1 How to Access Your Ubuntu Remotely

When I was using Windows XP I would use UltraVNC to access my desktop remotely, then when I “upgraded” to Vista I did not take to the time to do that, instead I used the built in Remote Desktop feature. Now that I have truly upgraded to Ubuntu, I want to be able to access my machine remotely. This blog post describes two methods.

First things first. You must make sure you can access your computer through the Internet. If you don’t have a static IP address, this means you must subscribe to a service that can dynamically map your IP to a domain address. I use no-ip.com now and I have used dyndns.com.

Next, you will need to make sure your router and firewall will allow traffic into the ports you will open for remote access.

Finally, you must install the SSH server on your computer. I just typed in “sudo apt-get install openssh-server” and I was good to go.

Following are the two methods I suggest:

1. Command Line SSH
1. This is nice because I can ssh into the computer via any computer with Putty, and even with my Pocket PC.
2. After downloading Putty
1. Type in the Host Name and choose ssh
2. Under Connection->SSH->X11 check Enable X11 forwarding.
3. Under that next to X display location you will type in [your ip or domain]:[display number]
1. Find the display number by typing env into a bash prompt and look at the DISPLAY variable.
4. Save your configuration by typing in a “Saved Session” name and clicking the save button under the Session Category.
5. Double click the saved session and then you are ready to login.
2. X through SSH
1. Download and install Xming.
2. Go to Program Files->Xming->XLaunch
3. Choose how you want your display to work.
4. For “Display Number”
1. Find the display number by typing env into a bash prompt and look at the DISPLAY variable.
5. Click Next
6. Choose “start a program” and click next
7. Choose “Using Putty”, fill out the configuration information (leave the password blank) and click next until you get to the final screen
8. I suggest you save your configuration
9. Now open up Putty

VNC is another option and it can be secured over SSH. Here is a tutorial for that.