There are many ways to launch the xpra client.
The default GUI interface can be used to access the launcher and the
session browser.
The launcher is accessible using the launcher
subcommand:
xpra launcher [session-file.xpra]
It provides a GUI for filling in the address of the server you want
to connect to: mode, hostname or IP address, port, etc.
These options can be loaded from and saved into a session file.
Session files use the extension .xpra
and record all the
session settings, including the connection parameters shown in the
session launcher.
Any command line option can be specified in this file by removing the
--
that precedes options when they're used via the command
line. ie: --min-quality=50
becomes just
quality=50
.
Double clicking a session file brings up the launcher and if the session
file contains autoconnect=true
then the connection will be
made without first showing the launcher dialog. The html5 client can also
generate session files from its connection form.
xpra sessions
shows the session browser, this window
lists all the sessions that can be found either on the local system or
through mDNS on the local
network.
From this list, it is possible to start a connection to the sessions,
either using the regular client or using the html5 client in a
browser.
This mechanism allows browsers and other applications to launch an
xpra client and specify connection options without having to first
download or generate a session file.
For example, this is a valid URL for connecting to HOST in
ssl mode on port 10000:
xpra+ssl://HOST:10000/
.
For more details, see url
mode mapping
Both the URL mapping and session files require xpra to be installed
using proper packages rather than archives.
This ensures that the operating system integration is registered
correctly.
On MS Windows, that means using EXE
or MSI
installers and not
ZIP files. On MacOS,
PKGand not
DMG`
archives.
When installing from source on other platforms, manual
steps may be required.
The command line is the most powerful tool for running the client and
has the advantage of printing out diagnostic messages directly on the
terminal where it is executed.
On MS Windows, the command you should use is Xpra_cmd.exe
rather than plain Xpra.exe
as the latter uses a log
file.
The command line should always be used when testing or debugging.