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ThinLinc

ThinLinc is a program that handles remote X Window System connections and offers several performance improvements over traditional X11 forwarding. ThinLinc can greatly improve the response time of X Windows and is the recommended method of interacting with GUIs and visualization tools running on NERSC resources. ThinLinc also allows a user to disconnect from a session and reconnect to it at a later time while keeping the state of all running applications inside the session.

NERSC has chosen ThinLinc because we believe it will provide a much more scalable and performant solution for our virtual desktop users, allowing us to better fit the capacity and needs of our users. Switching to ThinLinc will also allow NERSC staff to upgrade the underlying operating system and software involved with our remote desktop solution more easily, allowing us to be more responsive to security updates.

Getting Started with ThinLinc

ThinLinc Desktop Example Image

Install the ThinLinc Client

To use ThinLinc at NERSC, you will first need to download and install the appropriate version of the ThinLinc Client for the operating system on your laptop or workstation.

macOS Installation Tip

Some users may not see the ThinLinc client mounted drive on their Desktop because of their macOS settings. If you don't see the mounted client drive, open a finder window, and click on the left side tab that says "ThinLinc Client" which will show the UI to move the ThinLinc client to the Applications directory.

ThinLinc Client install from the macOS finder window

Configure a NERSC connection

ThinLinc at NERSC is hosted via the SSH protocol, so you must configure your connection to NERSC to authenticate via SSH. This can be done with an ssh key generated from sshproxy.

You will need to regenerate your ssh key pair with sshproxy once a day, but once your key is generated the ThinLinc Client be able to connect.

To set up your first ThinLinc connection, follow the instructions for "Authenticate via sshproxy".

Authenticate via sshproxy
  1. Click on "Advanced" button to get all the options
  2. Click on "Options" button to open options window
  3. Click on the "Security" tab at the top of the window
  4. Under "Authentication Method" select "Public Key"
  5. Click "ok" to save your selection
  6. Enter the connection details for ThinLinc
    • Server: thinlinc.nersc.gov
    • User: Your NERSC username
    • Key: Path to your ssh key

ThinLinc example logging in with ssh keys

Current Issues

There are a few known user experience issues which we are actively working on enabling. If you find other issues with ThinLinc please open a ticket at help.nersc.gov.

  • Only authentication with sshproxy keys is enabled.
  • Collaboration accounts cannot connect to ThinLinc.