Instructions for accessing my Ubuntu Karmic Koala boxes remotely using three tools

PuTTY, WinSCP and VNC

VNC

VNC support is installed natively, it just needs to be configured. VNC is like Remote Assistance from Microsoft; you are able to remotely view and control Gnome and all open windows interactively. Of course there are a few limitations (such as applications relying on OpenGL). XBMC for example cannot be controlled via VNC.

1. From the Gnome System menu select preferences and then Remote Desktop

2. Configure according to your own security requirements. I wasn’t worried about limiting my exposure except for a password for inbound connections. Plus, I have a permimeter firewall; these boxes are not in a DMZ.

3. Install VNC viewer on the machine that you would like to connect from

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=vnc+viewer+free+download

4. Open VNC viewer on the machine you would like to connect from, insert the IP address of the remote machine and connect.

Tip: If Gnome Menus do not load, disable system effects (System, Preferences, Appearance)

PuTTY

First you need to install OpenSSH server on the remote machine

Put simply, PuTTY is software that allows you to run terminal commands/applications from a remote system. In other words, anything that is not GUI you can do remotely without VNC’ing to the box or logging into the physical box.

From Windows

1. Grab a copy of PuTTY; I prefer PuTTY portable

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Putty+Portable

2. Open PuTTY.exe (or PuTTYportable.exe)

IP Address (or host) of server

Port 22

Username/Password

WinSCP

First you need to install OpenSSH server on the remote machine

According to the WinSCP website

“WinSCP is an open source SFTP client and FTP client for Windows. Its main function is the secure file transfer between a local and a remote computer. Beyond this, WinSCP offers basic file manager functionality. It uses Secure Shell (SSH) and supports, in addition to Secure FTP, also legacy SCP protocol.”

Put simply, WinSCP is software that allows you to upload files to and download files from your Linux server.

From Windows

1. Grab a copy of WinSCP; I prefer WinSCP portable

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=WinSCP+Portable

2. Open WinSCP.exe (or WinSCPportable.exe)

IP Address (or host) of server

Port 22

Username/Password

Jeremy's Windows Desktop, Karmic Koala, Linux, OpenSSH, OpenSSH server, PuTTY, Remote Access, Ubuntu, WinSCP

Karmic Koala instructions for installing OpenSSH server to access Ubuntu remotely

1. I installed OpenSSH server

sudo apt-get install openssh-server

2. That’s it; because I only have two accounts with very secure passwords, I wasn’t worried about limiting my exposure in any way. Plus, I have a permimeter firewall; these boxes are not in a DMZ.

For details on accessing the boxes using WinSCP and PuTTY see here

Karmic Koala, Linux, OpenSSH, OpenSSH server, PuTTY, sudo apt-get install openssh-server, Ubuntu, WinSCP