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Charon-SSP


Graphics Configuration

(warning) Not applicable to Charon-SSP/4V(+).

Contents


Please note:

  • The graphical performance depends on many parameters, for example, the performance of host system, emulated system, and network. 
    One important requirement is that the round-trip time of the network connection between display device and emulated Solaris system running on the AWS instance should not be more than 20ms. 
    For every use case, a test is required to evaluate the suitability for the specific customer environment.
  • If the integrated SSH tunnel of the Charon-SSP Manager is used, the ports used for mouse and keyboard events are redirected through the tunnel. The remote port is not redirected. Therefore, in such situations firewalls and security groups must allow the port. If a VPN connection is used to communicate with the Charon host and guest in the AWS environment, all connections can be routed through the VPN (see SSH VPN - Connecting Charon Host and Guest to Customer Network).

Configuration Steps in Charon-SSP Manager

To view or change the current graphics emulation configuration, select Graphics in the left-hand pane of the Settings window.

This opens the graphics configuration window. As shown below, the graphics emulation is disabled by default:


To enable it, select a graphics card type from the drop-down menu. Possible values are

  • CGSIX or CGTHREE on Charon-SSP/4M

  • CGSIX or Rage XL on Charon-SSP/4U(+)

The CGTHREE adapter is a graphic adapter with frame buffer; the CGSIX adapter is a graphic adapter with frame buffer and 2D acceleration, the Rage XL is a graphic adapter with frame buffer, 8MB Memory, and 2D acceleration.



The following image shows the options on a SUN-4U system:

To start configuring a graphics device, select one of the supported graphics options.

This opens the configuration window as shown in the Charon-4U example below:



The following table describes the graphics configuration options:

Virtual machine graphics configuration fields

Field

Description

Type

Selection of supported graphics options:

  • CGSIX or CGTHREE on Charon-SSP/4M

  • CGSIX or Rage XL on Charon-SSP/4U(+)

  • Disabled

Screen

Number of screens:

  • Single: use one screen

  • Dual: use two screens

Location for displaying the graphics output:

  • Local: disabled for Charon-SSP AWS, only remote display is possible.

  • Remote: graphics output is displayed on a remote system

Display

Defines the DISPLAY variable to be used by the graphics output. The default value is “:0.0” (display 0 screen 0). This value has to be set to match the display configuration on the system where the graphics output is to be displayed.

If a dual screen configuration is selected, two display variables can be defined.

Remote port

Defines the port(s) to which a Charon-SSP Manager on a remote system connects to display the graphics output of the guest system. The default value is 11100 for a single screen configuration. For a dual screen configuration, the default ports are 11100 and 11101. Only relevant for remote screen configurations. The ports must be unique on the host system.

Console

Defines whether the graphical device should act as the console of the guest system.

  • ON: the graphics device is the system console of the guest system (default). In this case, the serial console window in Charon-SSP Manager is not available.

  • OFF: the serial console in Charon-SSP Manager or an external serial console is used.

Mouse port

Port for transmitting mouse event data. Default 11001. The port must be unique on the host system.

Keyboard port

Port for transmitting keyboard event data. Default 11000. The port must be unique on the host system.

Keyboard layout

The appropriate keyboard layout can be selected from the drop-down menu.

The META key of the Solaris keyboard is mapped to the Windows key on the PC keyboard.

Resolution

The appropriate resolution can be selected from the drop-down menu.

CG3 supports 800 x 600, 1024 x 768 and 1152 x 900;

CG6 and Rage XL support 1024 x 768, 1152 x 900, 1280 x 1024, and 1600 x 1280.

Full screen

If set to ON, the emulated graphics device will start in full-screen mode. Best results are achieved if the resolution of the host system display matches the resolution of the emulated device. To toggle between full-screen and normal mode during operation use the key combination CTRL+SHIFT+F after clicking into the window to give it focus.

Refresh rate

The refresh rate for the graphical output can be set to a value between 20 and 100. Charon-SSP/4U(+) only.

Mouse and keyboard capture and release:

  • When you click into the graphics device window, it will capture mouse and keyboard.

  • To release mouse and keyboard press LEFT-CTRL+ESC.

Use the toggle key combination (CTRL+SHIFT+F) to switch between normal window mode and full-screen mode (first click into the graphics window to make sure it has focus).


Configuration Steps in Host and Guest Systems

In addition to configuring the graphics emulation in the Charon-SSP Manager, there are several prerequisites:

Virtual machine graphics configuration fields

Field

Description

Host system

Ensure that the required ports for display, mouse, and keyboard events are not blocked by a firewall or the security group.

Solaris guest

  • Ensure that the required drivers (SUNWcg6*, SUNWdfb*, SUNWm64*) are installed on the system. They are part of the standard system and are normally installed if the matching devices are found. Should they be missing, the packages can be installed or the drivers can be copied from the installation CD (must be same version and patch level as on Solaris guest). The names of the drivers are cgsix, cgthree, and m64.

  • After configuring the graphical device or changing the configuration between single and dual screen configurations, reboot the system with the boot <device> -r option to create the correct device special files and the /dev/fb* links that point to these devices.

  • If the Solaris graphical user interface is to be used on the device, ensure that

    • /usr/openwin/bin is in the path of the user,

    • dtlogin is enabled at system start (e.g., on Solaris 2.6: /usr/dt/bin/dtconfig -e)

  • Ensure that the X-server starts on the correct fb device (default /dev/fb). Otherwise, it may fail with the message that the device does not exist. If such a problem occurs, perform the following steps:

    • Create the directory /etc/dt/config.

    • Copy /usr/dt/config/Xservers into /etc/dt/config.

    • Modify the X-server start line to contain the correct /dev/fb* line. You can find the existing framebuffer device links using ls -l /dev/fb*. Sample line in the Xservers file:
      :0 Local local_uid@console root /usr/openwin/bin/Xsun :0 -dev /dev/fb0 ‑nobanner
      If you use a dual monitor configuration, you have to add a second -dev entry. Please note that on Solaris 10 the path for the Xserver is /usr/X11/bin/Xserver.


Once the configuration is correct, the graphical login screen will be shown when the guest system boots:





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