I just spent a whole day on this, so I wanted to share it with some people who would understand the struggle.

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The Scenario:

You have some remote users who need to securely access your application, delivered in plaintext over SSH.�� To do this, they get a thin client delivered to them, fully set up.�� However, most of these users have very limited computer knowledge, so they need the application to be as simple and responsive as possible.

The Solution:

The thin client needn���t have Windows on it.�� Also Windows is slow (wimpy thin clients), prone to fickleness (���have you tried turning it off and on again?���), and insecure (no antivirus or even security updates are installed on the thin clients).

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In fact, these users are so limited they shouldn���t even have a window manager at all.�� No need to resize, copy & paste, or multitask ��� a single application window would be ample.�� So let���s install just a plain edition of Debian, then run sudo apt-get install xinit, to get the barest of essential graphical libraries.

The Challenge:

Set up our thin clients, based on a Linux install, such that it boots quietly and quickly, automatically logs in as the user, waits for the network, and launches a Putty window.�� When the user quits Putty, they should only have two options:�� launch a new Putty session, or shutdown the computer.

The Yak:��

Because there���s no window manager, every Putty window is launched in its��� own session.�� A new X11 session has number lock disabled by default.

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The standard answer for controlling numlock, a program named ���numlockx���, works just fine ��� however, because there���s no window manager, you can only send a single command to the X11 session.�� Thus, you can either turn on NumLock, or you can launch Putty.

Shaving the Yak:

1)���������� Create the file ~/putty

This file contains the lines:��

numlockx on &

putty -load {your saved session}

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2)���������� Launch the file with:

xinit ~/putty $* --

The End:

Now you can set up your silent boot (/etc/sysctl.conf -> kernel.printk), your automatic login (/etc/system/system/getty@tty1.service.d/autologin.conf), and your auto-start locked-down profile (~/.profile) with other tutorials available on the internet.

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(PS they boot in about ten seconds, and our guinea pig testers love them)