Introduction
Cendio is proud to announce the availability of our latest ThinLinc release, version 1.6.0. As with earlier releases, this version includes many new features and as well as corrections. In total, this release contains more than 180 enhancements.
Changes in This Release
For each enhancement, the issue number is given in parenthesis.
Server
- ThinLinc works on most modern Linux distributions and Sun
Solaris (R). This release has been extensively tested on the
following platforms:
- Red Hat (R) Enterprise Linux 5 (Release Candidate)
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 (R), in 64-bit mode
- Ubuntu (R) 6.10
- Sun Solaris (R) 10
- ThinLinc can now be used for free for 1 concurrent user, even for commercial purposes. (2026)
- CrossOver can be configured to automatically assign Windows drive letters for all "personal" mounts, such as ThinLinc local drives. This is done by enabling the tl-crossover-drives script. (1635)
- Dead keys now works correctly with CrossOver, even when using the Windows client. (1983)
- When licenses are about to expire, warning messages are sent to the administrator. (1989)
- The tool tl-memberof-group can determine if a user is a member of the specified group. This makes custom scripting easier. (1992)
- The tool tl-nds-memberof-container can determine if a user is located in a specified Organizational Unit, when LDAP authentication is used. (2320)
Desktop Customizer
Client
- The Windows client now features Local Drive Redirection. This makes it possible to access local hard disks, CD-ROMs, DVDs, USB-drives etc from the server. (316)
- The performance of the local drive redirection has been greatly improved, especially when writing data. (1941)
- The Local Drive Redirection now supports paths containing whitespace. (2339)
- The Windows client supports machine-wide configuration, which provides default settings for the user configuration. (348)
- A native client for Mac OS X is provided, with basic functionality. (410)
- Windows Vista is now a supported client platform. (2046)
- Windows XP Embedded is now a supported client platform. (1822)
- Windows NT 4.0 is no longer a supported client platform. (2264)
- Client packages for all Wyse Linux terminals, such as S50 and V50, are provided. (1874)
- Antivirus verification is disabled by default. (2170)
- Client packages for eLux containers UC_INTEL_P3 and UC_PC are now provided. (1823)
General
- All ISO images includes a cover image, which can be used for creating labels on CD-ROMs using LightScribe or other methods. (2104)
- The UTF-8 encoding of Unicode is used in almost all areas. This includes configuration files, web pages, documentation, and file names. Usernames and passwords in the ThinLinc client are still limited to ASCII, though. (2067)
- ThinLinc has been updated to reflect the name change of the highly successful PolypAudio project, which is now called PulseAudio (http://pulseaudio.org/). (2073)
Novell Integration
- The Linux kernel ncpfs file system has suffered from a problem (http://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=3328) which causes NCP mounts to stop working under certain conditions. Although this is a problem with Linux rather than ThinLinc, Cendio have donated a correction for this problem to the community. (1664)
- ThinLinc now includes software for integrating with the Novell Client for Linux (http://www.novell.com/products/clients/linux/overview.html). The two tools tl-nwlogin and tl-nwlogout features login using the single sign-on mechanism, as well fetching the tree and context from eDirectory automatically. (2310)
- tl-nds-posixuser can optionally create and maintain an alias container, which is required by the Novell Windows Client when using single sign-on over RDP, connecting to a Windows Terminal Server. This means that it is no longer necessary to use the Centralis Lyncx utility. (2135)
- The login shell of users created by tl-nds-posixuser is configurable: it is no longer fixed to /bin/bash. (2151)
- tl-nds-posixuser supports executing a "hook script" before adding posixAccount attributes. (2291)
- tl-mount-ncp mounts with permission 0700 by default, which grants access to the user only. (1901)
Windows (R) Integration
- Microphones and other input devices are now supported with Windows Terminal Servers. The ThinLinc WTS Tools package includes a new sound driver called "tlsnd", which can replace the standard RDP sound driver. (924)
- Sound redirection from Windows Terminal Servers to ThinLinc clients can now be done using the PulseAudio protocol. This provides better responsiveness, for example when stopping playback. (2032)
- SeamlessRDP is now supported on Windows 2000, in addition to Windows 2003. (2012)
- The Linux cifsfs file system is supported, in addition to the earlier smbfs file system. (356)
- The share corresponding to the users home directory can retrieved from Active Directory. This means that no configuration is required to mount the users CIFS home directory using the tl-mount-cifs tool. (1985)
- Authentication against Microsoft Active Directory is now done using Sambas "ADS" security mode, which means that Kerberos is used. (1314)
- When Winbind is used in a cluster, the LDAP idmap backend provides synchronization, replacing the earlier ypserv_nss solution. (1123)
- A single sign-on mechanism for the Citrix ICA Client is now available. (2095, 2115)
- tl-mount-cifs mounts with permission 0700 by default, which grants access to the user only. (1900)
TLCOS
- It is now possible to configure TLCOS to send Ctrl-Alt-Fn keypresses to the server, rather than changing local console. (2325)
- A problem related to changing USB Mass Storage devices has been corrected. (2271)
- On computers with ACPI support, the power button can be used to shut down the terminal. (1870)
Documentation
- The Client Customizer is documented. (1500)
Corrected Issues
ThinLinc has also been enhanced in many other ways. The complete list of corrected issues follows:
316, 348, 356, 410, 924, 1123, 1314, 1345, 1446, 1479, 1488, 1490, 1500, 1515, 1574, 1601, 1603, 1605, 1609, 1612, 1635, 1649, 1659, 1675, 1696, 1706, 1708, 1735, 1756, 1767, 1785, 1790, 1800, 1820, 1822, 1823, 1826, 1840, 1858, 1863, 1869, 1870, 1874, 1877, 1881, 1882, 1885, 1888, 1894, 1895, 1896, 1898, 1900, 1901, 1923, 1935, 1938, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1970, 1983, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2012, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2024, 2025, 2026, 2030, 2032, 2034, 2035, 2038, 2040, 2046, 2049, 2053, 2056, 2066, 2067, 2071, 2073, 2083, 2084, 2089, 2090, 2095, 2096, 2099, 2101, 2104, 2105, 2115, 2118, 2119, 2124, 2128, 2131, 2133, 2135, 2138, 2146, 2148, 2151, 2152, 2170, 2188, 2189, 2191, 2193, 2195, 2199, 2200, 2202, 2204, 2205, 2206, 2223, 2226, 2228, 2229, 2232, 2248, 2249, 2250, 2252, 2259, 2260, 2261, 2263, 2264, 2266, 2271, 2281, 2282, 2284, 2287, 2288, 2291, 2300, 2307, 2310, 2313, 2314, 2318, 2319, 2320, 2325, 2326, 2334, 2335, 2339, 2342, 2353, 2354, 2356, 2360, 2361, 2364, 2367, 2373, 2375, 2390, 2394
Frequently Asked Questions
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ThinLinc is packaged in subscriptions with a tiered pricing system. A higher number of subscriptions will give a lower price. The subscriptions can be purchased for different periods, 12, 36 and 60 month. A longer duration will give a greater price. The payment of the subscriptions is done in advance.
The default rule is that the prices are set in accordance with the number of subscriptions that are purchased at the actual call off. Deviation from this can be eventually agreed if a roll-out plan can be committed in advance.
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Every valid ThinLinc Subscription Agreement has a specific ID. Contact Cendio at support@cendio.com and refer to your ID, and we will issue new user licenses for you.
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Contact Cendio support team at support@cendio.com. And refer to your ThinLinc Subscription ID in your support request.
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We will set up an evaluation account that gives the permission to receive support directly from our technical team. Cendio can also provide trial licenses for more than 10 users. Please contact sales@cendio.com directly.
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Cendio wants to sponsor organizations where the business aims to make the world better. This means to help people, regions etc. that really need help. Please contact us a sales@cendio.com.
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Cendio offers a non-profit discount for organizations that fall under the definitions that can be found at the https://www.cendio.com/thinlinc/shop/non-profit-organization/. Please contact us at sales@cendio.com for pricing.
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Cendio will, in good time before expiration of the ThinLinc Subscriptions Agreement, send a reminder by email. The renewal process will follow the same routines that are used in a new or additional purchase.
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Other set-ups are possible for bigger deals. Contact sales@cendio.com.
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Purchases can be done directly via invoice, web shop or by a reseller. Cendio is a Swedish and EU company with long experience from doing business with foreign organizations. If you have any questions or need support, please contact us at sales@cendio.com
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Best functionality and performance will always be achieved by upgrading to the latest version, both on the server and client-side. A newer version on the client-side will always give a better user experience than a former version. Cendio’s ambition is to keep good compatibility and functionality between the different versions. Historically, good compatibility between versions has been 3-5 years.
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A ThinLinc set-up consists of a server software, client software and user licenses.
Server software
The server software is the heart of ThinLinc installation and handles all sessions, desktop environments and generates the virtual desktop, workspace etc.
User licenses
To allow more than 10 sessions to connect access to the server software, user licenses need to be added into the server software. User licenses are bought from Cendio. Please note, when placing user licenses into the ThinLinc server, the counting starts from 0, not 10. In concrete, this means that you need to buy and install the number of user licenses that you need.
Client software
The client software is installed on the device that is used to connect to the server and provision the virtual desktop / workspace. If using the web access client, no local installation of client software is needed, the provisioning is generated via the web browser that is installed at the server.
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It’s up to the licensee to decide who can connect into the server installation. The ThinLinc client software is free of charge and can be downloaded by everyone.
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The licensing is per organization. There is no limitation on how the ThinLinc user licenses are distributed in the legal organization, as long as the number of consumed licenses don’t exceed the number of paid licenses. It’s allowed to move the user licenses, but not copy.
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The license use can be seen in the status module, how to manage can be found at https://www.cendio.com/resources/docs/tag/tlwebadm_status.html#tlwebadm-status . ThinLinc will notify you when the limit of licenses has been reached, for detailed information see, https://www.cendio.com/resources/docs/tag/licensehandling.html?highlight=soft
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Both the ThinLinc server and client software are free to distribute. The user licenses are connected to a purchase and are not allowed to distribute. For more detailed information, see https://www.cendio.com/thinlinc/docs/legal/eula
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A specific version of ThinLinc is supported 3 years from release date. After 3 years, Cendio can’t guarantee support.
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The number of user licenses that will be delivered will be in accordance with the number of subscriptions that have been acquired by the customer. The user licenses are perpetual.
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When adding user licenses into the ThinLinc server, the counting will start from zero. So if you require 200 users, you need to have 200 user licenses
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You need to buy user licenses and install them in the ThinLinc server. The user licenses are received through buying ThinLinc subscriptions.
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It’s easy to add new users into a current ThinLinc set-up. By purchasing additional subscriptions into your agreement, so will we issue additional user licenses.
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Cendio will, after receiving a valid order, distribute user licenses via email for the latest version after a purchase. If the purchase is a renewal and the customers have already received the latest version, no user licenses will be delivered by default, updated licenses will be delivered on request in this case.
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It’s possible to merge existing agreements. When doing a merge, the period shall be at least 12 months.
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The default rule is that the prices are set in accordance with the number of subscriptions that are purchased at the actual call off. Deviation from this can be eventually agreed if a roll-out plan can be committed in advance.
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The client software packages are free of charge.
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The ThinLinc license is perpetual and will still work after the expiry date of the ThinLinc subscriptions.
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Both as an individual and as an organization, it is not allowed to use the free version of ThinLinc if you have valid user licenses.
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ThinLinc is free to use for up to 10 concurrent users for both individuals and organizations (on a group basis).
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ThinLinc Subscriptions give the possibility to run more than 10 concurrent users per ThinLinc installation. It also gives technical support directly from Cendio and the right to get upgrades (new versions) for ThinLinc.
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ThinLinc Premium Subscription gives prioritized answers, faster response time, and direct access to our qualified technical support via telephone service.
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The free version of ThinLinc is limited to 10 concurrent users and is supported via the ThinLinc Community. The commercial version of ThinLinc is packaged in a so-called subscription and can be scaled for more than 10 users. The subscriptions also give the right to get professional support in ThinLinc directly from the Cendio technical team.
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ThinLinc is free to use up to 10 users at the same time per individual or organization worldwide, without any obligations. The usage can be 10 installations with one user per each or one installation with 10 users. What matters is that the 10 users aren’t exceeded.