Running GUI programs on a non-GUI server

[Jgke]

My configuration: A non-GUI server without hardware access, a Windows computer with PuTTY.
I have a Windows-GUI program I want to run in my server using Wine. Possible?

[scott-ian]

I don't think that is possible. What program are you trying to run? There may be a better way. Look at this for simple (sort of GUI) control over a server.
http://www.webmin.com/
PS: It's free!

[Jgke]

It would be a server for one (-98 ) game. Yes, it is a good game ;)

[tordeu]

I don't think it's possible, either. It would probably exit with an exception once it tries to create and display it's GUI.

Does the software not exist without a GUI? Or maybe it's possible to run the software without a GUI (that is possible with some).
It's weird that a server application would need a GUI (although of course, on Windows every server version of the OS does contain a GUI). But maybe check if there is an option to run it without a GUI. That would be the first thing to try.

[Jgke]

I wish there was a non-GUI version of it...
But, the server is run with the same program as the game is played.
I'll mark the thread as 'solved' and try to get a GUI to the server ;)

[scott-ian]

I may have an answer.
See this: http://forum.notebookreview.com/linux-compatibility-software/37741-linux-linux-gui-through-ssh.html

You will need CygWin to use a windows computer.

Note: You would need to install X.org on the server to run a GUI

[tordeu]

Okay, so it might work with cygwin and x.org.

One other solution (which might be easier for a new user) is just to install a complete GUI (or even simpler: just install a desktop edition) on the server and use VNC (if both are connected via LAN).

[Jgke]

Xlib: extension "MIT-SHM" missing on display "localhost:10.0". (this error repeats about 30 times)
fixme:system:SystemParametersInfoW Unimplemented action: 79 (SPI_GETLOWPOWERTIMEOUT)
err:xrender:get_xrender_format_from_color_shifts No XRender format found!
Xlib: extension "MIT-SHM" missing on display "localhost:10.0".
Xlib: extension "MIT-SHM" missing on display "localhost:10.0".
err:wgl:has_opengl Failed to load libGL: libGL.so.1: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
err:wgl:has_opengl OpenGL support is disabled.
err:d3d_caps:WineD3D_CreateFakeGLContext Can't find a suitable iPixelFormat.
err:d3d:InitAdapters Failed to get a gl context for default adapter
fixme:winsock:is_sockaddr_bound don't know how to tell if IPX socket is bound, assuming it is!
ALSA lib ../../../src/seq/seq_hw.c:457:(snd_seq_hw_open) open /dev/snd/seq faile
d: No such file or directory
err:xrender:get_xrender_format_from_color_shifts No XRender format found!
Xlib: extension "MIT-SHM" missing on display "localhost:10.0".
err:xrender:get_xrender_format_from_color_shifts No XRender format found!
Xlib: extension "MIT-SHM" missing on display "localhost:10.0".
fixme:event:wait_for_withdrawn_state window 0x1004e/e00001 wait timed out
Xlib: extension "MIT-SHM" missing on display "localhost:10.0".
err:xrender:get_xrender_format_from_color_shifts No XRender format found!
Xlib: extension "MIT-SHM" missing on display "localhost:10.0".
fixme:event:wait_for_withdrawn_state window 0x10058/e00004 wait timed out
err:xrender:get_xrender_format_from_color_shifts No XRender format found!
Xlib: extension "MIT-SHM" missing on display "localhost:10.0".
err:xrender:get_xrender_format_from_color_shifts No XRender format found!
Xlib: extension "MIT-SHM" missing on display "localhost:10.0".
fixme:event:wait_for_withdrawn_state window 0x2004e/e00006 wait timed out
wine: Unhandled page fault on read access to 0x00000030 at address 0x7e0a2766 (thread 0009), starting debugger...
Xlib: extension "MIT-SHM" missing on display "localhost:10.0".
fixme:event:wait_for_withdrawn_state window 0x2006c/1200001 wait timed out
Unhandled exception: page fault on read access to 0x00000030 in 32-bit code (0x7e0a2766).
Register dump:
CS:0023 SS:002b DS:002b ES:002b FS:0063 GS:006b
EIP:7e0a2766 ESP:0033f47c EBP:0033f4f4 EFLAGS:00010246( R- -- I Z- -P- )
EAX:0016a860 EBX:7e17cff4 ECX:00000000 EDX:00000000
ESI:0033f560 EDI:00169fd0
Stack dump:
0x0033f47c: 00169ff4 0033f4ac 0033f4d8 7ec73069
0x0033f48c: 7eca0ff4 0033f540 7bc35bc1 00010058
0x0033f49c: 0016a860 00000000 00169ff4 00000000
0x0033f4ac: 00000001 00000b4a 7eca0ff4 0000001c
0x0033f4bc: 00010058 0033f4e0 7ec730b0 7ecdb020
0x0033f4cc: 0033f560 7d643a10 00000004 00000004
Backtrace:
=>0 0x7e0a2766 in wined3d (+0x52766) (0x0033f4f4)
1 0x7e08e882 in wined3d (+0x3e881) (0x0033f524)
2 0x7e21beaf in ddraw (+0xbeae) (0x0033f884)
3 0x7e220733 in ddraw (+0x10732) (0x0033f8a4)
4 0x0049579c in jazz2 (+0x9579b) (0x0033fe90)
5 0x7b8559fc call_process_entry+0xb() in kernel32 (0x0033fea8)
6 0x7b857e6b in kernel32 (+0x47e6a) (0x0033fee8)
7 0x7bc716e0 call_thread_func+0xb() in ntdll (0x0033fef8)
8 0x7bc718b0 call_thread_entry_point+0x6f() in ntdll (0x0033ffc8)
9 0x7bc4c64a in ntdll (+0x3c649) (0x0033ffe8)
0x7e0a2766: call *0x30(%ecx)
Modules:
Module Address Debug info Name (83 modules)
PE 400000- 647000 Export jazz2
ELF 7b800000-7b97d000 Export kernel32<elf>
\-PE 7b810000-7b97d000 \ kernel32
ELF 7bc00000-7bcb9000 Export ntdll<elf>
\-PE 7bc10000-7bcb9000 \ ntdll
ELF 7bf00000-7bf04000 Deferred <wine-loader>
ELF 7dff1000-7e007000 Deferred midimap<elf>
\-PE 7e000000-7e007000 \ midimap
ELF 7e007000-7e02e000 Deferred msacm32<elf>
\-PE 7e010000-7e02e000 \ msacm32
ELF 7e02e000-7e047000 Deferred msacm32<elf>
\-PE 7e030000-7e047000 \ msacm32
ELF 7e047000-7e17f000 Export wined3d<elf>
\-PE 7e050000-7e17f000 \ wined3d
ELF 7e1bd000-7e205000 Deferred dsound<elf>
\-PE 7e1c0000-7e205000 \ dsound
ELF 7e205000-7e25d000 Export ddraw<elf>
\-PE 7e210000-7e25d000 \ ddraw
ELF 7e28b000-7e2bf000 Deferred uxtheme<elf>
\-PE 7e290000-7e2bf000 \ uxtheme
ELF 7e2bf000-7e2c9000 Deferred libxcursor.so.1
ELF 7e2c9000-7e2cf000 Deferred libxfixes.so.3
ELF 7e2cf000-7e2d3000 Deferred libxcomposite.so.1
ELF 7e2d3000-7e2db000 Deferred libxrandr.so.2
ELF 7e2db000-7e2e5000 Deferred libxrender.so.1
ELF 7e2e5000-7e2eb000 Deferred libxxf86vm.so.1
ELF 7e2eb000-7e2ef000 Deferred libxinerama.so.1
ELF 7e2ef000-7e311000 Deferred imm32<elf>
\-PE 7e300000-7e311000 \ imm32
ELF 7e311000-7e317000 Deferred libxdmcp.so.6
ELF 7e317000-7e31b000 Deferred libxau.so.6
ELF 7e31b000-7e335000 Deferred libxcb.so.1
ELF 7e335000-7e33a000 Deferred libuuid.so.1
ELF 7e33a000-7e457000 Deferred libx11.so.6
ELF 7e457000-7e467000 Deferred libxext.so.6
ELF 7e467000-7e480000 Deferred libice.so.6
ELF 7e485000-7e48e000 Deferred librt.so.1
ELF 7e490000-7e533000 Deferred winex11<elf>
\-PE 7e4a0000-7e533000 \ winex11
ELF 7e555000-7e57c000 Deferred libexpat.so.1
ELF 7e57c000-7e5ac000 Deferred libfontconfig.so.1
ELF 7e5ad000-7e5b6000 Deferred libsm.so.6
ELF 7e5bc000-7e5d1000 Deferred libz.so.1
ELF 7e5d1000-7e647000 Deferred libfreetype.so.6
ELF 7e647000-7e6bc000 Deferred rpcrt4<elf>
\-PE 7e650000-7e6bc000 \ rpcrt4
ELF 7e6bc000-7e7bc000 Deferred ole32<elf>
\-PE 7e6e0000-7e7bc000 \ ole32
ELF 7e7bc000-7e7d0000 Deferred lz32<elf>
\-PE 7e7c0000-7e7d0000 \ lz32
ELF 7e7d0000-7e7e9000 Deferred version<elf>
\-PE 7e7e0000-7e7e9000 \ version
ELF 7e7e9000-7e7fd000 Deferred libresolv.so.2
ELF 7e80d000-7e82e000 Deferred iphlpapi<elf>
\-PE 7e810000-7e82e000 \ iphlpapi
ELF 7e82e000-7e85b000 Deferred ws2_32<elf>
\-PE 7e840000-7e85b000 \ ws2_32
ELF 7e85b000-7e876000 Deferred wsock32<elf>
\-PE 7e860000-7e876000 \ wsock32
ELF 7e876000-7e90b000 Deferred winmm<elf>
\-PE 7e880000-7e90b000 \ winmm
ELF 7e90b000-7e96d000 Deferred shlwapi<elf>
\-PE 7e920000-7e96d000 \ shlwapi
ELF 7e96d000-7eb47000 Deferred shell32<elf>
\-PE 7e980000-7eb47000 \ shell32
ELF 7eb47000-7ebd3000 Deferred gdi32<elf>
\-PE 7eb50000-7ebd3000 \ gdi32
ELF 7ebd3000-7ed04000 Deferred user32<elf>
\-PE 7ebf0000-7ed04000 \ user32
ELF 7ed04000-7edef000 Deferred comctl32<elf>
\-PE 7ed10000-7edef000 \ comctl32
ELF 7edef000-7ee4a000 Deferred advapi32<elf>
\-PE 7ee00000-7ee4a000 \ advapi32
ELF 7efa7000-7efb3000 Deferred libnss_files.so.2
ELF 7efb3000-7efca000 Deferred libnsl.so.1
ELF 7efca000-7eff0000 Deferred libm.so.6
ELF 7eff6000-7f000000 Deferred libnss_nis.so.2
ELF f74f2000-f74fa000 Deferred libnss_compat.so.2
ELF f74fb000-f74ff000 Deferred libdl.so.2
ELF f74ff000-f7659000 Deferred libc.so.6
ELF f765a000-f7673000 Deferred libpthread.so.0
ELF f7683000-f77c3000 Export libwine.so.1
ELF f77c5000-f77e3000 Deferred ld-linux.so.2
Threads:
process tid prio (all id:s are in hex)
00000008 (D) Z:\home\jaakko\JJ2\jazz2.exe
0000001b 15
00000009 0 <==
0000000e services.exe
00000014 0
00000010 0
0000000f 0
00000011 winedevice.exe
00000018 0
00000017 0
00000013 0
00000012 0
00000019 explorer.exe
0000001a 0
Backtrace:
=>0 0x7e0a2766 in wined3d (+0x52766) (0x0033f4f4)
1 0x7e08e882 in wined3d (+0x3e881) (0x0033f524)
2 0x7e21beaf in ddraw (+0xbeae) (0x0033f884)
3 0x7e220733 in ddraw (+0x10732) (0x0033f8a4)
4 0x0049579c in jazz2 (+0x9579b) (0x0033fe90)
5 0x7b8559fc call_process_entry+0xb() in kernel32 (0x0033fea8)
6 0x7b857e6b in kernel32 (+0x47e6a) (0x0033fee8)
7 0x7bc716e0 call_thread_func+0xb() in ntdll (0x0033fef8)
8 0x7bc718b0 call_thread_entry_point+0x6f() in ntdll (0x0033ffc8)
9 0x7bc4c64a in ntdll (+0x3c649) (0x0033ffe8)
err:xrender:get_xrender_format_from_color_shifts No XRender format found!
Xlib: extension "MIT-SHM" missing on display "localhost:10.0".
err:xrender:get_xrender_format_from_color_shifts No XRender format found!



So humm, any tips? Or should I start looking into the GUI? (The GUI did start, but the game crashed with an access violation error :/)

[tordeu]

How did this happen? Did you try the link scott-ian posted or did you install a desktop on the server?

[fdrake]

you will need to install X.server to initiate GUI program. even if you install it it wont be enough since you need to get also a windows manager and a Desktop manager.. . Also installing an Xserver on a server has some security bridges you may want to look into.

[lunix-]

I think i'd install KVM and a small debian-squeeze virtual machine with just the tools you need to get it running. Then you can connect to gui from vnc. That way you dont need to mess up existing server. I have found kvm to be extremely fast and light! can be hell to set up if you have never done it before but easypeasy the second time ;)

gl

[tordeu]

If it's a "server" (by which I mean it should just function like a server at home, but there is no necessity for it to be based upon a server based operating system with potentially different security aspects etc. etc.) you might just consider installing Xubuntu on it.
It's certainly easier than to start with a server os and install a complete desktop environment on top of it and then, as previously mentioned, use VNC.

I think this would be the easiest solution, if there is nothing would prevent you from doing that.

[Jgke]

Tordeu: I used cygwin and X.
Fdrake: Links?
lunix-: I will consider this, but first I'd like to know if this works.
Tordeu: It's a virtual machine server, located in a private commercial-grade server room.

[tordeu]

Well, if it's a virtual machine, then it might be even more problematic, if the normal game software is used as a server software. If the game uses OpenGL, for example, then it might not even run in a virtual machine at all. I just remember having some problems with OpenGL based 3D-stuff in virtual machines.

But maybe someone with more experience in this field can say something about it.

I just think that running a possible 3D OpenGL (or maybe even DirectX?)-based Windows game in a VM with a dedicated linux based server operating system using Cygwin+X is probably one of the most complicated scenarios when it comes to trying to run a software.
I don't want to discourage you, because it might be possible (depending on the game), but it might as well be impossible due to the fact that it's a virtual machine alone.

Which game is it? Do you know if it is a OpenGL or DirectX game? Is it 3D? And how old is it?

[Jgke]

The game is Jazz Jackrabbit 2 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz_Jackrabbit_2), and it uses directx 5.0 to run. 2d.