Next generation Linux Applications Gateway for CERN accelerator control systems

Abstract

CERN has been providing central Windows remote desktops via the Windows Terminal Infrastructure service for several years and aims to provide a similar experience for Linux graphical environments. Different communities and experiments offer a series of tools to their users with this goal in mind, but the solutions are far from ideal and generate a support overhead for their respective providers. The Linux Applications Gateway project (LAG) was born to provide this functionality centrally from the IT department. After an extensive market research, the tool FastX was identified as an enabler, and to set up a closed, internal pilot for evaluation. These efforts led to the creation of the Remote Operations Gateway (ROG) service with a high approval rate. We aim to further extend the usage of FastX at CERN, reaching out to other communities and experiments, and to provide a better support coverage for them all.