Remote Desktop

Lovely Bloke

Hello,

I have 2 machines running Mint 14 on my network, I wish to be able to control one from the other - not from external to my network, if that makes any difference.

I want to be able to be sitting in one room with my laptop, and control the other machine - which is connected directly to the internet connection, and so is more stable.

Is it possible?

I've been able to enable the "Desktop Sharing" option, but have no idea where to go from there, thanks.

Tom Dunne

xrdp is what you want.

As root : service xrdp start

That will setup a Remote Desktop server on the machine.

From the other machine, you can then remote desktop into the first machine.

Johnboy1951

What have you in mind when you say "control"?

What do you want to do with it?

Lovely Bloke

Tom Dunne wrote: »

xrdp is what you want.

As root : service xrdp start

That will setup a Remote Desktop server on the machine.

From the other machine, you can then remote desktop into the first machine.

Is it possible to have this happen when the machine starts up? Or does it need to be done every time?

Also, do I need some software on the second machine?

@johnboy - everything - browse, download, get onto BBC iPlayer, 4OD

I've a pain in my face using the wireless keyboard & mouse

Lovely Bloke

Hmm, when I type "service xrdp start" into Terminal, it's telling me

xrdp: unrecognised service

Tom Dunne

TheNinthGate wrote: »

Hmm, when I type "service xrdp start" into Terminal, it's telling me

xrdp: unrecognised service

I would have thought it comes with Mint. Not to worry, just go to the Package Manager (or software manager) and download xrdp.

You don't need any special software on the client machine, apart from the Remote Desktop application (again, look in Package/software manager if it is not there).

And yes, it is possible to have it start when the machine boots up. Look in the System->Admin menu (again, not sure of exact title) and look for services. After you have it installed, it should appear on that list and you can set it to auto-start upon boot.

syklops

TheNinthGate wrote: »

Hmm, when I type "service xrdp start" into Terminal, it's telling me

xrdp: unrecognised service

Do(as root):

apt-get install xrdp

That should work, Im on Fedora so can't test it.

Is it possible to have this happen when the machine starts up? Or does it need to be done every time?

On Fedora and RHEL-ish systems there is a tool called chkconfig, and so a simple "chkconfig <servicename> on" means it starts at boot. I did a quick look around and there is nothing similar on Mint/Ubuntu/Debian apparently, but there is a port of chkconfig, so if you wanted, you could do a:

apt-get install chkconfig

followed by a

chkconfig xrdc on

and it should work.

Lovely Bloke

OK, I've installed xrdp, run as root, and it's told me that it started the Remote Desktop Protocol Server.

I have Vinagre or Remmina on my laptop - I think these are Remote Desktop applications, but I don't really know what I'm doing here either

Tom Dunne

TheNinthGate wrote: »

OK, I've installed xrdp, run as root, and it's told me that it started the Remote Desktop Protocol Server.

Ok, so that is the machine to be accessed.

TheNinthGate wrote: »

I have Vinagre or Remmina on my laptop - I think these are Remote Desktop applications, but I don't really know what I'm doing here either

I don't know anything about those, but most distributions have software actually called "Remote Desktop client". That's what you need to look for.

Keep it simple.

Lovely Bloke

I have "Remote Desktop Viewer", and when I click "Find" I get

I got "Failed to connect to Avahi server: Deamon not running"

This is with/without the other machine turned on or not, so I think this issue is at the "viewing" end.

niallb

I'd differ with @Tom Dunne on what I'd recommend here.
What he has suggested is of course exactly how to run the protocol called "Remote Desktop".

I think however the OP was using two words rather than the name of a service,
and was already running a remote desktop in post #1 when they had "Desktop Sharing" enabled.
The protocol on that however is VNC rather than RDP, but can also be connected to easily using
vinagre, realvnc, tightvnc or remmina.

I think you'll find it easier to connect to it with VNC because the desktop will already be running.
Avahi is another service - for locating services - which isn't running on your network.
If you know the IP address of your PC, you should just be able to type it in.

Get the IP address of your desktop, and use it in the vinagre settings.
Try both VNC connection (for Desktop sharing),
and the RDP for "xrdp".

Khannie

VNC is awful compared to RDP over ASDL IMO. For linux though, NX is where it's at. www.nomachine.com

Really responsive remote desktop over SSH. Lovely.

niallb

I agree. NX is really impressive, and the ssh transport is really handy.
The OP's case though is over local network, and VNC is already running as "Desktop Sharing" is turned on.
RDP is also running, but may not have an actual desktop launched. rdp would probably be faster than vnc here too.

Lovely Bloke

Ok, I got something running, and was able to control 1 machine from the other, in a screen opened up on the second machine.

I was able to browse, download and move files as I wanted to - but it was incredibly laggy and slow at "my end". Is this normal? I've used a similar system in work - where I had to use a machine in Egypt from my laptop in Dublin, and I expected lag there, but not in a room in my house.

niallb

No. It should be possible to use the system comfortably - except perhaps for playing video - on a remote link, let alone a local link.

Can you find out which you got running with; VNC or RDP?
Depending on which protocol you got running, you could try telling the client that you are connected by DSL rather than by LAN to speed it up.
There are lots of tweaks available to speed up remote desktop software.
It's also possible that it's very slow because you're running a 3D desktop on the other end. Logging out and logging back in with a fallback session
might make a huge difference to speed.

Lovely Bloke

Thanks for everyone's input, it's going to be another while til I can get another good go at this - the computer I want to control is in the sitting room, so I can only really do anything on it when there's no-one else around.

niallb

TheNinthGate wrote: »

... the computer I want to control is in the sitting room, so I can only really do anything on it when there's no-one else around...

ssh... the original remote desktop (now with added security)!

BopNiblets

TeamViewer is nice and easy:
http://www.teamviewer.com/en/download/linux.aspx