GCG/Seqlab and X-Win32 on Windows

(Linux/Unix instructions)

(Simplified X-Win32 instructions)

  1. Adding an X-Host

    1. X-Win32 4.x - run X-Util32 to add an 'XHost'

      Enter 'cache.ucr.edu' in the top box and click the 'Add' button (followed by 'Ok')

    2. X-Win32 5.x - run X-Config to add an 'XHost'

      After you start X-Win32... you should see an 'X' icon in the system tray. Right-click on the 'X' and select 'X-Config' in the menu. In the dialog that follows, select the 'Security' tab... and click the 'Add' button.

      Type 'cache.ucr.edu' in the 'Add X-Host' box that pops up... and click 'OK' or hit the return key. You should now see 'cache.ucr.edu' in the 'X-Host list'. Click the 'Apply' button and then 'OK' to close the dialog.

       

  2. Connecting to cache with PuTTY

    3. You *can* connect to cache with Telnet... but I recommend downloading 'PuTTY' and using 'ssh' (secure shell - similar to telnet, but the communications are encrypted for security)

    PuTTY is a free download available from http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/ - it's probably convenient to just save it to your Windows desktop.

    If you're going to use PuTTY fairly often... you probably want to save the information for 'cache' so you don't have to type it every time. Enter 'cache.ucr.edu' in the hostname box, select the 'SSH' radio button, and you should see the 'Port' value change to 22.

    To save the session information for cache... enter 'cache.ucr.edu' again in the 'Saved Sessions' box and click on the 'Save' button.

    Now you can just double-click on the 'cache.ucr.edu' in the 'Saved Sessions' list to open a connection to cache.

    PuTTY/ssh works just like telnet for logging into your account on cache -

    If you happen to make an error typing... and the backspace key doesn't seem to work correctly (^? or ^H shows up instead) - you might want to use the 'stty' command to assign the 'erase' value to '^?' or '^H' accordingly.

    The '?' has a special meaning to the shell... so you need to put ^? in single quotes or you'll get an error from the stty command.

    If you really messed up... and just want to erase the line you are typing... and start over - you can also use <Ctrl>-U (Control key + U key)

    If you'd like to clear the screen... you can type 'clear'

    To run gcg/seqlab, you'll want to start up X-Win32 if you don't already have it open. If you're using X-Win32 4.x.x - you should see an X-Win32 button on the Windows taskbar once you have it running. If you're using X-Win32 5.x - you should see an 'X' icon in the system tray.

    Now you need to do a few more things in your PuTTY window before you can start the gcg and seqlab.

    First, you'll need to set the DISPLAY variable on cache... so that it knows where to send the graphical information from gcg. The command you need is in the following form:

    If you don't know the IP address of your Windows machine... you can check it with the 'winipcfg' utility at a DOS/command prompt or by checking the TCP/IP properties for your network card. One way to launch a DOS prompt is shown below... if you can't find it in your Windows program menus.

    [winipcfg_1.jpg]

    [winipcfg_2.jpg]

    In theory... gcg and seqlab *should* work from this point - but Windows and/or X-Win32 seem to have problems with these particular programs for reasons I still don't understand - so I added a couple of extra steps as a workaround.

    (Extra 'ssh' step for Windows machine running X-Win32)

    You'll need to 'ssh' to cache once more from your existing connection to cache in the PuTTY window. You'll probably get a message like 'Host key not found from the list of known hosts'... followed by a yes/no question to confirm that you want to continue connecting (type 'yes' and hit the enter key) You should only see this question the very first time you 'ssh' to cache from your account.

    (I'll just clear the screen to make the final steps easier to read)

    (end of extra 'ssh' step for Windows machine running X-Win32)

    You want to start 'seqlab' as a background process relative to the terminal (the '&' after a command will do this)

    You should see the graphical SeqLab window show up on your desktop momentarily...

    You can click on the 'Ok' button to dismiss the welcome banner... and use the program as normal, pointing and clicking to access menus, etc...

    After you are done using seqlab... you'll need to 'exit' your cache account twice... since you logged into your account an extra time with 'ssh'. Don't type the 'logout' command shown on the terminal below - it is just a result of typing the first 'exit' command.