Setting up X11 on Tru64 VM via VNC

Ok, so we have the Tru64 up and running inside the alphavm and now we want to have a fancy X11 desktop with CDE window manager. Here is a quick howto for setting up vncserver and CDE on the Tru64. You will need the GNU application CD with a label “OSSC V5.1B RPM Installation Disc” which contains all the necessary files.

So first attach the ISO to the config.emu file :

scsi_cdrom iso {
 scsi_id = 4;
 file = 'gnu.tru64.iso';
}

After we boot the system, mount the CDROM under /mnt !

# mount /dev/disk/cdrom0a /mnt

then go to the SETUP folder and run the RPM-init.ksh shellscript:

cd /mnt/SETUP
./RPM-init.ksh

Then you can install the VNC rpm package for the Alpha processor :

cd /mnt/RPMS/
/usr/local/bin/rpm -i vnc-3.3.3-2.alpha.rpm

Once installed, copy over the following files from /usr/local/bin to /usr/bin/X11

cp /usr/local/bin/Xvnc /usr/bin/X11
cp /usr/local/bin/vncpasswd /usr/bin/X11
cp /usr/local/bin/vncserver /usr/bin/X11

This step is important otherwise the vncserver binary wont run and you will have to figure out how to setup $PATHS for the user on Tru64

Once you have the files copied you can start the vncserver, I have stated mine from / and it created a hidden directory .vnc in the root folder. The .vnc contains the xsrtartup file, which we need to modify in order to use the CDE window manager so it contains only this:

/usr/dt/bin/Xsession &

OK we are done now, and you can connect via VNC client from your host via its virtual IP address (in my example tap0  0.0.0.0  br0 10.0.2.2  and Tru64 tu1 10.0.2.10 gw 10.0.2.2)

xvncviewer 10.0.2.10:1

Here is the result