Connecting windows through Unix

[vin_pll]

Hello Experts,
thanks for helping me in previous post,
here is the another question i have,
is there any way i can connect windows from unix,
means when we do rsh m/c name in unix it virtually connects through rshd,

so in the same way if i do just rsh(anycommnad) name of the m/c which consists of windows it should connect and should execute all the commnads

for ex: (command) m/c name
>it should provide promt
>dir(commnad)
it should execute

how can i implement this, can anyone please help me.

[CornedBee]

What need? Just install cygwin and its sshd on the Windows computer.

[vin_pll]

Thank u CornedBee,
thank u for your inputs as iam going through cygwin i read this is mainly installed in windows in order to get the unix lke environment,

but i want to work in both the ways not only windows and unix it should be compatible with all operating systems like linux ,solaris etc so that i can connect from any environment to windows and vice versa is ther any possible way to implement this.

[laserlight]

but i want to work in both the ways not only windows and unix it should be compatible with all operating systems like linux ,solaris etc so that i can connect from any environment to windows and vice versa is ther any possible way to implement this.

What exactly do you mean by "connect from any environment to windows"? The opposite makes more sense, e.g., you could use PuTTY as a SSH client to connect to an SSH server that runs on some arbitrary system on the net, to which you have access.

Are you talking about running other operating systems on top on Windows? If so, you may be looking for virtualisation software like VMware.

[tabstop]

What exactly do you mean by "connect from any environment to windows"? The opposite makes more sense, e.g., you could use PuTTY as a SSH client to connect to an SSH server that runs on some arbitrary system on the net, to which you have access.

Are you talking about running other operating systems on top on Windows? If so, you may be looking for virtualisation software like VMware.

I suppose maybe the OP could, therefore, make his Windows machine the SSH server (probably via cygwin) and then any operating system that speaks ssh could connect to the windows machine. (Whether this is a good idea is left as an exercise.)

[vin_pll]

yes exactly ,
as u discussed like making windows as server and any operating system as client and connecting , i am asking whether opposite is also possible, means my s/w should be so flexible that i can make any operating system as server(for eg :unix) and can connect to other operating system as client is this way is it possible in any way that was my question. Here iam not specific about windows,.

as cygwin will make windows only as server, i want to implement a s/w whenever i run it on any operating system it acts as server and accepts the clients from other operating system.

know my question is quite clear i think. so whether is there any way to do this.

[CornedBee]

Of course there is. Write a program - ideally in Java, so you won't even have to recompile it - that listens on a socket, accepts connections, and interprets commands coming in through those connections. Trivial server programming.

The real trouble is the command interpreter, because it's not trivial writing a proper shell.

That's why you shouldn't write such a program. Instead, use SSH, which is such a program. The ssh daemon runs on every *nix, including MacOS X, and on Windows using Cygwin.

[dwks]

You are aware that you won't be able to get the same type of console or terminal on each operating system, in all likelihood?

Why do you want to do this?

If you wanted to go all-out, you could create your own "shell" using sockets. You should be able to make that cross-platform. But it would basically turn into ssh eventually, I think.

[vin_pll]

Thank u for u r inputs,
after reading the article about SSH i understood that openSSH serves my requirement ,
which works on all platforms in windows through cygwin,

but i didnot get the proper link in order to download and how to use with my system, can anyone provide me some useful links.

[Mario F.]

You will probably have to be more specific in what exactly you want to be able to do, vin_pll.

Your requirements may range from a simple ssh connection, in which case probably no programming is necessary on your part, to a full fledged server-client application. In any case the answer is always yes, you can make a *nix machine act as a server to any other operating system that allows for networking operations.

Traditionally, as already mentioned operations on a *nix machine being carried out on a windows machine are made through some form of shell, like PuTTY. For all effects, you are always operating under a client-server architecture. Under this ssh application, you are connecting to a *nix machine, through a *nix daemon, which is acting as a server, by means of an application built for windows.

However, putting aside the possibility that you could build your own specialized shell in windows connecting to an existing *nix daemon or to a new one you also would build (probably no need to do this because, after all, applications like PuTTY already exist), you can also create a traditional client-server application that could perform specific tasks on *nix machine by means of a windows client application.

Traditionally, client-server applications work by:

- Coding a server application in the target operating system (in your case probably Linux). This application waits for requests, parses them and performs the related task. For instance, it could wait for a command to read th contents of a directory and send this information back.

- Coding a client application in the source operating system that sends requests according to the rules established by the server application and interprets the results. For instance, a windows application that requests a directory contents listing from a Linux machine and formats the results on a windows Explorer-like interface.

Applications like the above make up the traditional client-server application in which one machine acts as a server (waits for requests and performs their related tasks) and another as a client (sends requests and interprets results).

Why do you need to be more specific? Well, because Linux on this case, has a lot of it already covered for you. Unless you have a specialized need, chances are there are already daemons or other tools built for your specific needs.

- You want to, say, have a home network connecting through the internet with a Linux machine acting as a gateway and Windows machines as clients? You can.

- You want to have a Linux machine act as a file server or even a printer server feeding windows client machines? You can.

- You want to have Linux store a database for your windows business applications to read/write on? You can. You can. You can.

- ... ad quase infinitum

EDIT: Oh well, took me a bit to write this. Your last reply wasn't there when I started.

[vin_pll]

thank you Mario,

thank you for your inputs thanks for taking time to explain me me clearly if u know some useful URLS please give me so that i can study more, and start implementing my task.