Secure Global Desktop 4.40 Administration Guide > Clients and Webtops > Working with the SGD Client

Working with the SGD Client

The SGD Client is the part of SGD that is installed on client devices and is required to run applications. This page includes the following topics:

What the SGD Client does
How you install the SGD Client
How you can configure the SGD Client
How to run the SGD Client from the command line
The role of the Sun Secure Global Desktop Client Helper

Understanding What the SGD Client Does

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

Webtop mode - uses a web browser to display a special web page, called a webtop, that lists the applications a user can run through SGD and provides controls for managing application sessions and printing. This is the default mode.
Integrated mode - the list of applications that a user can run through SGD displays in the desktop Start or Launch Menu on the client device. This allows users to run remote applications in the same way as local applications. Depending on other configuration factors, users might not need to use a web browser.

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 (using the AIP protocol) with the SGD server
Receives and acts on events from the SGD server, for example the arrival of a print job

Installing the SGD Client

The SGD Client can be installed automatically or manually.

Automatic Installation

If you have a web 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.

Note If you use Internet Explorer on Microsoft Windows Vista platforms, you must add the SGD server to the list of Trusted Sites in Internet Explorer's Security Settings before the SGD Client can be automatically downloaded and installed.

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

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:

On Microsoft Windows client devices, in a user-specific writeable directory, for example:
homedrive\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Temp\tcc\version

The actual location depends on the user's privileges, the operating system, and the Java Plug-in being used.

Note If the user has a roaming user profile, see Microsoft Windows Users With Roaming Profiles.
On UNIX/Linux/Mac OS X 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.

Microsoft Windows Users With Roaming User Profiles

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 by default in a directory that is deleted when the user logs off. To allow the SGD Client to be installed automatically in a directory that is roamed, you must perform the following configuration:

Change to the following directory:

/opt/tarantella/webserver/tomcat/version/webapps/sgd/resources/jsp

Create a backup of the webtopsession.jsp file.
For example:
```
# cp webtopsession.jsp ~webtopsession.jsp
```
Edit the webtopsession.jsp file.
Change the tccRoamingline to the following:
```
String tccRoaming = "true";
```
Save the webtopsession.jsp file.
Restart the SGD Web Server.
Repeat these steps on each SGD server in the array.

After making this change, the SGD Client is installed in the following directory on Microsoft Windows client devices:

homedrive\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Temp\tcc\version

Manual Installation

With manual installation, you have full control over where the SGD Client is installed. You download and install the SGD Client from the SGD Web Server home page, http://server.example.com. Click the Install the Sun Secure Global Desktop Client link. The Sun 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: homedrive\Program Files\Sun\Secure Global Desktop Client. A shortcut for the SGD Client is also added to the Windows Start Menu.

Note Manual installation is not available for all supported client platforms.

Configuring the SGD Client

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

The URL the SGD Client connects to when it starts, usually this is the URL used to log in to SGD
The operating mode of the SGD Client whether the applications a user can run display on a webtop or the user's desktop Start or Launch Menu
Whether or not the user is logged in automatically when the SGD Client starts
Whether or not the SGD Client starts automatically when the user logs in to their desktop system
Proxy server configuration, whether the settings are manually configured in the profile or determined from the web browser

Note The SGD Client can only connect to an SGD server if they both have the same major/patch (4.xx) version number.

There is one profile for each SGD server that the user connects to. The profile is downloaded when the user connects to a SGD server. If the SGD Client has been installed manually, the user is prompted for initial connection information the first time the SGD Client is started.

Running the SGD Client From the Command Line

Typically users log in to SGD by starting a web browser and visiting the http://server.example.com/sgd URL. 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. You can run the SGD Client in either Webtop mode and Integrated mode in this way.

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

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

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.
`-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 `fr` for French `ja` for Japanese `ko` for Korean `zh_CN` for Simplified Chinese `zh_TW` for Traditional Chinese
`-logdir file`	The directory in which 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.

Note The arguments are case-sensitive.

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.

Examples

The command line for the SGD Client can be used to create your own shortcuts and shell scripts. The following are some example commands:

Note 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 Sun Secure Global Desktop Software Release Notes has details of which desktop systems are supported.

Example 1: Starting Without Any Arguments

ttatcc

The SGD Client starts using the settings defined in the Default profile, available from the user's profile cache.
If there is no profile or it 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.
Example use: to start the SGD Client when the user always connects to the same SGD server.

Example 2: Connecting to a Particular SGD Server

ttatcc -profile server.example.com::Default

The SGD Client starts using the settings defined in the profile for server.example.com, available from the user's profile cache.
If there is no profile in the cache for server.example.com, the SGD Client starts and connects to the last SGD server the user connected to using the profile for that server.
Example use: to start the SGD Client when the user might connect to different SGD servers.

Example 3: Overriding the Login URL

tcc -loginurl URL

The SGD Client starts using the settings defined in the Default profile, available from the user's profile cache, but connects to the specified URL.
Depending on the URL, this could be used to launch an application.
Example use: 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 which are useful only when developing applications with SGD web services:

Note The arguments are case-sensitive.

Argument	Description
`-port tcp`	The port on which the SGD Client is to connect to the SGD server. Usually this is TCP port 5307 when the user has a secure connection to SGD, otherwise TCP port 3144 is used.
`-secure`	Create a secure connection to the SGD server.
`-baseroute`	The base network route the SGD Client is to use to traverse a SOCKS proxy server.
`-firewalltraversal`	Indicates that the SGD server is using firewall forwarding. Connections to the SGD server and the webtop both use the same port, usually port 443/tcp.
`-connectioncookie cookie`	Supplies the cookie used by the SGD server to identify the user session for which the SGD Client is being used.
`-portfile file`	The name of a file into which 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 DNS name of the SGD server.

The Sun Secure Global Desktop Client Helper

When using a web browser with Java technology enabled, the SGD Client is supported by the Sun Secure Global Desktop Client Helper, which is a Java applet.

The Sun Secure Global Desktop Client Helper performs the following functions:

Downloads and installs the SGD Client. This only applies if automatic installation is used.
Obtains proxy server settings from the web browser and sends them to the SGD Client. This depends on the settings in the user's profile.
Starts the SGD Client. This only happens when a user starts a web browser and goes to the login URL.
Responds to instructions received from the SGD Client, for example prompting the web browser to re-draw the screen.

The Sun Secure Global Desktop Client Helper is optional, see Can I use the webtop without Java technology? for details.

Related Topics
Introducing Sun Secure Global Desktop Software Integrating SGD With the Desktop Start or Launch Menu Client Profiles and the SGD Client Using SGD With Proxy Servers Introducing SGD Security Services