9. Using PC-BSD®¶

9.3.1. Kodi¶

Kodi, formerly known as XBMC, is a GPL-licensed software media player and entertainment hub for digital media. It can play most audio and video formats, CDs and DVDs from a disk or image file, and even files inside ZIP and RAR archives. It can scan all of your media and automatically create a personalized library with album covers, descriptions, and fan art.

To install Kodi, use AppCafe®. Click “App Search” and search for “pcbsd-meta-kodi”. Once installed, an entry for “Media Center” should be added to the “Multimedia” section of the application menu of your desktop. You can also start Kodi by typing kodi from a command prompt.

If you have never used Kodi before, take some time to skim through the Kodi Wiki Manual. The Turn PC-BSD into a home theater forum post contains a quick how-to for configuring Kodi.

9.3.2. PlexHome Theater¶

Plex Home Theater is a centralized media playback system. The central Plex Media Server streams media to many Plex player Apps which are used to view your media library and watch shows.

To install PlexHome Theater, use AppCafe®. Click the box “Search all available software” and search for “plexhometheater”. Once installed, an entry should be added to the “Multimedia” section of the application menu of your desktop. You can also start this application by typing plexhometheater from a command prompt.

Once installed, an entry for “Plex Home Theater” will also be added to the login manager so that you can login directly to the home theater instead of a desktop.

The first time you run or log into Plex Home Theater, a wizard will check your audio settings and sign into your Plex account. If you do not have a Plex account yet, create one at plex.tv. The wizard will give you a PIN code and an URL to enter the code. Once you enter the PIN, the wizard will connect and sign you in. You can now search for and watch media. To exit Plex, click the “<” then “Quit”.

9.5.1. Running Steam¶

Wine can be configured to install and run Steam games. Video instructions can be found at Steam on PC-BSD - How to Get Wine Running 3D Games and at Steam on PCBSD 2 - Using Wine as a Streaming Client.

9.6.1. Connecting with KRDC¶

KRDC can be used to initiate a connection request. This application can be installed using AppCafe® Check the “Search all available software” box within the “App Search” tab to install this package.

To launch this application, go to Applications ‣ Internet ‣ Remote Desktop Client within KDE or type krdc at the command line within any desktop. If you click F1 while in KRDC you can access the Remote Connection Desktop Handbook to learn more about how to use this application.

Figure 9.6.1: Creating a Connection Using KRDC shows the initial KRDC screen which allows you to specify which system you wish to connect to.

Use the drop-down menu to indicate whether the remote system is using RDP or VNC for the connection. Then type in the IP address of the system you wish to connect to. If you are connecting to a VNC system, the IP address needs to be followed by a colon and a number indicating the number of the session. Typically, the number will be 1 unless the VNC server is hosting multiple simultaneous connections. Once you press enter, the connection will be initiated and, if it is an RDP connection, you will see the screen shown in Figure 9.6.2: Settings for the RDP Connection.

Here is a quick overview of the settings:

Desktop resolution: since the contents of the screen are sent over the network, select the lowest resolution that still allows you to see what is happening on the other system. If you have a very fast network connection, you can choose a higher resolution; if you find that the other system is very slow to refresh its screen, try choosing a lower resolution.

Color depth: choose the lowest color depth that allows you to see the other system; you can choose a higher color depth if the network connection is fast.

Keyboard layout: this drop-down menu allows you to select the desired keyboard layout.

Sound: this drop-down menu allows you to choose whether any sounds heard during the connection are produced on this system, the remote system, or to disable sound during the connection.

Performance: select the option that best matches the network speed to the remote host. Choices are “Modem”, “Broadband”, or “LAN”.

RemoteFX: check this box if the remote system supports RemoteFX and hardware acceleration is desired.

Share Media: specifies a mount point for data to be shared between the systems.

Console login: if you are connecting to a Unix-like system, you can check this box if you wish to have access to the other system’s command line console.

Extra options: allows you to specify rdesktop switches that are not covered by the other options in this screen.

Show this dialog again for this host: if you plan on using the same settings every time you connect to this computer, you can uncheck this box. If you need to change the settings at a later time, you can right-click the connection (which will appear in a list as a past connection) and choose “Settings” from the right-click menu.

Remember password: KWallet is KDE’s password storage system. If this box stays checked, you will only need to input the password the first time you make this connection as it will be saved for you. If this is the first time you have stored a password using KWallet, it will prompt you for some information to set up your wallet.

If it is a VNC connection, you will be able to choose your connection type (speed), screen resolution, and have the option to remember the password.

Once you press “OK”, the connection should be initiated and you will receive pop-up messages asking for a username then a password; the details you provide must match a user account on the system you are connecting to. Once your authentication details are confirmed, you should see the desktop of the other system. If you move your mouse, it will move on the other desktop as well. Click the “View Only” button in the top toolbar whenever you wish to disable this mouse behavior. When you are finished your session, you can click the “Disconnect” button in the top toolbar.

9.6.2. Connecting with VNC¶

If you prefer to use VNC for the connection, use AppCafe® to install a VNC client such as TightVNC. Before using the VNC client, ensure that the VNC server is installed and running on the remote desktop.

Once TightVNC is installed, type vncviewer to start the VNC client. A small window will appear, allowing you to type in the IP address of the remote system in the format IP_ADDRESS:5801. Change the 5801 if the VNC server is listening on a different port.

9.6.3. Using Desktop Sharing¶

If you wish another user to connect to your computer, the KDE Desktop Sharing application can be used to generate a connection invitation The krfb application can be installed using AppCafe®. Check the “Search all available software” box within “App Search” to search for this application.

To launch this application within KDE, go to Applications ‣ Internet ‣ Desktop Sharing or type krfb from the command prompt of any desktop. If you press F1 while in this application, it will open the Desktop Sharing Handbook where you can learn more about using this utility. Figure 9.6.3: Initiating a Connection Request Using krfb shows the initial screen for this application.

To share your desktop, check the box “Enable Desktop Sharing”. This will activate the “Connection Details” portion of this screen. If you click the blue icon next to the “Address”, a pop-up menu will indicate that this is just a hint and that the remote user should use the IP address for your computer. If you wish, you can click the icon next to the “Password”. This will activate that field so that you can change the generated password to the one you want to use for the session. Be sure to reclick the icon to save the new password.

Once you have checked the box to “Enable Desktop Sharing”, contact the other person to let them know the password and IP address so that they can connect. The most secure way to convey the invitation information is through an alternate communications channel such as a phone call. Ideally, you are speaking to the other person as they connect so that you can walk them through the problem you are experiencing and they can let you know what they are doing to your system as you watch them do it.

The other person should input the IP address and password into their VNC client in order to start the connection. You will know when they try to connect as a pop-up message will appear on your screen similar to Figure 9.6.4: The Other User is Trying to Connect Using the Invitation.

In this example, a computer with an IP address of 192.168.1.111 is trying to connect. Buttons are provided to either accept or refuse the connection. You can also check or uncheck the box to “allow remote user to control keyboard and mouse”. If you accept the connection, the other user will be prompted to input the invitation password. Once the password is accepted, they will see your desktop.

9.7.1. PXE Boot Desktop Server¶

A PC-BSD® PXE Boot Desktop Server allows you to automatically configure a Diskless node where each computer has a network interface card capable of Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) booting. When a client boots from their network interface instead of their hard disk, they automatically connect to the PXE Boot Desktop Server and receive a login window. Once authenticated, they can use PC-BSD®, even if PC-BSD® is not installed on their own computer and even if their computer does not have a hard drive.

To prepare your PC-BSD® system for a PXE Boot Desktop Server configuration, perform these tasks first:

1. If the diskless clients will require Internet access, install two network cards where one NIC is connected to the Internet and the other is connected to a private LAN from which the thin clients can PXE boot from.
2. The PC-BSD® system should have lots of RAM installed, especially if multiple clients will be connecting.

To configure the PC-BSD® system as a PXE Boot Desktop Server, run the following script as the superuser:

pc-thinclient
/usr/local/bin/pc-thinclient will install the components to convert this system into a thin-client server.
Continue? (Y/N) y
Do you wish to install the dhcpd server port or use an external server?
If you wish to use an external server please make sure it supports adding next server and bootfile name options.
(d/e)

If you wish to have the PC-BSD® system act as the DHCP server, type d. If the network already has a configured DHCP server, type e. The following example will install the DHCP server on the PC-BSD® system. After making your selection, press enter to continue:

Do you wish to make this a remote X desktop server or install server?
(r/i) r

If your intent is to install a PXE Boot Desktop Server, input r and press enter. If you previously typed d and a DHCP server is not already installed, it will be installed for you. Once the DHCP server is installed, the tools needed in the PXE environment will be installed and messages will indicate the progress. Once everything is installed, you will see this message:

Setting up system for PXE booting...
What NIC do you wish DHCPD to listen on? (I.E. re0)
nic) em0

Input the FreeBSD device name of the interface that is attached to the local network containing the diskless workstations. This interface will run the DHCP server and should not be connected to a network with another DHCP server running. In the example shown here, the user has input the em0 interface. If you are unsure of the device name, type ifconfig from another terminal.

The script will now configure the specified interface and start the required services:

Starting /etc/rc.d/nfsd...OK
Starting /etc/rc.d/inetd...OK
Starting /usr/local/etc/rc.d/isc-dhcpd...OK
You will need to reboot the system for the login manager changes to take effect.
Your system is now setup to do PXE booting!

Before rebooting, you may wish to customize the installation.

The installation creates a chroot directory that contains a small PXE image that is used by clients to launch Xorg and connect to the PXE Boot Desktop Server. You can access this chroot by typing this command as the superuser:

chroot /usr/home/thinclient

Running pkg info within the chroot will show which X components and drivers are available. Should you need to install additional video drivers, use pkg install within the chroot. When you are finished using the chroot, type exit to leave it.

The thin client script installs and configures the following services:

NFS: the Network File System is a protocol for sharing files on a network. It has been configured to allow clients on the network attached to the interface that you specified to connect to the thin client server. Its configuration file is located in /etc/exports.

TFTP: the Trivial File Transfer Protocol is a light-weight version of FTP used to transfer configuration or boot files between machines. The PXE network cards on the diskless computers will use TFTP to receive their configuration information. This service was enabled in /etc/inetd.conf with a home directory of /usr/home/thinclient.

DHCP: the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol is used to configure IP addressing info on the diskless workstations. If you selected to install a DHCP server, it will be configured to assign addresses for the network attached to the interface that you specified. Its configuration file is located in /usr/local/etc/dhcpd.conf.

The thin client script also creates the pxeboot user with the default password thinclient. This username and password is used to save the working Xorg configuration files for each of the diskless computers. It is highly recommended that you change this password right away by running this command as the superuser:

passwd pxeboot

You will also need to create the users that will connect to the system. You can do so using or by typing adduser at the command line and following the prompts.

After a successful installation and reboot of the PXE Boot Desktop Server, the DHCP service will be running on the NIC you specified. Make sure that this NIC and a PXE capable client are connected to the same hub or switch. When you boot up the client, PXE should automatically obtain an IP address and begin to load PC-BSD®. If it does not, review the boot order settings in the BIOS on the client to make sure that PXE is listed first.

After the boot process has finished, the client will be brought to this prompt:

No saved xorg-config for this MAC: <MAC_Address>
Do you wish to setup a custom xorg.conf for this system? (Y/N)

If you wait 10 seconds, this message will timeout, and the client will bring up X in 1024x768 mode. If this is not the resolution that you wish to use, type “Y” at the prompt and hit enter to bring up the Xorg Configuration screen. In this menu, you will be able to setup your own custom xorg.conf file, auto-detect settings, and test the new configuration. When finished, choose “Save working config” to send this configuration to the PXE Boot Desktop Server. This will prompt for the password of the pxeboot user. Once authenticated, the file will be saved by the client’s MAC address in /home/pxeboot/mnt/xorg-config/<mac>.conf. The next time you boot the client, it will automatically use the saved xorg.conf file and bring the system to the PC-BSD® login screen.

The client’s boot environment is located in /home/pxeboot. This is mounted read-only during the PXE boot process to allow the client to bootup and create an XDCMP connection to the server.

Once logged in to the PXE Boot Desktop Server, using PC-BSD® will be the same as if you had installed PC-BSD® on the client system. You will be able to use to install software and to save and use the files in your home directory.

Use the -remove option if you wish to uninstall the PXE Boot Desktop Server:

pc-thinclient -remove
Removing /usr/home/thinclient

This will remove the PXE environment from the system. If you are finished using the PXE boot services, you can stop them using these commands:

service nfsd stop

service inetd stop

service isc-dhcpd stop

and prevent them from restarting by removing these lines from /etc/rc.conf:

# pc-thinclient configuration
dhcpd_enable="YES"
dhcpd_ifaces="em0"
portmap_enable="YES"
nfs_server_enable="YES"
inetd_enable="YES"
ifconfig_em0="192.168.2.2"

Your interface name and IP address may differ from those in the example. The dhcpd and portmap lines will not exist if you did not install a DHCP server.

9.7.2. PXE Boot Install Server¶

A PC-BSD® PXE Boot Install Server can be used to install PC-BSD®, FreeBSD, or TrueOS® onto computers who connect to the server using PXE. The installations can be interactive or fully automated. The PXE Boot Install Server supports multiple, concurrent installations with the only limiting factor being the server’s disk I/O and the network’s bandwidth.

The installation of the PXE Boot Install Server starts the same way, except this time you select i when prompted:

pc-thinclient
/usr/local/bin/pc-thinclient will install the components to convert this system into a thin-client server.
Continue? (Y/N) y
Do you wish to install the dhcpd server port or use an external server?
If you wish to use an external server please make sure it supports adding next server and bootfile name options.
(d/e) d
Do you wish to make this a remote X desktop server or install server?
(r/i) i

Once the environment is downloaded and configured, you will be asked if you would like to install the web interface:

PC-ThinClient includes a web-interface for client management.
Would you like to install the Apache / PHP packages required?
default: (y)

You will then be prompted to input the interface to be used by the server and then the services will be started:

All the webui files are located in /usr/local/share/pcbsd/pc-thinclient/resources/webui
You will need to configure your web-server to serve this directory.
Please edit the file /usr/local/share/pcbsd/pc-thinclient/resources/webui/config.php to set the user passwords / auth tokens for the site.
Setting up system for PXE booting...
What NIC do you wish DHCPD to listen on? (I.E. re0)
nic) em0
Starting /etc/rc.d/nfsd...OK
Starting /etc/rc.d/inetd...OK
Starting /usr/local/etc/rc.d/isc-dhcpd...OK
To perform system installations, place your custom pc-sysinstall scripts in:
/usr/home/thinclient/installscripts
An example script is provided in the above directory
For unattended installations, save your pc-sysinstall script as:
/usr/home/thinclient/installscripts/unattended.cfg
Your system is now setup to do PXE booting!

Once the PXE Boot Install Server is installed, try to PXE boot a client which is connected to the same network. If the client boots successfully, you will see the installation screen shown in Figure 9.7.1: PXE Boot Installation Menu.

By default, selecting “install” from the boot menu will use the /usr/home/thinclient/installscripts/pc-sysinstall.example script which installs a basic FreeBSD system. In addition to starting an installation, this menu provides an emergency shell prompt. This can be useful if you have a system which can no longer boot and you wish to either access the disk’s contents or attempt to repair the installation.

Any scripts that you create and place in the /usr/home/thinclient/installscripts/ directory will be selectable as an installation option within the PXE client boot menu. Tables 5.5a and 5.5b in summarize the available configuration options when creating an installation script. Alternately, every time you install PC-BSD, the installation script is automatically saved to /root/pc-sysinstall.cfg. This means that if you wish to repeat an installation, you simply need to copy that file to the /usr/home/thinclient/installscripts/ directory on the PXE Boot Install Server.

The PXE Boot Install Server also supports completely unattended installations. To perform fully-automated installations over the PXE interface, create a configuration script named /usr/home/thinclient/installscripts/unattended.cfg. When a PXE client first boots, it checks for the existence of the unattended.cfg file, and if found, it will automatically use it for installation. Some caution should be taken when using this method since simply plugging a PXE boot client into the wrong LAN cable could cause it to be re-installed.

9.8.1. Tor Mode¶

Tor mode uses Tor, socat, and a built-in script which automatically creates the necessary firewall rules to enable and disable tor mode at the user’s request. While in tor mode, the firewall will redirect all outgoing port 80 (HTTP), 443 (HTTPS), and DNS traffic through the Tor transparent proxy network.

To start tor mode, right-click Update Manager and check the “Routing through Tor” box. The pop-up message shown in Figure 9.8.1: Enabling Tor Mode will appear.

If you have never used the Tor network before, it is recommended to read the link for the Tor FAQ. Click “Yes” to enable tor mode and enter your password when prompted so that the firewall rules can be updated for you.

While in tor mode, a small onion will be added to the Update Manager icon and, if you hover over the icon, it will say “(Routing through Tor)”. You can also verify that you are connected to the Tor network by right-clicking Update Manager and clicking “Check Tor connection”. It will take a moment or so, but a pop-up message should indicate that the connection to https://check.torproject.org/ succeeded.

To enable and disable tor mode from the command line or on a desktop that does not provide a system tray, use the following commands:

• sudo enable-tor-mode enables tor mode.
• sudo disable-tor-mode disables tor mode.

9.9.1. GNOME Universal Access¶

GNOME3 provides a “Universal Access” utility for configuring the desktop for accessibility. To open this utility, open “Activities” and search for “Universal Access”. This will open the screen shown in Figure 9.9.1: Universal Access Screen.

The “Seeing” section of this screen has options for assisting users with low vision.

Click “Off” in the “Hearing” section to open a pop-up screen used to enable visual alerts, either to the window title of the current window or the entire screen. The pop-up screen provides a “Test flash” button for testing the settings.

If you click “Off” next to “Typing Assist (AccessX)” in the “Typing” section, it will open the screen shown in Figure 9.9.2: Keyboard and Key Options. “Sticky Keys”, “Slow Keys”, and “Bounce Keys” can be enabled in this screen to assist users with mobility impairments.

If you click the “Off” next to “Click Assist” in the “Pointing and Clicking” section, you can configure a simulated secondary click and a hover click.

More information about the options provided by Universal Access can be found at the GNOME Universal page.

9.9.2. KDE Accessibility Tools¶

To install the KDE accessibility tools, use AppCafe®. Check the “Search all available software” in “App Search” and search for the “kdeaccessibility” package.

The KDE-Accessibility component installs the following software:

• KMag: a screen magnifier. In KDE, this application is in Applications ‣ Utilities ‣ Screen Magnifier or you can type kmag from the command line. Drag the magnifier window over the text you wish to magnify or click its “Settings” button to view the shortcuts for its various modes. Click F1 while the application is open to access the Kmagnifier Handbook.
• KMouseTool: clicks the mouse whenever the mouse cursor pauses briefly. It can also drag the mouse, although this takes a bit more practice. To start this utility in KDE, click Applications ‣ Utilities ‣ Automatic Mouse Click or type kmousetool from the command line. In the screen shown in Figure 9.9.3: Configuring KMouseTool, check the settings you wish to use, click the “Apply” button, then click the “Start” button. If you quit this screen, it will be added to the system tray and will continue to run until you launch its icon and click the “Stop” button.

• KMouth: enables persons that cannot speak to speak through their computer. It keeps a history of spoken sentences from which the user can select to be re-spoken. To start this program, click Applications ‣ Utilities ‣ Speech Synthesizer Frontend or type kmouth from the command line. The first time you run this application, a configuration wizard will prompt you to set the command to use for speaking texts (such as /usr/local/bin/espeak) and the character encoding.