How to setup Xming and Putty to allow X Windows based applications on Linux

Having gone thru a number of installs of WebSphere and Connections on Linux and getting slightly frustrated with doing silent installs (and worse silent unintalls) using response files I decided it was finally time to figure out how to get X Windows going so I could go back to a GUI based installer.

So there are two parts to this:

1) Xming - XMing is an X Windows port for Microsoft Windows. Essentially it’s an X-server which starts transparently on top of your MS Windows desktop. It allows you to redirect graphical output of applications you run on remote Unix servers and therefore see these applications windows on your MS Windows desktop. Again simply install and launch Xming. You will note a little icon in your task bar indicated the Xming server is running.

2) Putty - PuTTY is a free implementation of Telnet and SSH for Windows and Unix platforms. Simply download and install. Once installed we need to connect to your linux server using SSH andmodify the ssh daemon config file: /etc/ssh/sshd_config. Just ensure that it has the following:

# X11 tunneling options
X11Forwarding yes
X11DisplayOffset 10
X11UseLocalhost yes

You may already have the correct setting in which case do nothing however if you change anything you will need to restart ssh. To restart SSH use the command /etc/init.d/sshd restart.

Now that is done all you need to do is start a new Putty session however this time in the Connection section, then SSH, then X11, make sure you tick the Enable X11 Forwarding option.

That is it! Much to my delight when I next tried to install WebSphere using the normal ./install command a moment later a X Window application launched on my computer enabling me to use the Wizards again!

IBM Premier Business Partner, ISW listed in second annual CRN Fast50

ISW just released a press release annoucing their listing in the CRN Fast50. ISW was ranked 18th of the 50 companies listed. The awards list compiled by Haymarket Media’s channel publication CRN ranks the top 50 IT integrators and resellers based on their revenue and growth.

The CRN Fast50 recognises those companies who understand their customers’ business, matching them to the right technologies and doing it faster and better than their competitors so ISW is pumped to be listed up there with the best of them!

More information at: http://bit.ly/9xfxCo

Wildfire 1.4.1 Released on OpenNTF - Facebook Fixed

For all those Wildfire and Facebooks fans you will be glad to know we have resolved the issues around Facebook Feeds and Status Updates.

Wildfire 1.4.1 is available at http://wildfire.openntf.org.

For those that arn't familiar with Wildfire it is a Notes 8.5 Sidebar plugin that enables you to post status updates to many different social networks at once. Sametime, Connections, Facebook, Twitter, and many more. It also allows you to group your social networks into different types or categories and create a single feed/life stream that aggregates together all these networks.

WebSphere Portal 7 Download

WebSphere Portal 7 has become available for download.

All the part numbers across the various platforms are available here:

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg24026533

Why I won't be coming to Lotusphere 2011....

Baby 2 Due 4th Feb 2011