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ThinLinc 4.8.0 Release Notes

Introduction

Cendio are proud to present ThinLinc 4.8.0, with more than 70 enhancements and fixes! The most prominent changes are:

  • The platform requirements for Windows has been raised for both ThinLinc Clients and Windows Remote Desktop Services. The minimum requirement is now Windows 7 for the ThinLinc Client and Windows 2008 for Windows Remote Desktop Services.
  • The ThinLinc Master and Agent services has been optimized for better performance in clusters with a high number of concurrent users.
  • Many improvements and bug fixes has been made to the ThinLinc Web Access client.

ThinLinc works on most modern Linux distributions. We recommend that you deploy ThinLinc on one of these tested platforms:

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 7 (x86_64)
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 (x86_64)
  • Ubuntu Desktop 16.04 LTS (x86_64)

Please note that ThinLinc is supported on any platform that fulfills our documented requirements. This includes Oracle Linux, Linux Mint, and Debian.

Changes in This Release

In the list below, the bug number is given in parentheses. For more information, visit https://www.cendio.com/bugzilla/.

General

  • The number of free licenses has been changed from 10 to 5 concurrent users per organization. As before, the full product functionality is provided even with the free licenses. (6194)
  • A minor graphics performance boost for both ThinLinc Server and ThinLinc Native Clients has been achieved by ways of an updated libjpeg-turbo library. (5812)
  • X.509 certificates that include a BIT STRING type field in their distinguished name are now usable in ThinLinc. (5805)
  • GnuTLS has been upgraded to version 3.5.6. (6038)
  • Nettle has been upgraded to version 3.3. (6039)
  • libtasn1 has been upgraded to version 4.9. (6040)
  • OpenSSH has been upgraded to version 7.3p1. (6041)
  • OpenSSL has been upgraded to version 1.0.2j. (6042)
  • Code signatures for Windows programs are now using SHA-2 file digests. (5879)

Server

  • ThinLinc sessions are no longer discarded if the ThinLinc Agent server hosting them is unavailable for an extended period of time. These sessions will now be marked as unreachable. When a user attempts to reconnect to an unreachable session, they are offered a choice between waiting for the Agent server to become available again, or to abandon the unreachable session, allowing a new user session to be created. (5476)
  • The ThinLinc Master now verifies all sessions on a ThinLinc Agent at once, instead of verifying each session individually. This reduces resource usage on ThinLinc Master and Agent servers with many concurrent users. (5489, 6142)
  • A problem logging in on systems with a high number of active network connections has been solved. Because of this, the ThinLinc server now requires the "ss" utility program. (6125)
  • The ThinLinc server no longer relies on the deprecated "netstat" utility program. (5982)
  • Multiple issues with shadowing has been identified and addressed. (2809, 5173, 5174, 5722)
  • A ThinLinc profile for the LXDE desktop environment has been added. (4968)

Native Client

  • A malicious VNC server could initiate two different buffer overflows in the vncviewer component of the ThinLinc Client. These have been fixed. [CVE-2017-5581] (6141, 6165)
  • The platform requirements for the ThinLinc Client on Windows has been raised. The minimum requirement is now Windows 7. (5360)
  • Support for the "armel" processor architecture has been dropped. This includes clients for eLux RT, IGEL IZ1 and Dell Wyse-Enhanced Ubuntu Linux. Note that "armhf" is still supported. (6183)
  • The ThinLinc Client on macOS did not respond to attempts to close the session window if it was handling frequent graphics updates at the same time. This has been fixed. (5495)
  • The ThinLinc Client on macOS will now have it's user interface presented in high resolution on high DPI/Retina screens. (6079)

ThinLinc Web Access

  • A security issue was fixed where a malicious page could connect to the ThinLinc server if ThinLinc Web Access was used in the same web browser. Access to the session was however still protected. (6157)
  • A vulnerability in ThinLinc Web Access where a malicious ThinLinc server could inject arbitrary HTML into ThinLinc Web Access by setting the desktop title has been fixed. (6135)
  • ThinLinc Web Access now uses double buffering to reduce graphical artifacts, often called "tearing", on screen updates. (5611, 6138)
  • The control bar of ThinLinc Web Access can now be moved between the right and left side of the screen. (6126)
  • ThinLinc Web Access can now use a touch screen and a regular mouse/touch pad at the same time. (5983)
  • Horizontal scroll events are now sent properly. In earlier releases, they were translated to vertical scroll events. (5480)
  • ThinLinc sessions that are larger than the browser window in Safari on macOS 10.10 or later and in Internet Explorer will now have scrollbars. Earlier releases lacked scrollbars in these cases. This made it impossible to use the entire session in Safari and forced users to use panning mode in IE. (5858, 6053)
  • The server certificate recommendations and instructions in our documentation have been changed for iOS users. (6232, 6233)

Administration

  • The "Number of users" field for Agent servers, presented in the System load table in ThinLinc Web Administration, was off by two. This has been fixed. (6167)

Windows Integration

  • The platform requirements for Windows has been raised for Windows Remote Desktop Services. The minimum requirement is now Windows 2008. (5597)
  • Support for font smoothing (ClearType) has been added to the Windows Integration components of ThinLinc. (3331)

Configuration Changes

New

  • The parameter /vsmagent/listen_port has been added to the /opt/thinlinc/etc/conf.d/vsmagent.hconf configuration file. In earlier releases, this parameter was documented in the ThinLinc Administrators Guide but not present in the file. (5907)
  • The folder /profiles/lxde has been added to /opt/thinlinc/etc/conf.d/profiles.hconf as part of the new LXDE profile. (4968)

Modified

  • The default value of /profiles/order parameter in the /opt/thinlinc/etc/conf.d/profiles.hconf configuration file now includes lxde. (4968)

A complete configuration reference can be found in the ThinLinc Administrators Guide.

Corrected Issues

ThinLinc has also been enhanced in many other ways. The complete list of corrected issues is:

1131, 2679, 2680, 2700, 2755, 2809, 2853, 3331, 4590, 4968, 5173,
5174, 5297, 5309, 5360, 5476, 5480, 5489, 5495, 5573, 5597, 5605,
5610, 5611, 5708, 5722, 5794, 5805, 5812, 5817, 5857, 5858, 5879,
5907, 5949, 5952, 5965, 5982, 5983, 5989, 6007, 6038, 6039, 6040,
6041, 6042, 6053, 6079, 6084, 6085, 6094, 6106, 6125, 6126, 6132,
6135, 6136, 6137, 6138, 6139, 6141, 6142, 6153, 6157, 6160, 6164,
6165, 6167, 6168, 6169, 6175, 6183, 6194, 6219, 6232, 6233
ThinLinc is a registered trademark of Cendio AB.
Debian is a registered trademark of Software in the Public Interest, Inc.
Dell and Wyse are registered trademarks of Dell Inc.
eLux is a registered trademark of UniCon Software GmbH.
IGEL is a registered trademark of IGEL Technology GmbH
Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.
Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation.
macOS is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.
Red Hat is a registered trademark of Red Hat, Inc.
SUSE is a registered trademark of SUSE LLC.
Ubuntu is a registered trademark of Canonical Ltd.
Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft, Inc.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Contact Cendio support team at support@cendio.com. And refer to your ThinLinc Subscription ID in your support request.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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. 

  • 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.

  • Other set-ups are possible for bigger deals. Contact sales@cendio.com.

  • 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

     

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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

  • 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

  • A specific version of ThinLinc is supported 3 years from release date. After 3 years, Cendio can’t guarantee support.

  • 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.

  • 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

  • You need to buy user licenses and install them in the ThinLinc server. The user licenses are received through buying ThinLinc subscriptions.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • It’s possible to merge existing agreements. When doing a merge, the period shall be at least 12 months.

  • 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.

  • The client software packages are free of charge.

  • The ThinLinc license is perpetual and will still work after the expiry date of the ThinLinc subscriptions.

     

  • 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.

  • ThinLinc is free to use for up to 10 concurrent users for both individuals and organizations (on a group basis).

  • 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.

  • ThinLinc Premium Subscription gives prioritized answers, faster response time, and direct access to our qualified technical support via telephone service.

  • 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.

  • 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.

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