RHEV: Virtual Desktops & Thin Clients

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Is there anyone else out there using RHEV for virtual desktops? Are you using thin clients to connect to these (Linux or Windows) guests in RHEV?

We have a few virtual desktops, some Windows for user testing and some Linux for developers. Outside of testing, we have not used thin clients with them, as we have not found thin clients that have support for SPICE that is on par with VMWare View, Citrix XenDesktop, or RDP. With those other protocols, there is software built-in that lets you configure a session completely, so that all the user sees is a "real" PC desktop. The best we've come up with on SPICE is logging into the RHEV user portal via a browser. The user portal is a great, flexible option, especially for developers or system admins who want lots of choices (and desktops), but it doesn't work for presenting a single, seamless desktop to a regular user. For example, it won't work in a library with public kiosks (with auto logins).

So far the best thin clients for RHEV that we've seen are IGEL, and they aren't particularly good, supporting SPICE (version 0.8.3 of the old spicec) via a browser plugin only. I'm hoping someone else has either found a thin client with better RHEV/Spice support, or has come up with a home-grown solution. If you have, even with partial success, please share!

DB
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PH Community Member 83 points
8 September 2014 2:15 PM

Hello Daniel, i'm exploring the use of thin client with RHEV in a non-ortodox way.
So far i have found 2 ways of using them:

1 - Start a DiskLess Linux using PXE that autologin and start a Firefox to the User Portal
2 - Start a DiskLess Linux using PXE that runs a python script that starts a Virt-viewer (SPICE) connection to a VM.

This is the code for the Script -> http://pastebin.com/9KQxd2Fh

So far i haven't found the minimum permissions needed in RHEV for the user configurated in the script in order to keep it more secure.

the usage is in the form:

virt-viewer-client.py name_of_the_vm

If i remember OK, you need the ovirt-engine-cli, python and some others pre-requisites.

Regards!

AA Expert 1152 points
6 October 2014 11:11 PM

I have been testing with Igel thin clients. Igel's documentation seems to indicate that Firefox can be configured to come up in a mode for kiosk use.

Recent releases of Igel's Universal Desktop Linux firmware (v4 and v5) have Remote Viewer (not spicec).

Igel's latest firmware has Remote Viewer 0.5.6 which can consume console.vv files (also known as Native Mode console invocation). However, the file association between .vv files and Remote Viewer has not yet been configured. Until the file association is set up, the Firefox browser plugin works OK with Remote Viewer.

I believe that the SPICE developers are working towards using the REST API for communication between Remote Viewer and RHEV-M. This would eliminate the requirement for using the User Portal.

DB Pro 609 points
7 October 2014 8:39 PM

Pablo,

Thanks so much for sharing your Python script! That is a great start. I modified it so I can invoke it from a Fedora 20 system and automatically brings up a Spice window on a guest of my choosing. That won't work for IGEL without some tinkering, but it could work for home-grown thin-clients based on a standard Linux.

Aram, I have tested out the "kiosk" mode for Firefox in IGEL. It's good for some uses but of course that does not allow you to populate user names or host names to "automagically" bring up a console on a guest.

Unfortunately, the current v5 firmware for IGEL has actually regressed -- it does not work with RHEV 3.4. I have to go back to v4 (or a regular Linux or Windows client) to connect.

Best,
Daniel

AA Expert 1152 points
8 October 2014 10:16 PM

Daniel,
What happens when you use the latest Igel v5 firmware with RHEV 3.4? I have used it with RHEV 3.3. It has the .vv file association issue but otherwise seems OK.

DB Pro 609 points
9 October 2014 12:35 PM

Hi Aram,

The version I had trouble with (connecting to RHEV 3.4 guests) was 5.04.100. I noticed a newer version, 5.04.130 and applied it. Now it works with RHEV 3.4 (spice) guests. The issue you mentioned with file association is still there.

We have older UD3 models with only 512MB RAM. The v5 firmware is a bit sluggish. I hope they continue to maintain their v4 firmware and release a version with at least 0.5.6 of virt-viewer.

Thanks,
Daniel

AA Expert 1152 points
11 October 2014 4:45 PM

Hi Daniel,
Thanks for the update. I plan to upgrade to RHEV 3.4 in December.
We also have an older UD3. I know what you are saying about sluggishness. We should try the v4 firmware on that.
Aram

Andres Mujica's picture Pro 434 points
29 April 2015 9:01 PM

Thanks for sharing this information!!

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