Howto: Install Wine applications for Multiple Users

[rsay]

synss,

I was trying to test your technique and I think I'm close. I can run notepad as different users but I am getting the following error when I try to install pokerstars:

err:process:init_windows_dirs directory L"C:\\windows" could not be created, error 2
err:process:init_windows_dirs directory L"C:\\windows\\system32" could not be created, error 3
err:shell:SHGetFolderPathAndSubDirW Failed to create directory L"C:\\windows\\profiles\\ron\\Desktop".

Do you have any idea where I went wrong?

[qmax]

this method will not work for application that want to be single windowed per user.

just like firefox or openoffice.
each instance of such app should be started as separate user.

[rsay]

qmax,

Can you give me some more details about what you mean? I don't think I understand your post.

As described in the first post, this method was derived from techniques that people use to run firefox as a separate (typically unprivileged) user on their regular desktop. If you wish to use it that way, you just wouldn't give anyone else access to that user profile.

Example:
sudo -u qmax_unprivileged -H firefox

[snkiz]

you need to setup fake windows users, I been trying of and on. I don't think wine is equipped to handle that right now as the registry keeps getting over-written when ever I try.

[rsay]

snkiz,

In the original post, you will see that this method does use a fake user called "windows" to host the shared wine installation. Your real users can still use their regular wine installation just like before.

I been trying of and on. I don't think wine is equipped to handle that right now as the registry keeps getting over-written when ever I try.

I wasn't able to tell from your post exactly what you have been trying or why your registry was being overwritten. I am guessing that you are talking about trying to simply symlink the .wine folder between users. That method became depracated some time ago, which is why this workaround/howto was developed.

[snkiz]

No no I meant Iv'e been trying to create windows users under wine. as I have a couple programs that don't like the method described in this thread. I add the users in the reg It all looks like it should work.. but wine she is stubburon. It "corrects" all my changes. I did how ever manage to symlink the menus so they just show up when you install something, and to make life easier I copied the main wine launchers replaced the launch command, and set the new launchers as default to open exe files. All very tidy.

[richfeat]

Hi rsay, many thanks for the posts - works pretty well.
One question ... my .desktop file looks like

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Watchtower Library 2008 - English
Exec=env WINEPREFIX="/home/windows/.wine" sudo -u windows -H wine "C:\\Program Files\\Watchtower\\Watchtower Library 2008\\E\\WTLibrary.exe"
Type=Application
StartupWMClass=Wine
Path=/home/windows/.wine/dosdevices/c:/Program Files/Watchtower/MEPSCommon
Icon=40f6_wtlibrary.0

If I link this into a user's ~/Desktop folder it does work. However the desktop link has a big red X superimposed on it, and when it is clicked a dialogue comes up saying "Untrusted Application Launcher" with only "Launch anyway" or "Cancel" options. The "Untrusted Application Launcher" does work OK, but do you know how to mark the launcher as "trusted"? Also, the desktop does not show the assigned icon, but that may be OK when the launcher has been marked as "trusted". If the app is installed as usual in the user's home directory, the launcher is also flagged up as "Untrusted" - but the dialogue has an extra button allowing it to be marked as "Trusted", and then the correct icon shows up. Eeebuntu 3.01 (Jaunty based?).

Thanks if you can help

[qmax]

(sorry for lat, it's on abandoned mail acc)

RT @rsay:
what i meant is that some application can be launched only once from the same user.
it will resuse to start second instance from the same user.
for instance, if you open 2 x-sesions on different tty, u cannot run firefox on both.
another example is openoffice, and i've met some windows stuff.

RT @reachfeat:
see above comment.
for some app this shortcut will be usable only once
(will not work for second user at the same time, but that's probably not you case unless you have x-terminals)

much better solution is similar to what @synss tell
(and there's more detailed very good HOWTO somewhere on wine wiki):

let each user have each own ~/.wine with user.reg for personal preferences,
and let ~/wine/drive_c be symlinked to shared folder.
(userdef.reg is also good think to be linked)

NOTE:
this folder (/usr/local/wine in @snyss example)
should be readable by all, and writable by admin only (maybe not root)
BUT:
drive_c/windows/temp and probably drive_c/temp should be writable by all - some apps may want to use them.
also, directory drice_c/profiles/ also should be writable for users,
some apps may want to store stuff there and create profile directories.

Finally,
I have sucesfully set up callcenter for about 20 x-terminals to work under ltsp, with kde, firefoxen and wine stuff.
But i had to create separate user account for each terminal and make symlinks as described above.

[rsay]

As I posted in reply #21. I thought that the method synss posted looked quite promising. I tried to implement it the same day it was posted. Unfortunately, it gave me the errors I posted, the first time I tried to install new software. It has two other drawbacks that I don't think I like:

1. I think I lose some control over user access. For example, using synss' technique, how do I set it up so Rosetta stone is installed to a wine shared by my whole family; a finance program is installed to a wine useable only by my wife and I; and a poker program is installed only for me?

2. If I understand synss' technique, I think my wine programs would run with my regular user privileges and not the limited privileges of the windows user. I prefer to run windows programs in their own little sandbox, without giving them access to my data.

I tried to find information on the wine wiki for clarification of synss' method, but I failed. Some posts on the wine forums talk about his method or something similar, without giving a step-by-step guide that I could locate. If I could find a good howto, I would link to it in the first post so people could consider alternatives.

[IkeLewis]

OK, I am trying to do something similar. I have a ton of educational software that I am installing with wine, and it needs to be shared between several users. In this case, a lot of the software is personalized, but it needs to be separate for each user. Could I just copy the .wine directory into each user's home directory?

The only problem I could see with that would be that I would have to mantain each individual user's wine configuration and installations separately.

Does anyone have any thoughts about this idea?