[Devel] Re: kernel based checkpoint/restart: about X windows application checkpoint and restart support.

[Matt Helsley]

On Wed, Oct 28, 2009 at 11:02:43AM -0400, Oren Laadan wrote:
> 
> 
> Matt Helsley wrote:
> > On Wed, Oct 28, 2009 at 10:51:32AM +0800, Will Huang wrote:
> >> Dear All,
> >>
> >>          Did the Kernel based checkpoint/restart patch support X windows
> >> application such as firefox?
> > 
> > No, and I think it may be a long time before that happens.
> 
> In short: not yet, but we're getting closer.
>

<snip> (lots of good background)
 
> Now back to your question: X applications cannot be checkpointed
> standalone (unless, of course, X windows is modified for that).
> Instead, one must checkpoint the entire user session, including
> the X server itself.
> 
> The main problem is that the X server is "talking" to the bare
> hardware, and the task of recording the specific hardware state
> and restoring it later is daunting, and becomes impossible if the
> session is to be restarted on different hardware.
> 
> The solution is to not run the regular X server. Instead, start
> a virtual X server, such as VNC, and run the user session in it.
> The main difference is that VNC server does not directly use any
> hardware resources, so it is not tied to specific hardware state.
> From the user's point of view - this setup is transparent with
> suitable use of a VNC client.

VNC is all well and good but it's hardly the norm for local
desktops to run under an X server with a VNC display. That said,
VNC support is much closer than any of my hare-brained ideas so..

Cheers,
	-Matt Helsley
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