[ale] how do I get graphical remote access to my linux machine

[Ron Frazier (ALE)]

Hi JD and all,

Thanks for the replies on this.  I'll be away from the list and the pc 
for a while so I won't be able to try this immediately.  Based on the 
comments here, I'll probably move over to freenx server and use the 
Remmina client on Linux and the NoMachine client on Windows.  I looked 
up those howto's mentioned and saved bookmarks to them.  I'll have to 
study up on ssl implementation as well, as well as port forwarding if I 
want to go external.  Always something new to learn.  I actually did get 
this working about 3 years ago using nxclient to connect to a remote 
virtual system on amazon's cloud platform.  I don't remember the 
implementation details, so I guess I get to relearn it.  It's good to 
know that nx is still a viable method.

Sincerely,

Ron


On 5/4/2013 10:26 AM, JD wrote:
> I'll definitely check out the Remmina client for Linux use today. Thanks for
> that tip Michael.
>
> Googled for "freenx ubuntu" and found this:
> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FreeNX
> That was the how-to I used to configure it. First time server setup, it took
> about 10 minutes. After that, 5 minutes.  Extremely stable.  I actually use this
> for my main desktop (private cloud desktop) from assorted different client
> machines both local and from places overseas.  I KNOW it works on 10.04 and
> 12.04 machines. I only run LTS.
>
> Installation is not just an apt-get install - after that, manual setup is
> needed. Had to grab the install script from somewhere else - it wasn't included
> in the package - the how-to should cover it.
>
> If I recall, the last trick was to create the ssh cert for the nx-account and
> install that key into any NX client, regardless of the user. This is the
> connection/tunnel credential - then I use my normal login password to access my
> local account on the machine and manually start the DE I want.  If I'm overseas,
> I use a pure WM environment. If I'm in the states, LXDE.  The same ssh-key is
> used for other users as well, but each has to use their own userid/password.
>
> Anyway, the How-To explains most of this.
>
> After trying the QtNX client (which was unstable), I've been using the NoMachine
> client on Linux and Windows machines.  Recently, it has shown issues dropping
> mouse input on the remote display from an MS-Windows client. The fix is to
> restart the remote WM, so not really all that tough - doesn't even close any
> running windows/apps.
>
> We can show the 10 minutes to setup a freenx server at Thursday's ALE-NW
> meeting, if there is interest.
>
>
> On 05/04/2013 09:48 AM, Neal Rhodes wrote:
>    
>> We've used the NX machine client for my wife/partner's desktop for, uh,
>> Fedora Core 1, 3, 10, and now Centos 6.  It has worked great on all.
>>
>> It seems to be pretty flexible regarding old client/new server, new
>> client/old server, etc.
>>
>> Having recently set it up on a Win7 client to the Centos server, what I
>> remember was that it only worked if the connection was encrypted.
>>
>> I'd suggest you give that a smidge more effort.   As I recall, there is
>> no startup once you install the NX server, as it gets started from an
>> ssh login session.   There is a little bit of setup on the client side,
>> as above, don't turn off encryption.
>>
>> Neal Rhodes
>> MNOP Ltd
>>
>>
>> On Sat, 2013-05-04 at 01:53 -0400, Ron Frazier (ALE) wrote:
>>      
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> I moved my linux machine downstairs to make room in my work area
>>> upstairs since I don't have room for 2 desktops.  I need to get
>>> graphical remote access to the downstairs linux machine (Mint 13) using
>>> my Windows 7 machine as the client.  The linux machine is within my
>>> firewall at home, so I don't need super strong security.  A simple login
>>> username and password is sufficient.  I tried to get nxserver from
>>> nomachine running.  It's installed, but I couldn't seem to get it
>>> configured using the text based commands to set it up.  I'd like to be
>>> able to do administration of the user database via gui or, better yet,
>>> just have it use the user database already built into Mint.  NX has a
>>> graphical administration option, but it appears to depend on having
>>> apache installed.  I don't want to do that.  The fewer server processes
>>> I have running, the better it is for security.  Both client and server
>>> will be on the same wifi router using wpa encryption.
>>>
>>> Can someone tell me an easy way to do this?  I just need one graphical
>>> server and one graphical client.  I'm not stuck on nx if there is a
>>> better solution.  Having the session encrypted would be nice, in case I
>>> decide to access it from outside my house at some point.  In that case,
>>> I'd beef up the login credentials.
>>>
>>> Any help is greatly appreciated.
>>>
>>> Sincerely,
>>>
>>> Ron
>>>
>>>
>>>        

-- 

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Ron Frazier
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