Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Installation Synergy server in Debian GNU/Linux Lenny 5.0
After installing the Synergy keyboard/mouse sharing program, I needed to figure it out how to set up the server. The installation process of Windows XP is mostly done on GUI interface. Linux is still catching up.
penguin@L64:~$ find / -name synergy*
/usr/share/doc/synergy
/usr/share/doc/synergy/doc/synergy.css
/usr/share/doc/synergy/examples/synergy.conf
/usr/share/man/man1/synergys.1.gz
/usr/share/man/man1/synergyc.1.gz
/usr/share/doc-base/synergy
/usr/bin/synergyc
/usr/bin/synergys
For server installation:
/usr/bin/synergys
The server needs configuration file to star up /etc/synergy.conf
copy /usr/…/examples/synergy.conf to /etc and modify it. It has set up for three computers.
Make sure the host names in synergy.conf exist in /etc/hosts. If not, you write the IP addresses instead of host name.
/etc/hosts:
more hosts
127.0.0.1 localhost
192.168.1.101 L64.room L64
192.168.1.100 Laptop.room Laptop1
My /etc/synergy.conf file:
# sample synergy configuration file
#
# comments begin with the # character and continue to the end of
# line. comments may appear anywhere the syntax permits.
# 01/05/2011 Me: Synergy setup
section: screens
# three hosts named: moe, larry, and curly
# L64 is 64 bit Linux box – this one
# Laptop is a Windows XP laptop
L64:
Laptop1:
end
section: links
# L64 is to the left of Laptop
L64:
right = Laptop1
# Laptop is to the right of L64.
# and larry have a symmetric connection (they’re in
# opposite directions of each other).
Laptop1:
left = L64
end
section: aliases
#
Laptop1:
Smallie
end
And Then, go to other client (i.e, Windows XP laptop), replace the server name with IP address, and start it. Back to the Linux box, launch the server in foreground mode so that it would display messages in real time.
L64:/etc# /usr/bin/synergys -f –config /etc/synergy.conf
INFO: synergys.cpp,1042: Synergy server 1.3.1 on Linux 2.6.26-2-amd64 #1 SMP Thu Nov 25 04:30:55 UTC 2010 x86_64
DEBUG: synergys.cpp,1051: opening configuration “/etc/synergy.conf”
…
DEBUG: CClientProxy1_0.cpp,404: received client “LAPTOP1” info shape=0,0 1024×768
NOTE: CServer.cpp,278: client “Laptop1” has connected
INFO: CServer.cpp,447: switch from “L64” to “Laptop1” at 0,509
If there is a warning or error message, terminate the job.
When you restart Synergy and have the following message, it means previous synergy process is still running.
I had this messages quite a lot.
WARNING: synergys.cpp,505: cannot listen for clients: cannot bind address: Address already in use
DEBUG: synergys.cpp,519: retry in 10 seconds
Do ‘ps -aux | grep synergys’. It will show
L64:/etc/network# ps -aux | grep synergys
Warning: bad ps syntax, perhaps a bogus ‘-‘? See http://procps.sf.net/faq.html
root 4582 3.2 0.3 61656 3032 pts/1 Tl 17:28 0:05 synergys -f –config /etc/synergy.conf
type ‘killall -9 synergys’
[3]+ Killed synergys -f –config /etc/synergy.conf
Find error in configuration, then start the server again. Suppose both computers are in the same local network and connection is fine, the error is likely from the configuration either server or client side.
Once Synergy works fine, make the server auto start. My Linux box starts on GDM (Gnome Desktop Manager) default, so I go to System > Preferences > Sessions > click [+Add] button.
Name: Synergy server
Command: /usr/bin/synergys –config /etc/synergy.conf
Comment: Synergy keyboard/mouse server
click OK.
That’s it.