Howto: Remote Desktop to Xubuntu 7.10 with FreeNX

I noticed that my other way of remote desktop to Xubuntu via vine had a big flaw, and that was that everytime you had to restart your system you had to manually log in and start the vine session.

So i installed the NX server and NX client instead. So heres a short tutorial on how to do it:

1. Head over to Nomachine and download all three Xubuntu .deb Packages to your server.

And run them in this specific order: 

sudo dpkg -i nxclient_3.2.0-14_i386.deb 

sudo dpkg -i nxnode_3.2.0-13_i386.deb 
sudo dpkg -i nxserver_3.2.0-16_i386.deb

If you dont run them in this specific order you will get dependencies failure and you will have to issue  : "sudo apt-get install -f" to solve it.

2. You also need to install the Opensshd server, thats the one that handles the authentication for NX. Do so by typing

sudo apt-get install ssh

3. Now that the server is done, install your Freenx client Windows xp / Unix software.

Now you need to configure it. So point it to the ip your Xubuntu machine has, and in the desktop options choose "Unix" and "Custom":

Then click on the settings button and mark the "run the following command".

In the box type:

startxfce4

And also mark the "New Virtual Desktop" button.

Voila! Remote connection that works when Xubuntu has rebooted!

Howto: Remote Desktop to Xubuntu 7.10 the simple way

So, my first "tutorial". This idea spawned after i was trying to get remote access to my Xubuntu machine that i was trying to install Snort on. I did not want to spend 2 hours in a cold serverroom so i thought that remote access would be really sweet. 

So the first thing that came to mind was installing a VNC server. That started out to be a lot more complicated than it should have to be. Then i rememberd that Ubuntu has this preinstalled, so i could use the same package as Ubuntu does. 

This will also let you remote access your current session and its also resumable.

So:

(all text that is cursive should be typed into a terminal window!)

1. Make sure you have Xubuntu installed (prefferably 7.10)

2. Make sure you have it updated to the latest version by typing:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get upgrade

3. Now you should install Vino, you do this by typing:

sudo apt-get install vino

4. This will install vino, after you are done you need to configure it, do this by typing:

sudo vino-preferences

this will launch the vino preferences window:

5. Now check the following:

"Allow other users to view your desktop"

"Allow other users to control your desktop"

"Require the user to enter this password"

Enter a password, this is optional

And uncheck:

"Ask for your confirmation"

This will stop you from having to run all the way to the computer/server that runs Vino and allow yourself to remotely login each time you try to do it.

6. Now start Vino by typing:

sudo vino-session

A message stating that Vino has been started will follow.  Now you can close the terminal.

7.Now download your favorite VNC viewer program:

Two free options:

Real VNC

Thight VNC

Congratulations, your done with setting up a Remote Desktop connection to your Xubuntu installation. The problem with this setup is that everytime you reboot you will have to login manually and start the vino server. If you want more challenging ways to get Remote Access to a Xubuntu machine you should check out the Vnc4 Server and the 51page thread over at Ubuntu Forums.

In the beginning there was nothing.

And now here i am. So this is my first post, it feels great that i finally have gotten the thumb out and starting to contribute to the community at large.

This Blog will serve 3 purposes:

1. Improve my english, especially grammar. If you havent already noticed i am from sweden, so feel free to correct my english.

2. Help others by publishing guides and stuff that i found useful when learning applications.

3. Fun. Hopefully this blog will serve a good laugh or two.

So thank you for reading. Hopefully you will find this blog useful.