How to Install Oracle Secure Global Desktop on Enterprise Linux

Oracle Secure Global Desktop (SGD), formerly known as Tarantella, is an incredibly robust enterprise virtualization solution that provides secure, web-based access to centralized Windows, Linux, Solaris, and legacy mainframe applications from virtually any client device.

Installing SGD on modern 64-bit Enterprise Linux distributions can be a challenging sysadmin task due to its heavy reliance on legacy 32-bit (i386 / i686) X11 and Motif shared libraries.

In this guide, I will walk you through the complete installation process: preparing system hostnames, resolving complex 32-bit shared library dependencies, creating dedicated Tarantella service accounts, starting the core SGD server daemon, and deploying the Tarantella Enterprise Manager (TEM) administration module.

Prerequisites

You will need an Enterprise Linux server with root privileges, configured with static IP addressing and internet access to pull required 32-bit dependency packages.

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Step 1: System Preparation and Hostname Resolution

Oracle SGD requires precise local hostname resolution. Before unpacking the installation archive, update /etc/hosts with your server's IP address and fully qualified domain name.

# Update system packages
yum update -y

# Install network utilities and system monitoring tools
yum install -y bind-utils wget unzip htop iotop ntpdate

# Update local hosts resolution
cat >> /etc/hosts << "EOF"
192.168.150.18 oraclesgd1.induslevel.com oraclesgd1
EOF

Verify hostname resolution via DNS utilities:

hostname
ping -c 3 oraclesgd1.induslevel.com
nslookup oraclesgd1.induslevel.com

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Step 2: Unpacking the SGD Archive

Upload the official Oracle SGD installation archive (V40453-01_2.zip) to your server and extract it:

unzip V40453-01_2.zip
cd V40453-01_2/
ls -lah

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Step 3: Resolving 32-Bit Shared Library Dependencies

Because the core Tarantella binary (tta-5.10-901.i386.rpm) is compiled for 32-bit architectures, attempting to install it on a 64-bit system will fail unless all underlying 32-bit C standard libraries, OpenMotif, and X11 extensions are installed.

Execute the following yum commands to satisfy all shared library dependencies:

# Install 32-bit OpenMotif and C standard library
yum install -y openmotif22.i686 libc.so.6

# Install 32-bit X11 cursor, font, and Xinerama libraries
yum install -y libXcursor.so.1 libXft.so.2 libXinerama.so.1 libXtst.so.6 libXm.so.3

# Install 32-bit GCC, Cryptography, Key Utilities, PAM, and Zlib
yum install -y libgcc_s.so.1 libgcrypt.so.11 libkeyutils.so.1 libpam.so.0 libstdc++.so.6 libuuid.so.1 libz.so.1

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Step 4: Creating Tarantella Service Accounts

Oracle SGD requires dedicated, unprivileged system accounts and groups to manage internal web server and session processing daemons.

Create the ttaserv group and the ttasys / ttaserv service users:

# Create primary service group
groupadd ttaserv

# Create system and service users
useradd -g ttaserv -s /bin/sh -d /home/ttasys -m ttasys
useradd -g ttaserv -s /bin/sh -d /home/ttaserv -m ttaserv

# Lock passwords for security (service-only access)
passwd -l ttasys
passwd -l ttaserv

Verify the UID and GID assignments:

su ttasys -c "/usr/bin/id -a"
su ttaserv -c "/usr/bin/id -a"

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Step 5: Synchronize Time and Install Core Server

Oracle SGD licensing and session ticketing require synchronized system clocks. Perform a one-time time sync with your local NTP server:

ntpdate -u 192.168.150.222

Install the core Tarantella RPM package:

rpm -ivh tta-5.10-901.i386.rpm

Once installed, initialize and start the Tarantella server daemon:

/opt/tarantella/bin/tarantella start
ps -ef | grep tta

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Step 6: Deploying Tarantella Enterprise Manager (TEM)

To administer the SGD environment through a graphical web interface, download and install the Tarantella Enterprise Manager (TEM) module.

# Download TEM module package
wget https://oraclesgd1.induslevel.com/tarantella/modules/tem-5.10-901.i386.rpm --no-check-certificate

# Install TEM package
rpm -ivh tem-5.10-901.i386.rpm

Start the TEM administration daemon:

/opt/tta_tem/bin/tem start

References

• Oracle Secure Global Desktop Administration Guide