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ThinStation is a small, yet powerful, Open Source thin client operating system supporting: Citrix ICA, Redhat Spice, NoMachine NX, Microsoft Windows terminal services (RDP, via FreeRDP), VMware Horizon View, Cendio ThinLinc, X and SSH.
This environment was created for you by Donald A. Cupp Jr. from Fedora and ThinStation.
ThinStation itself has many contributors, with special thanks to:
- Mike Eriksen
- Trevor Batley
- Miles Roper
- Marcos Amorim
- ThinStation now uses Fedora binaries and the DNF package manager for improved compatibility and maintainability.
- A utility has been added to configure
dnsmasq
as a DHCP/DNS/Router to DevStation. - All boot images except GRUB have been deprecated.
ThinStation now requires either:
- A Fedora-based host environment.
- The preconfigured DevStation Installer to set up the development environment.
- WSL and the minimal ThinStation root fs
-
Minimum system requirements:
- 8 GB of RAM
- 30 GB of free disk space
- Administrative privileges (root or sudo).
-
Install required dependencies:
sudo dnf install dnf chroot git
-
Clone the ThinStation repository:
git clone https://github.com/Thinstation/thinstation-ng.git cd thinstation
The DevStation image is installed through the DevStation Installer, which will:
- Create the necessary partitions on your target disk.
- Download and place the DevStation image on the system.
- Download the DevStation Installer from the ThinStation Website
- Boot the installer on your system.
- Follow the prompts to:
- Collect credentials.
- Partition the disk.
- Download the DevStation image.
- Install the image to the appropriate partitions.
- Setup the build environment.
- Once installed, reboot into the DevStation environment.
To get started with ThinStation on a Windows system using Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), follow these steps to download the distribution tarball, import it into WSL, and prepare your development environment.
- Download a root fs from the official ThinStation website here.
- Once downloaded, expand the archive to for example
Downloads/thinstation.tar
.
-
Open Windows Terminal or your preferred PowerShell or Command Prompt interface.
-
Ensure WSL is installed on your system. If not, you can install it by following the official Microsoft guide.
-
Use the following command to import ThinStation into WSL:
wsl --import ThinStation $HOME\WSL\ThinStation $HOME\Downloads\thinstation.tar
-
Launch the ThinStation distribution in WSL by typing:
wsl -d ThinStation
-
Clone the thinstation-ng repository:
git clone https://www.github.com/thinstation/thinstation-ng.git cd thinstation-ng
- Ensure that you have sufficient disk space and permissions to perform these operations.
- For detailed build instructions and options, refer to the ThinStation Wiki and the README files within the repository.
-
Prepare the Development Environment
- On a Fedora host or DevStation or WSL, ensure you have access to the
setup-chroot
script located in the ThinStation repository. - Run the script to initialize the development environment:
./setup-chroot
- This will:
- Populate necessary directories and dependencies.
- Set up the chroot environment for building ThinStation images.
- On a Fedora host or DevStation or WSL, ensure you have access to the
-
Build ThinStation Images
- Enter the chroot environment:
./setup-chroot
- Navigate to the build directory:
cd /build
-
Configure your build by editing the following files:
build.conf
: Defines the overall build configuration.thinstation.conf.buildtime
: Customizes runtime settings for ThinStation.
-
Run the build process:
./build
-
Deploy ThinStation
- Once the build completes, your ThinStation images will be ready in /build/boot-images/grub of the chroot.
- Follow the deployment guide on the ThinStation Wiki for details on deploying ThinStation to your environment.
- ThinStation is designed to run as a thin client, requiring minimal hardware resources.
- Ensure that the target hardware supports PXE boot or has a method to boot the ThinStation image (e.g., USB, CD/DVD, or network boot).
-
Client Hardware:
- CPU: x86-64 architecture.
- RAM: Minimum 2 GB (8 GB recommended).
- Network: Wired or wireless network interface.
-
Server Environment:
- Ensure compatibility with your backend systems (e.g., RDP, Citrix, VMware Horizon).
- Configure servers to allow client connections according to your chosen protocol.
For detailed instructions, troubleshooting, and additional resources, visit the ThinStation Wiki.
If you encounter issues or require assistance:
- Open an issue on the ThinStation GitHub repository.
- Join the discussion on the ThinStation mailing list or community forums.