Custom OS Template (Linux)

While DaDesktop hosts several widely-used Linux distributions, you might sometimes need a particular one that isn't on our list. We're glad to assist with most standard Linux distros. Just let us know the ISO download location and the server where you'd like to deploy the Custom OS template.

Important:

About Disk Partitioning
1. Your custom template should have either a single partition or two: one for EFI/Boot and another for the system and data.
2. LVM partitioning isn't supported – avoid using LVM.
3. An incorrect partition layout will prevent automatic disk resizing and other features from working properly.

Linux Template

Once we've downloaded the ISO to the server, you'll find it in your account under Admin Menu->OS IMAGES->ISO FILES.

From there, head to Admin Menu->OS IMAGES->CUSTOM OS TEMPLATES to set it up.

Please follow this guide carefully, and complete all the steps as otherwise full DaDesktop operation is likely not to work.

Perform the OS installation
Set the default username to "student"; password to "student"
Configure the "student" account for automatic login
Apply the DaDesktop wallpaper or your own custom branding
Some distributions now use Wayland as the default display driver. While Wayland is compatible with DaDesktop, we currently recommend switching to X11.

To disable Wayland:

open /etc/gdm/custom.conf for editing, e.g.
```
# Uncomment the line below to force the login screen to use Xorg
        WaylandEnable=false
        
```
log out and back in
Install spice-vdagent, using your package manager is usually the easiest approach. NB This may already be installed depending on your distro
- After installing correctly, reboot the machine, and you should see the two running processes: spice-vdagent and spice-vdagentd
Use your package manager again to install qemu-guest-agent
Next, install X11VNC. Keep in mind that some distributions may require extra repositories, like the 'epel' repo for Red Hat-based systems, including Oracle Linux and Rocky Linux
Configure X11VNC
- Make sure X11VNC is installed
- run command sudo -i to open a root shell
- Execute the command below to set X11VNC to start automatically on boot
```
cat > /etc/xdg/autostart/x11vnc.desktop <
```
Set up a desktop notification script with these commands
```
cat > /usr/local/bin/announce-vnc-users.sh <
```
Reboot
Check that your firewall allows TCP port 5900. For example, use

ss -pntl
Consider disabling the sudo password (recommended)
Verify everything is working

When you connect, if the URL changes to include a token query parameter, then X11VNC is active. And the text box at the bottom left of the screen, which supports copy/paste between your own desktop and the virtual desktop, should be fully functional.

Please Note

To add extra optional features such as

DDWebdav to synchronise Trainer's content folders to each participant's machine,
or DDUpload – to easily upload files within a DaDesktop machine;

Please contact DaDesktop Tech Support.