On my workstation at the office:
apt install tigervnc-standalone-server fvwm chromium-browser
The last one (chromium-browser) is optional. It’s just because I don't want to kill my currently-running chrome instance on my main X session.
I commented out the last line (Xsession) and added fvwm in `~/.vnc/startup` as follows:
mj@mj-desktop:~$ cat .vnc/xstartup
#!/bin/sh
xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
xsetroot -solid grey
#x-terminal-emulator -geometry 80x24+10+10 -ls -title "$VNCDESKTOP Desktop" &
#x-window-manager &
# Fix to make GNOME work
export XKL_XMODMAP_DISABLE=1
#/etc/X11/Xsession
fvwm &
That prevents your normal environment (Gnome, KDE, etc) from starting and runs fvwm instead, in this X session. FVWM is smaller, faster, less graphics-intensive, and also doesn’t conflict with an already-running desktop environment.
Then, you can run:
vncserver
The first time it runs, it will prompt you to set a session password, then it starts an X session using vnc on your workstation.
Now, you can port forward to your workstation from your laptop (over VPN):
ssh -L 5901:localhost:5901 10.X.X.X
Then, you can connect using VNC to localhost on your laptop on port 5901. If you are on a Mac laptop, the client is built-in! Just go to finder and press Command+k.
Fill in the VNC dialog:
It’ll prompt for your password (the one you set when you ran vncserver for the first time) and you’ll find yourself with an FVWM desktop. From there, click anywhere on the screen to bring up a menu, launch an xterm and you can run whatever programs (e.g. chromium-browser) you want.
If you get disconnected, you can always reconnect by starting at the SSH command above.
And you can tunnel either of them through the existing ssh connection that you've been using. I use the x11vnc package in the standard Ubuntu repository to connect to my machine at work regularly. It connects to an existing physical X session. There are other VNC servers, like TigerVNC, that can connect to an existing X session or create a virtual session that isn't connected to the physical keyboard/mouse/monitor.
If you aren't going to tunnel VNC through ssh make sure you use a VNC server with TLS capabilities and confirm that TLS is working. I still prefer the ssh method because it's easier to secure. If you restrict VNC to accept connections only from the local machine itself then you can use it over the port-fowarded connection through ssh but no one else can initiate connections to it from a remote machine.
X2Go is based on an older version of the NX protocol. Even though you are already connecting across a VPN I'd still say make sure you setup TLS with X2Go.
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
On Friday, July 10, 2020 9:25 PM, christine via plug <plug@lists.phillylinux.org> wrote:
X2Go has always been good for me. Also, any VNC client.
All my best,
Christine
On Fri, Jul 10, 2020 at 9:23 PM Walt Mankowski via plug <plug@lists.phillylinux.org> wrote:
Hi,
My workstation at work is running Ubuntu 18.04. I usually ssh into it
over our VPN and that's fine, but I realized today that I could have
saved myself a rare (and today, very wet) trip into work if I had a
way to run the equivalent of Windows Remote Desktop. Nothing like
walking a few blocks through several inches of flooding water to focus
the mind on alternative solutions!
Anyone have any suggestions of packages I should look at? I don't need
to do anything fancy, mostly just drag some files from nautilus to a
browser tab in Firefox.
Walt
___________________________________________________________________________
Philadelphia Linux Users Group -- http://www.phillylinux.org
Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce
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___________________________________________________________________________
Philadelphia Linux Users Group -- http://www.phillylinux.org
Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce
General Discussion -- http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
___________________________________________________________________________ Philadelphia Linux Users Group -- http://www.phillylinux.org Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce General Discussion -- http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug