CMS And The UNIX Desktop:

Using Citrix MetaFrame

Software Solutions Team

Revision 1.1 : May 4, 1999

CMS 400 and its related applications are PC-based. Customers who prefer UNIX face difficulty accessing CMS from their desktops. This problem is not unique to CMS, as there are many PC and Windows applications for which there is no UNIX version.

Citrix Systems has developed a solution called MetaFrame. With MetaFrame, the application runs on a PC, but the GUI is exported to a "thin client" running on the UNIX desktop. Citrix also offers "thin clients" for other desktops, including Linux, and even one that runs on any Java-capable web browser.

In order for a Windows application to be separated from its GUI component, the operating system must support such partitioning. Standard Windows operating systems are single-user and cannot conceive of server-based remote users.

Microsoft now addresses this need with Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server Edition (NT/TSE). NT/TSE implements the security and partitioning that allows multiple users to run applications in their own private sessions.

Microsoft designed NT/TSE primarily to support remote Windows terminals. Citrix, with its MetaFrame software, extends NT/TSE to non-Windows desktops such as UNIX. It implements an X-like protocol called ICA that transfers GUI commands, keystrokes and mouse events between a client and server machine.

Put simply, you buy NT/TSE from Microsoft and install it on a PC which will become your "application server". You buy MetaFrame from Citrix and install it atop NT/TSE. Then you place a MetaFrame "thin client" (freeware from Citrix) on the desktop of your choice. You can now run Windows programs remotely.

CMS 400 typically runs in one of two configurations: distributed or collapsed. In distributed form, the Hub portion runs on one PC (under DOS) and the Workstation portion runs on another (under Windows). In collapsed form, the Hub and Workstation run on the same PC under Windows, or in older configurations, totally under DOS with no Windows support.

• To take advantage of the Citrix UNIX solution, your CMS 400 must be running in distributed form using TCP/IP. If you are running in the "classic" collapsed mode (under DOS), you simply define at least one station as a TCP/IP remote station and treat the PC as a CMS 400 Hub. If you are running in the Windows collapsed mode, you should move your CMS 400 software to a DOS machine and install it as a distributed Hub with TCP/IP connectivity.
• Then, on a secondary PC, install NT/TSE and MetaFrame. This PC becomes your "application server" for CMS. (If you’ve never used any flavor of NT Server before, don’t be intimidated: it looks and feels like Windows.) Install the CMS 400 Workstation atop this PC and set it up to connect to the CMS 400 Hub you have previously set up.
• Finally, install the Citrix ICA "thin client" on your UNIX desktop. Configure it to connect to the "application server" you’ve set up. From this client, you can remotely run CMS For Windows and access all CMS 400 applications, both legacy and Windows-based.
• Note that the CMS 400 Hub must have TCP/IP support installed. This is provided by the NetManage PC/TCP TCP/IP stack, available from Milgo. If you’ve been managing SNMP devices, you already have this software.

1. Install NetManage PC/TCP on this PC (PC-1) so that it can support TCP/IP workstations (if you manage SNMP devices, you already have this software installed)
2. In CMS Component Map, under (S)tations, set at least one port to "TCP/IP"
3. Install NT/TSE and MetaFrame on a second PC (PC-2) as your "application server"
4. Install CMS 400 Workstation on PC-2 and specify the IP address of PC-1 as the CMS 400 Hub
5. Install the Citrix "thin client" on your UNIX desktop and specify the IP address of PC-2 as the application server

1. Install CMS 400 Hub on a separate DOS-based PC (PC-1) and copy the database to it from the Windows PC
2. Install NetManage PC/TCP on the DOS PC so that it can support TCP/IP workstations
3. In CMS Component Map, under (S)tations, set at least one port to "TCP/IP"
4. Install NT/TSE and MetaFrame on the Windows PC (PC-2) as your "application server"
5. In the CMS 400 Workstation on the Windows PC, specify the IP address of PC-1 as the CMS 400 Hub
6. Install the Citrix "thin client" on your UNIX desktop and specify the IP address of PC-2 as the application server

1. If you are using an SDM, install NetManage PC/TCP on the Hub (PC-1) so that it can support TCP/IP workstations (if you manage SNMP devices, you already have this software installed)
2. In CMS Component Map, under (S)tations, set at least one port to "TCP/IP"
3. Install NT/TSE and MetaFrame on one of your workstation PC’s (PC-2) as your "application server"
4. In the CMS 400 Workstation on PC-2, specify the IP address of PC-1 (if this workstation was originally SDM-connected) as the CMS 400 Hub
5. Install the Citrix "thin client" on your UNIX desktop and specify the IP address of PC-2 as the application server

Here is the minimum list of items to buy to support UNIX access to CMS. Prices are approximate and are based on distributor pricing late in 1998.

Microsoft and Citrix sell their respective software in terms of number of users. Thus, the above parts will allow ten UNIX users to access CMS simultaneously (limited by the NT/TSE 10-user license). Both Citrix and Microsoft will soon offer 5-user versions at a somewhat reduced price.

The "thin client" software that actually resides on the UNIX machine is free from Citrix. Download the client of your choice from http://download.citrix.com/.

At the time of this publication, the UNIX clients were shown in a table in the row labeled UNIX (various platforms) and the column labeled Primary ICA Client.

Clients are available for Solaris, HP/UX, IBM, DEC, and other UNIX variants including Linux. There is also a Java-based applet that is stored on the server and provides the same functionality described above on any Java-capable web browser.

• Visit http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver/terminalserver/default.asp for details about NT 4.0 Terminal Server.
• Visit http://www.citrix.com/products/metaframe for details about Citrix MetaFrame.