Remote Desktop from Windows to Linux

Introduction

You may well have read my first part to this article. If not then you can read it here. Part two of my remote access experiment has now been completed. My idea was to run a remote Linux desktop on my Windows XP computer. This allowed me to access two Operating Systems at the same time. The remote Linux machine would be running with a power and a network cable and would be administered remotely. After much work this has now been completed. The aim of this article is to provide information on making a remote connection from Windows to Linux.

Initial Preparation

In order to perform this I required the following equipment:

Windows XP Computer (Celeron D 2.8Ghz, 1GB DDR RAM, 60GB Hard Drive, Radeon 9250 Graphics)
Linux Computer (AMD Athlon 1800+ XP, 256MB RAM, 20GB Hard Drive, SIS integrated Graphics)
A network. (Belkin Router)

I also required the following software:

Windows XP Pro (For the Local Computer)
Fedora Core (Available as a download here)
Putty (The Secure Shell Program available here)
A VNC Program (This allows you to view a remote graphical desktop. It is available here)

Recently I have upgraded my ageing network from 10mb/s to 100mb/s. This increased the speed of my network drastically. I have chosen to Install the Fedora Core Three distribution of Linux and Windows XP Professional. This guide may well work with other Linux Distributions with a little modification.

Installation of Fedora Core Three

First of all I needed to install Linux onto the remote machine. In order to do this I hooked up the computer to my Monitor and other peripherals and set about the installation. I booted from the Fedora DVD and booted into a Graphical Installation. I chose a custom install and selected to install everything for simplicity. You can also choose the various options which include Laptop, Server, Workstation or Custom.

Preparing for disconnection

If you have not configured the firewall now is the time to do so. To do this in Fedora Core 3:

Click Applications and select System Tools then Click on Terminal.
Type in the command 'Lokkit' and press Enter. The Lokkit configuration program will launch.
Enable the firewall and tab to customise and press Enter.
Choose to allow incoming SSH and then select ok. Press Enter and then finally select Ok then press Enter again. This will set a rule which will allow remote access via SSH (Secure Shell Server) to your Linux Box.

TIP: If you are going to be running your linux machine without the mouse keyboard or monitor, you may need to change settings in your BIOS to prevent an error occurring due to the lack of peripherals being connecting. I find the easiest way is to look in the computer BIOS and set the errors setting to Ignore all Errors. This should then let the machine boot without anything connected into it.

With this now completed. Shut down the Linux machine and connect it in a convenient Place.

Making the Connection

Now that your Windows Computer is setup and your Linux box is up and running you are now ready to administer the Linux machine remotely. You will require a program that will allow you to make a connection to the Linux machine via SSH. An example of such a program is Putty. You can download the program here. Once you have a program to connect to your Linux box launch it and enter the IP Address of your Linux machine. You should be presented with something like below:

Login with the Username you specified and press Enter. Note in Linux that user names are case sensitive. Next enter your Password and press Enter. You should now have remotely logged into your Linux machine.

TIP: I would recommend logging in as a normal user. Setting up a remote linux desktop for root is dangerous and can compromise the security of your system. 

More preparation work

Now we have established a secure connection to the Linux Box, we can now run a remote desktop.

Simply type vncserver and press Enter. You will be asked to enter a password to access your desktop. Once you have entered a password press Enter. Your screen should look similar to the screen shot below.

TIP: Ensure you enter a secure password that isn't easy to guess. This will help protect your system from unauthorised access. Secure passwords often contain a mix of letters and numbers and upper and lower case characters.



Look at the number in the text that follows Log File. In the example above it is /home/root/.vnc/Server:10.log. The number represents the screen number, this will need to be specified when we connect to the Linux desktop. We are almost ready to make the Graphical connection to the Linux Server. To allow this will require remote access software such as Real VNC. You can find some here. Install the remote access program and then launch it. You will be presented with a screen that looks like the screen shot below.

Enter the Ip address of your Linux machine and the screen number as in the screen shot above on the right. Click OK. What you should now have displayed is a remote connection to your Linux machine and a Terminal that will allow you to run programs. This is all well and good but we can also have the remote machine display a fully functional Linux desktop on your local computer.To do this we need to go back to the SSH screen we have loaded. Type in the command vi /**your username here**/.vnc/xstartup. Press Enter.Your screen will look like the one below.

Delete the # before "unset SESSION_MANAGER" and "exec /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc". To do this press Insert then move the cursor to the appropriate position. When you have made the necessary deletions enter :wq. W saves the file and Q quits the editor. You will now return to the original terminal window.

As we have made changes to the Remote Desktop screen, we will need to kill the screen we just launched and then start the server up again. To do this:

Enter the command vncserver -kill :1 and press Enter. (Number 1 being the screen number)
This will stop the VNC Server.
Finally type the command vncserver and press enter.
As before, connect to the server entering the ip address and the screen number.

TIP: If you want to run your vncserver in a different screen resolution, enter the command vncserver -geometry 120x1024 (or the resolution you require) ie vncserver -geometry your resolution.

Continuing the Connection

Once your vncserver has restarted and is running again you should be looking at a graphical desktop like below:

You now have a fully functional Linux desktop running on your Windows Computer. Perfect for learning about the operating system or if you feel adventurous, running many different programs. If you require any support then you can contact us and we will be happy to help you,