[winswitch] XPRA Testing and Issues....

[Antoine Martin]

On 24/02/2020 03:08, xpra--- via shifter-users wrote:
> I am looking to use XPRA for exactly what it describes X11 Screen.. and 
> thus dump an VNC connection or shaky X11 forwarding if the connection 
> drops...and taking this application with it.
> 
> I test and test and test things before they get into a box for use.
> 
> I've setup up some VM's to test with.. and well... things did not go well.
> 
> I setup a 19.10 Kubuntu VM and added the XPRA PPA...
> 
> It pulled in XPRA... and what seems like a HUGE HUGE DEPENDENCY list... 
> and installed it all...compared to a test later with a OFFICIAL REPO 
> version the dependency list was much much smaller.
By default, the xpra.org packages will enable every feature available, 
which requires extra packages, in particular:
* audio forwarding: gstreamer and many of its plugins, which brings even 
more dependencies
* lots of networking libraries: ssh, mdns, kerberos, gssapi, crypto, etc
* printer forwarding
* dbus bindings
etc
And that's not even all of it. There are also weaker dependencies but 
those are not installed by default.

If you want to avoid installing the dependencies, you should look into 
"--no-install-recommends".
You can then install the features you actually want manually afterwards.

> Using the info  at:
> https://xpra.org/trac/wiki/Usage
> 
> xpra start :100 --start=xterm
> 
> That seems to start things...
> 
> But CAN NOT CONNECT TO IT with:
> 
> xpra attach
> 
> 
> No X window comes up... nothing..
> 
> I get an XPRA icon in the kicker and attempting to "RAISE WINDOWS" 
> doesn't do anything.
> 
> Trying via TCP type connection
> 
> xpra start --bind-tcp=0.0.0.0:14500 --start=xterm
> 
> Then:
> http://localhost:14500/
> 
> I get a screen asking for user/pass and options... doesn't direct connect.
I think you're hitting the system wide proxy, not the instance you started.
My guess is that your tcp server failed to start because the port was 
already taken.
Try using a different tcp port.

> First it appears that user/passwd are used from those system files to 
> connect, but thats not listed on the WIKI.. as when I try to use an 
> HTML5 client ie firefox.. it didn't connect till I provided user/pass 
> for the user that started xpra..
Then you are definitely hitting the system-wide proxy server.

> STILL didn't connect no xterm window. Or clarifying it CONNECTS session 
> wise.. but NO WINDOW..
"xterm" is not installed, see your annotated log output below.
Just try:
xpra start --start=xterm --attach=yes

> So I decided to move to 20.04 Kubuntu daily testing.. and to use the 
> STANDARD 3.06 REPO version.. NOTE: MUCH MUCH LESS DEPENDENCY LIST 
> HERE...it installed etc.. fine...
> 
> Use the above for a standard setup
> 
> xpra start...
> 
> xpra attach....
> 
> Nothing again.. Except the icon.. "Raise Windows" nothing.
> 
> Session info shows it connected etc.. no window.
> 
> Same with a TCP connection
> 
> I attempted to use a LIVE DVD setup with the KUbuntu Repo.. but due to 
> the testing nature by that time they had started the daily update and 
> Xpra would no longer install from STANDARD REPO due to a conflict.. so I 
> was unable to try in LIVE DVD setup. I can try to see again if they've 
> resolved the dependcy conflict and try a LIVE DVD which would be closer 
> to PHYSICAL hardware v. VM.
> 
> In my VM's .. I can't get anything to work... so hard stop... If I can't 
> get it to work in a virtual environment, it don't get put on physical 
> hardware.
> 
> I am game to spin some more VM's and try.. XPRA PPA or OFFICIAL REPO... 
> maybe the logs below shed some light....
> 
> Looking for any guidance or input to get this work...
> 
> Regressing any further back in disro versions is not really an 
> option...This is for NEW HARDWARE AND BOXES and I'd prefer to use 20.04 
> if possible...  19.10 was a test just for using the OFFICIAL XPRA PPA v. 
> the OFFICIAL REPO... Also I only put on ESR's so 18.04 would be the 
> version I'd have to regress too.. and that only has a 1 year left for 
> updates... So solving this on 20.04 would be my preferred goal and I am 
> not picky really if its the XPRA PPA or DISTRO REPO.. although I would 
> like to see a much much lighter load from the XPRA PPA in re 
> dependencies considering the DISTRO REPO doesn't bring in things like 
> gdm...since I use LightDM on boxes as it support XDMCP.
Don't use the downstream packaging, it's always buggy:
https://xpra.org/trac/wiki/Packaging/DistributionPackages
The number one support request we get is that something doesn't work 
with the Ubuntu or Debian packages, which is usually solved by using a 
supported version.
Ubuntu Focal packages will start appearing in the next few weeks, 
starting with the beta repository.

> 
> Thanks.
> 
> Here is some log info:
> 
> xpra attach log:
(..)
> :100.log
(..)
> 2020-02-22 21:34:01,306 Error: cannot find the html web root
> 2020-02-22 21:34:01,306  '/usr/share/xpra/www' does not exist
You're using the Ubuntu package, which does not include the html5 client.
Or you removed the "xpra-html5" package.
(..)
> 2020-02-22 21:34:01,653 Warning: failed to load the mdns publisher
> 2020-02-22 21:34:01,656  No module named 'avahi'
> 2020-02-22 21:34:01,656  either install the 'python-avahi' module
> 2020-02-22 21:34:01,656  or use the 'mdns=no' option
No mdns support in this installation.
> 2020-02-22 21:34:02,454 Warning: webcam forwarding is disabled
> 2020-02-22 21:34:02,455  the virtual video directory 
> '/sys/devices/virtual/video4linux' was not found
> 2020-02-22 21:34:02,455  make sure that the 'v4l2loopback' kernel module 
> is installed and loaded
No webcam forwarding.
(..)
> 2020-02-22 21:34:16,938 Error parsing xdg menu data:
> 2020-02-22 21:34:16,938  ParsingError in file 
> '/etc/xdg/menus/kde-debian-menu.menu', File not found
> 2020-02-22 21:34:16,938  this is either a bug in python-xdg,
> 2020-02-22 21:34:16,938  or an invalid system menu configuration
That's a bug in Ubuntu's xdg packaging.
> 2020-02-22 21:34:17,047 DPI set to 23 x 25 (wanted 96 x 96)
> 2020-02-22 21:34:17,050  you may experience scaling problems, such as 
> huge or small fonts, etc
> 2020-02-22 21:34:17,050  to fix this issue, try the dpi switch, or use a 
> patched Xorg dummy driver
You're not using xpra's packages, so you can expect DPI issues.

> 2020-02-22 21:34:17,787 Warning: lpinfo command is taking too long,
> 2020-02-22 21:34:17,787  is the cups server running?
> 2020-02-22 21:34:17,788 Warning: lpinfo command failed and returned -15
> 2020-02-22 21:34:17,789  command used: '/usr/sbin/lpinfo 
> --make-and-model Generic PDF Printer -m'
> 2020-02-22 21:34:17,790 printer forwarding enabled using postscript and pdf
No printing support?

> 2020-02-22 21:34:18,010 Error spawning child 'xterm':
> 2020-02-22 21:34:18,011  [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'xterm'
*******************************************
Here's your problem: xterm is not installed.
*******************************************

> 2020-02-22 21:34:18,017 Warning: cannot watch for application menu 
> changes without pyinotify:
> 2020-02-22 21:34:18,042  No module named 'pyinotify'
> 2020-02-22 21:34:18,095 Error parsing xdg menu data:
> 2020-02-22 21:34:18,095  ParsingError in file 
> '/etc/xdg/menus/kde-debian-menu.menu', File not found
> 2020-02-22 21:34:18,095  this is either a bug in python-xdg,
> 2020-02-22 21:34:18,095  or an invalid system menu configuration
(..)