're using a 2-button mouse.

In Microsoft Windows applications (e.g., Word, Excel) you generally highlight a section and then press Ctrl-X, Ctrl-C, and Ctrl-V to cut, copy, and paste within or between Microsoft Windows application windows. (You may also use the entries on the Edit menu in most applications.)

After customizing your central systems account as described in Customizing Your Composers Account you can also cut, copy and paste between Microsoft Windows and X windows as follows:

• To copy (or cut) from a Microsoft Windows window to an Xterm window:
  1. Highlight the desired section of the Microsoft Windows window and press Ctrl-C (Ctrl-X to cut).
  2. Click once in the Xterm window (taking care not to highlight anything in the Xterm window) and press Alt-V. There are two Alt keys on most PC keyboards. You must use the one to the right of the spacebar. Alternately, click the middle mouse button (or both buttons if you don't have a middle button or scroll wheel - see above).

• To copy (or cut) from a Xterm window to a Microsoft Windows window:
  1. Highlight the desired section of the Xterm window, and press Alt-C (Alt-X to cut). Make sure you use the right-hand Alt key! NOTE: do not move the mouse pointer before you press Alt-C (or Alt-X).
  2. Click once in the Microsoft Windows window (or highlight the text to be replaced) and press Ctrl-V.