Gnome-rdp (re-post)

[Ed Greshko]

On 07/02/2012 05:43 AM, Christopher A. Williams wrote:
> On Sun, 2012-07-01 at 22:56 +0800, Ed Greshko wrote:
>> On 07/01/2012 09:58 PM, Christopher A. Williams wrote:
>>
>> Look forward to hearing how your test without the VPN work out....
> OK - I was able to test inside the building today. Using my Linux (F17)
> laptop, and getting a DHCP assigned IP address. Ping works to all hosts
> normally, and I am also able to resolve all DNS host names as expected.

I hope you recorded what was in your /etc/resolv.conf at that time.  Frankly, it is
much easier to lend assistance if actual information is given as opposed to words.

For example.....  It really would be beneficial if you'd show something like this....

[egreshko at meimei ~]$ host meimei
meimei.greshko.com has address 192.168.0.18    (This is my F16 box)

[egreshko at meimei ~]$ host winserv
winserv.greshko.com has address 192.168.0.186  (This is my Win2003 server box)

[egreshko at meimei ~]$ cat /etc/resolv.conf
# Generated by NetworkManager
search greshko.com
nameserver 192.168.0.55

[egreshko at meimei ~]$ ping winserv
PING winserv.greshko.com (192.168.0.186) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from winserv.greshko.com (192.168.0.186): icmp_req=1 ttl=128 time=0.394 ms

[egreshko at meimei ~]$ telnet winserv 3389
Trying 192.168.0.186...
Connected to winserv.
Escape character is '^]'.

So, you can see all of my hosts are resolvable via DNS.  I can ping winserv from
meimei using the hostname.  I can telnet to the winserv on port 3389

I can also tell you that I have installed Window 2003 Server and added the role of
"Terminal Server".  The Windows 2003 is running in a Virtual Box VM with the VM
network adapter *Bridged* to the network adapter of meimei (F16).

I used Remmina on meimei and very successfully connected to winserv and got a remote
desktop.  No problems at all.

>
> RDP sessions still fail however. They either connect and hang after a
> few seconds, or they simply don't connect at all. It's exactly the same
> symptoms as when connected via the VPN. Clearly, there's some sort of
> issue with both gnome-rdp and Reminna.

Unfortunately, I don't have a Window 2008 server at the moment that I could try. 
However, I don't think there would be much difference between 2003 and 2008.  So, I
would not jump to any conclusion at the moment.
 
>
>> OK....  When you say the ping works from the Linux system you are using the IP
>> address, right?  I say that since you say the "hostnames are not resolved".   Are you
>> expecting the hostnames to be resolved via DNS?  Are they actually registered in the
>> DNS...or only in the hosts file?
>>
>> I ask this since applications will normally resolve hostnames based on the
>> configuration in /etc/nsswitch.conf.  But, the DNS tools like dig and nslookup ignore
>> nsswitch.conf and go directly to DNS.
>>
>> My nsswitch.conf contains....
>>
>> hosts:      files dns
>>
>> and my /etc/hosts file has a line
>>
>> 192.168.0.18   nickel nickel.greshko.com
>>
>> But nickel is not in the DNS.....
> So, in this case, my nsswitch.conf has files, dns as its entry (which is
> the default).
>
> We're not using local host files for name resolution. Too much work when
> you have a valid DNS server already handling that for you. I generally
> only modify /etc/hosts as a last resort.
>
> So I think there actually are probably two issues here - one with
> Network Manager / vpnc, and the other with RDP sessions in general.
> Again, my Windows clients - both physical systems and VMs - are working
> just fine from both inside the building and via the VPN. It's
> specifically Network Manager and gnome-rdp / Reminna that are having
> issues.
>
> Hope that helps a little more!

I feel this problem should be worked "locally" first without needed to create a VPN
connection.  Better to reduce the number of potential blocks.

In the mean time, I'm going to try and get a Win2008 server up....if I can get the
software. 

But, at the moment, I cannot duplicate your problem.  It "works for me".  It seems to
me, also, that you have 2 issues.  DNS resolution when connected via VPN and Remote
Desktop Connection.


-- 
Never be afraid to laugh at yourself, after all, you could be missing out on the joke
of the century. -- Dame Edna Everage