howto: Remote Desktop on VectorLinux 6.0 using freenx

[M0E-lnx]

I've compiled a mini-howto... mostly personal notes in case I have to do this again...

NX is awesome for remote desktop under linux so far, the best I've seen.

Here is the link to my notes.

http://m0e-lnx.blogspot.com/2009_05_01_archive.html

[sledgehammer]

We don't have a server as such at the office....everyone uses stand alone computers.  However, we are thinking about switching to a server based system at the office.  I think one advantage of that would be that everyone could see and work from whatever was on the server, at least while they were at the office....that they would have, more or less, dumb terminals on their desk, all connected to a well-backed-up (and probably fast) computer/server which would contain all the programs and data.

If this (the above) is possible, and I assume it is, one of the reasons I have been reluctant to switch to a server based system is that I work at home a lot or at coffee shops and want to have up-to-date files with me at those times.  My solution, to date, has been to use one laptop, and carry it around with me, backing up frequently with gsrync.  I use it (the same laptop) at the office, at home and elsewhere.  So I am always up to date, but staff can't work on the stuff in my computer.  So, if I want them to, for example, format something I am doing, I email it to them.

I would appreciate any comments on the foregoing.  It seems to me that freenx might free me up to make the switch to a server based system, if there was no (or little) performance degradation.

John

[M0E-lnx]

freenx is mighty fast... I've been connecting to uel's box in Utah from TX and a full bown 1440x900 desktop @ 32b color is as fast as real time desktop working.

Freenx has the ability to suspend / resume sessions.
You should give it a go

[LeeDB]

Hello, I wanted to to this on 6.0 KDE classic, but slapt-get and Gslapt are not able to find the freenx-server package even though the testing repo is enabled.  Was it removed?

[M0E-lnx]

For some reason, the freenx-server package has been moved to the old repository... I figure this was an accidental move.

You have 2 options:
1) Grab the package and install it manually

Code:

installpkg ftp://ftp-osl.osuosl.org/pub/vectorlinux/veclinux-6.0/old/net/freenx-server-0.7.3-i586-1vl60.tlz

2) Enable the ols repository in slapt-get and do slapt-get -u && slapt-get -i freenx-server


PS. DO NOT LEAVE THE OLD REPOSITORY ENABLED. This will cause problems.
PS2. @ Repo Maintainers... Please move this package back to the active repos.

[LeeDB]

Thanks!  I just did the manual install.

[LeeDB]

FreeNX is working great on Vector 6.0 KDE Classic.  I am very impressed with the speed.

Some notes:

When I issued
  # ./nxsetup --purge --clean --install --setup-nomachine-key

There was an error message indicating that the following statements were needed in sshd_config:
  AllowUsers nx
  AllowGroups nx

I added them, but once I did that, I had to add additional AllowUsers and AllowGroups statements for any other user accounts that needed to connect to the box via SSH.  No big deal, though.

When I issued
  # ./nxserver --adduser  your_user_name_here

There was a message indicating that adding users was no longer required (or something to that effect).  Evidently it was required in an earlier version.

Thanks for the help - not only is it much faster than x11vnc, but also the screen resolution flexibility is fantastic.  I have it running in a 1440x900 window on a 24 inch monitor that is set for 1920x1080 in Windows.

[M0E-lnx]

It suggests that you change sshd_config that way. But that is only important if you control which users can ssh your box.
I dont, so I didn't make that change. I allow all local user accounts to log in via ssh. That step is optional.

the warning you saw may have been related to the sshd_config change.
But you're right... this thing is mighty fast. I use it on a daily basis.

[Daniel]

I started the nxclient program before I installed the server just to see what it looked like but I didn't go any farther than the starting screen. I then installed and started the nxserver and attempted to open the client again. This time, it gave this error message:
./nxclient: /usr/lib/libstdc++.so.6: version `GLIBCXX_3.4.9' not found (required by /usr/NX/lib/libXcomp.so.3)

I have glibc and cxxlibs installed. What else do I need?

[M0E-lnx]

I'm not sure, It has always just worked for me.
All you need on the server is the nxserver, xdialog and netcat (nc)

On the client, you just need the nxclient app

[Daniel]

Ah, I figured it out, I needed the newer gcc and gcc-g++ packages. Another question though: why does a user named nx appear on my kdm login screen?

[M0E-lnx]

For security reason, a user account is created for user "nx".
the server uses this user account to 'netcat' your remote session.

If you do not want the "nx" account to show up on the login, simply configure your KDM to ignore this account.

[stryderX]

This remote desktop tool is great! I've been using it for years on Fedora, Suse and Ubuntu. I thought I had a problem finding netcat until I saw that it's nc.

Thx!