Are there any secure alternatives to XDMCP (A Linux remote desktop protocol)?
I'd like to set up some thin clients -- UI heads (old computer + mouse + keyboard) connected to VMs on a fast server. ssh -Y doesn't quite cut it, since this would be for non-savvy computer users. I'd like it integrated with kdm/gdm if possible (this seems to rule out Nomachine NX, and I don't like closed source).
I am on a private network, so I guess I'll probably end up going with XDMCP, but it would seem kinda sorry if there aren't any secure open-source alternatives.
This seems like a question for serverfault, but couldn't you just setup a VPN between the client computer and the server? That way, all traffic will be encrypted between the two machines.
Why not use ssh -X ? You could auto-logon locally with a general user and then autorun a script displaying a form for entering user/passwd which connects to a session using ssh -X...
Check out Nomachine NX, which is a secure version of X. They reduced the chattyness of the X protocol in a neat way and tunnel it through ssh. It works really well (but disclaimer - my company does resell the software). Available in free-as-in-beer single user version, or paid for enterprise version. There's also freenx, which is a GPL implementation of the server (the protocol, at least in version 3.x, is GPL).
Related
Is it possible to clone image from display via ssh? I want to see what is on my first laptop display from another laptop, but without any additional software like teamviewer or vnc.
The short answer is: Yes, but you may be unhappy with the results.
The protocol you are looking for is called X11 Forwarding. This option must be enabled on your server by setting X11Forwarding yes in /etc/ssh/sshd_config, then reloading the daemon.
Once enabled on the server, the client must initiate their ssh session using the -x flag.
The major limitations of this technology are that:
The data is not optimized for transfer over the wire. For most environments you end up with a low framerate and/or graphical artifacts. As long as you're doing something like running a GUI installer it should not be a problem, but do not expect to be able to stream video / play a game using X11 forwarding.
The client must have an X server installed. If you are connecting from a Windows machine (or another machine that does not have an X server installed), you may need to use a project such as Xming in order to actually interpret the data once you get it to the client.
I'm currently working on a Linux (Web-) Server configuration tool, which will allow you to easily manage all Your server-configurations in an graphical intuitive solution.
My tool is written in c# and is designed for windows.
The system will connect to a remote Linux-based Server over SSH and will then be able to configure the Domains/Subdomains, email accounts, ftp accounts, php/ settings, nginx/apache settings ... (all remote per ssh)
no aditional software/configuration needed
the system will be able to read the current config and will allow you to easily manage the configuration
I've made an short video of the product: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8buUyOvZrQ
I came from froxlor(php server configuration), which I don't like at all. Because I'm using the server for myself and don't the master/client concept.
So my Question is:
Is there an equivalent Product already on the market?
Because if so, I can stop working on my own product.
Edit
Is there a tool wich works without client Installation? (not php or in any way web-based)
Webmin is a web-based interface for system administration for Unix:
http://www.webmin.com/
I built something similar awhile ago and it was a basic WinForms dashboard that managed Linux boxes by interfacing with them via SharpSSH. This was awhile ago, but judging by their soure forge page it is still maintained.
I want to code/debug collaboratively on a shared linux terminal (so that both parties can see what is being typed into it, and its output) with someone in a remote location. What is the best way to achieve this ?
Options might be:
Setting up a tunnel that would allow me to VNC into my partener's
system. Is this possible without using proprietary software ?
Using a web-based terminal, which allows limited disk-space to
upload a source code file, and then compile/debug it (don't even
know if such a service is available)
In case option 2 is not available, what is the best way to set up a publicly accessible (over the internet, but secure) VNC in ubuntu ?
You can achieve this by using ssh + screen.
For Remote Desktop Sessions in Linux, I want to know if there something available equivalent for what Team Viewer does for windows?
The main advantage I find of Team viewer is that it can bypass firewalls, needs no NAT configurations or port forwarding rules to be setup in the router.
One of the vnc family?
You will have to make the computer visible to the client machine, if you don't want to mess around with firewalls you will need a third party reflector service to connect both of you.
The price of dog food being what it is, we should probably plug copilot, although there are probably a bunch of free ones.
Erm, TeamViewer is not only for Windows - besides full Mac implementation, it also has Linux support (although it's beta). I haven't tried, but... Did you?
I do this all the time using VNC and it is very easy, but I am curious about a few things like XDMCP. As I understand it, this is a way of creating the entire desktop on a remote X-Server which seems fairly elegant.
Several years ago, I worked on a Solaris server and multiple developers had X-Servers running in Windows and we were able to access a full remote X-desktop. All my efforts so far in X based systems seem to indicate that only one instance, remote or local, of the desktop can be loaded, so I guess this Solaris thing was an actual application that "emulated" a desktop, but who knows....
Any input ?
From Windows I've found the best way to do this is using the Xwin command in cygwin.
Steps:
Install Cygwin, making sure to install X11. (Do this by scrolling to the bottom of the list on the "select packages" screen and click on the word "default" to the right of "X11". Give it a second or two and it will change to "install".)
Then, just run the Xwin command like this:
Xwin -query your.unix.system.name
You'll get a full-screen login window from you unix box. That's it!
Btw, sometimes firewalls get in the way of the UDP protocol for XDMCP. If that happens, look up the port numbers (one UDP outgoing, and one TCP incomming) and unblock them. Other xdmcp troubleshooting tips here.
NX will allow you to use a complete remote desktop environment locally, and most Linux distros already have the server available.
As an alternative to full cygwin install you might want to look at Xming. It is quite a bit lighter and should provide the same functionality.
In Xorg/GDM/LightDM options : "listen" should be activated (disabled by default)
In windows, try Xwin32.
In Linux, try Xnest (windowed) or X with "-query" command.
Be careful: it's slow and everything (passwords included) is transmitted in clear. So keep it on local network, tunnel it in SSH or better don't use it.
I found an additional remote desktop implementation which works quite nicely with LXDE:
x2go
Has clients for Windows, Linux and MacOS X.