OpenVMS 9.2-1, DecWindows Motif, and SSH on x86

[rjolbrich]

Hello,
I just finished a new initial installation of OpenVMS 9.2-1 on a Windows 10 machine
running VirtualBox. It is somewhat obvious that DecWindows Motif can't run
out of the box since it has no graphics terminal - even though it installs.

I found this posthttps://comp.os.vms.narkive.com/yNfPZd4 ... over-putty
suggesting DecWindows can be run over an SSH connection. The thread is 10 years old. I do
have VcXsrv installed on my machine (mainly for a Windows Subsystem for Linux (Ubuntu) output).
Is this still feasible? Can I do it if the VcXsrv display and VirtualBox and PuTTy are on the same machine?
Or, do I have to SSH from another box? Just as in the OP, I'm not the most experienced.

[sms]

Code: Select all

> [...]  It is somewhat obvious that DecWindows Motif can't run
> out of the box since it has no graphics terminal - even though it
> installs.

   That depends on what you mean by "run DecWindows".  DECwindows (or
the X Window System in general) has two sides: client and server.  The X
_server_ is the side with the graphics (and other user-interface)
hardware.  If your VMS system has no graphics hardware, then you can't
run the DECwindows _server_ on that system.  However, installing
DECwindows also gives you a bunch of client programs:

      dire sys$system:decw*.exe

> [...] I do have VcXsrv installed on my machine [...]

   _Which_ "my machine"?  I'll assume that here you mean your Windows
system.

> [...] Is this still feasible? [...]

   _You_ might know to what your pronouns refer, but not all of your
readers are so confident.

   Is _what_ "still feasible"?  Can you still run the same Windows
software on your Windows system, even when you're running VMS on a
VirtualBox VM on that system?  I don't see why not.

> [...] Can I do it if the VcXsrv display and VirtualBox and PuTTy are
> on the same machine? [...]

   What, exactly, does "it" mean here?  Again, _which_ "machine"?

   What leads you to think that running any of these programs will cause
trouble for any of the others?  Does PuTTy interfere with a Web browser?

   If you run VirtualBox on your Windows system, and create a virtual
machine with it, then you have _two_ machines, the original, real
machine, running Windows, and a new, different, virtual machine, running
whatever you install on it.  VMS, for example.

   There may be some shared hardware (network, storage, ...) between the
original real machine and the new virtual machine, but VirtualBox should
hide enough of that so that you can pretend that the two systems are
essentially independent.  (For example, they have different IP
addresses, don't they?)

   If the two systems are networked in any way which your X software
supports, then you should be able to run an X server  (like, say,
VcXsrv) on one system, and use it to interact with an X (client)
application on some other system (like, say, your virtual VMS system).

   For example, I'd expect something like the following to have some
chance of success (or at least provide some interesting error messages):

   On the VMS system, where "XXX" is the IP address (or a recognized
name which leads to it) of the system with the X server (that is, in
this case, your Windows system):

      $ set display /node = XXX /transport = tcpip

      $ run sys$system:DECW$PUZZLE.EXE

   You might also need to tell the X server (VcXsrv) to accept
connections from the VMS system.  (In the old days, something like an
"xhost" command was popular, but I assume that VcXsrv has some GUI where
you can do this.)

   So far as I know, the current SSH software on V9.2-1 can't handle X
forwarding, but if all this stuff is on your own LAN, I don't see a big
security problem with this simple scheme.

> [...] Or, do I have to SSH from another box?

   If you want to run a VMS program (like, say, DECW$CLOCK.EXE) on your
VMS system, then you might want to be logged in someway to that VMS
system.  Whether you use SSH or some other method to get logged in there
is up to you.

[marty.stu]

Hi all,

Please read the following statement regarding DECwindows in order not to spend time on the feature that most likely will not work for you: viewtopic.php?f=37&t=8601&p=19293

[rjolbrich]

Thanks for the info marty,

I went ahead and confirmed the behavior from the OP
of the thread that you posted. I did not do anything else
thanks to your warning. I'm sure there are others who
would like to see a functional session.

[rjolbrich]

More info,
As a new OpenVMS user I "discovered" the options menu
on the DecWindows login screen and now I can run the
"old" DecWindows system on the X server. It's much more
functional - multiple windows, some apps, menus, etc.
I'll digest it over the next several days.

[mike632t]

X11 and X11 forwarding won't work however it is possible to redirect the X11 session over ssh (not quite the same thing).

This post may help.