Connecting to a remote Linux server

About this task

The following documentation describes how to install the Remote System Explorer server components on a Linux server.

Prerequisites

Both Perl and Java™ 1.4 must be in your path. To test for Perl, run the following command from a command shell:
perl-V
To test the Java version, run the following command from a command prompt:
java -version
If you receive a "command not found" message, then create a symbolic link to the Java command in /usr/bin by running the following command:
ln -s  jdk_installation_directory /jre/bin/java  /usr/bin/java

Installing the server code

Complete the following tasks to install the server code:
  1. Create a directory on your remote server where you want to install the server code. The remainder of these instructions assume that directory is /opt/rseserver (suitable for team sharing), but you are free to use any directory.
  2. Find rseserver.jar in

    x:\product directory\SDP70Shared\plugins\com.ibm.etools.systems.universal_version_number\serverruntime\

    on your local workstation, where x:\product directory is the directory where you installed the product.
  3. Copy the file rseserver.jar to the /opt/rseserver directory on your remote server.
  4. On the remote server, open a command prompt and change to the directory where you copied the rseserver.jar file.
  5. To extract the files within the JAR file, run:

    jar -xvf rseserver.jar

    Note: The JAR command is shipped with the JDK and might not be in your path. If you receive a "command not found" message when running the JAR command, then try to qualify the JAR command with the installation directory for the JDK. For example: /opt/IBMJava2-131/bin/jar -xvf rseserver.jar
  6. Complete the following configuration commands:

    dos2unix daemon.linux
    dos2unix server.linux
    chmod 755 server.linux
    chmod 755 daemon.linux
    chmod 755 auth.pl

Starting the server

You can start the server with a daemon, automatically at startup, or manually.

To start the server with the server daemon
  1. Ensure that you are running using the root user ID. (If the daemon is not run under root, it will be unable to authenticate connecting users.) Run the following commands:
    su -l root
    cd /opt/rseserver
    perl ./daemon.linux
Note that the server daemon runs on port 4035.

Running the daemon at startup

You might instead want to configure the daemon to run at start up for Linux. To do so, you need to append a call to the daemon in your startup script. Add the following lines to the bottom of the /etc/rc.d/rc.local file:
cd /opt/rseserver
perl ./daemon.linux

To start the server manually

Run the following commands:
cd /opt/rseserver
perl ./server.linux <port>

These commands run the server.linux script located in the /opt/rseserver directory. If this does not work, try changing the permission attributes on server.linux (for example, enter chmod 755 server.linux). The port parameter to the server.linux script is optional. If you do not specify a port, then the server picks the first one available and prints the port number to standard out. By default, the port number is usually 4033. If you want to use a different port, you need to enter this port number in the Files subsystem properties for your connection in the Remote System Explorer. (See the following section Making a client connection to your remote server in the workbench for information about changing the port number.) Otherwise, you do not need to change this property.

Making a client connection to your remote server in the workbench

Now, you can use the product to make a client connection to a remote server. You perform this task within the workbench integrated development environment. To make a connection to your remote server:
  1. Switch to the Remote System Explorer perspective. From the workbench menu, click Window > Open Perspective > Remote System Explorer.
  2. In the Remote Systems view, New Connection is automatically expanded to display the various remote systems you can connect to through the Remote System Explorer. Expand one of the remote systems listed to invoke the new connection dialog box and configure a connection.
  3. In the Host Name field, enter the name or TCP/IP address of your server. The value you enter in this field is automatically copied into the Connection name field, which displays in the Remote Systems view and is unique to the connection.
  4. (Optional) Enter a Description. The description appears in the Properties view after the connection is created.
  5. Click Finish to define your system.
Attention: To check your port number, right-click your connection or subsystem from the Remote Systems view and select Properties. Click Subsystem to view the relevant information. If your port is "0," then your Remote System Explorer communications server picks any free port on the server. If you specified a port number when starting the server, you need to enter it here, for example, to work with a firewall.

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