Remote access to a Linux box?

Feek · 7 Sep 2015 at 09:12

I have a server at a remote site that is difficult to access physically (half a mile walk, three sets of keys and a telephone call) so I need to be able to get to the GUI remotely.

It's running CentOS 5 and is behind a Netgear ADSL router.

Is there something I can install on the server which will allow me to do this?

Thanks.

randal · 7 Sep 2015 at 09:17

VNC tunneled over SSH would be my suggestion.

Or you could use TeamViewer in unattended mode.

Frozennova · 7 Sep 2015 at 09:19

Something like TightVNC would do the job for remote GUI access, preferably over a VPN or SSH tunnel for security reasons

Feek · 7 Sep 2015 at 11:38

Frozennova said:
Something like TightVNC would do the job for remote GUI access, preferably over a VPN or SSH tunnel for security reasons

Thanks - Would something like this be a suitable setup guide?

Frozennova · 7 Sep 2015 at 11:51

Feek said:
Thanks - Would something like this be a suitable setup guide?

This one would be better as the one you have linked is for a Debian based system

https://wiki.centos.org/HowTos/VNC-Server

Feek · 7 Sep 2015 at 20:54

Frozennova said:
This one would be better as the one you have linked is for a Debian based system

https://wiki.centos.org/HowTos/VNC-Server

Grrrr, is nothing simple on Linux?

memyselfandi · 7 Sep 2015 at 21:41

Why do you need to access the GUI on the server ... is it for running an application gui rather than actually needing a full interface? If so have you considered just doing X11 forwarding over SSH to a local X Server?

If you do want to access a full graphical environment another option could be FreeNX.

Frozennova · 7 Sep 2015 at 21:50

Feek said:
Grrrr, is nothing simple on Linux?

Generally speaking if you want things done properly and securely not particularly.

What do you need remote access for? Depending on your requirements simple SSH access could suffice if you a competent with command line usage

BigglesPiP · 8 Sep 2015 at 00:10

Feek said:
Grrrr, is nothing simple on Linux?

There's 100 ways to do everything. Some ridiculously easy, some hard, what's suitable may be what matters more:
-Just use teamviewer. Pro: Download a thing and run it. Con: The day teamviewer get pwned you are in trouble.
-A free VNC server. Pro: Pretty seure, pretty easy, all teh GUI. Con: bandwidth heavy, port forwarding needed.
-X11 forwarding over SSH. Pro: Already installed I bet. Secure as SSH. Con: May not launch all GUIs. Port forwarding. Windows client end is harder.
-Just using SSH. Pro: Secure fast. Con: Having to know the CLI. Application may be GUI only, yuk.

Steveocee · 10 Sep 2015 at 06:20

Feek said:
I have a server at a remote site that is difficult to access physically (half a mile walk, three sets of keys and a telephone call) so I need to be able to get to the GUI remotely.

It's running CentOS 5 and is behind a Netgear ADSL router.

Is there something I can install on the server which will allow me to do this?

Thanks.

Is there any reason that SSH access is not enough? Pretty much all tasks can be handled by SSH access. The CLI isn't too bad either, you don't need to learn a whole OS. Just the commands you really need.

Unless it's top secret, what are you needing to get into the GUI to do?

BusError · 10 Sep 2015 at 11:29

The best (by far) way to get a remote screen on a machine is x2go (google). You can create remote sessions with processes running on a remote host, and get a 'local' screen/session using a very optimized version of the x11 protocol.

I use it all day, everyday, and there's nothing even remotely comparable. On a gigabit network the 'remote' screen is /as fast/ as a local one for many operations. However it still scales down to 'slow link' speeds and you can also have a working, usable dev platform with full screen windows from your laptop via slow uplink.

You can also easily 'park' your session, and reconnect from a different machine and get all your windows back.

Burnsy2023 · 10 Sep 2015 at 16:59

Steveocee said:
Is there any reason that SSH access is not enough? Pretty much all tasks can be handled by SSH access. The CLI isn't too bad either, you don't need to learn a whole OS. Just the commands you really need.

Unless it's top secret, what are you needing to get into the GUI to do?

Indeed. I very rarely need anything other than putty to administer the hundreds of Linux machines I am responsible for.

BusError · 10 Sep 2015 at 18:00

Burnsy2023 said:
Indeed. I very rarely need anything other than putty to administer the hundreds of Linux machines I am responsible for.

Administering is one thing, using is another. I develop all day on linux, and I use tools from Eclipse, Geany, other IDEs, Eagle CAD, GtkWave, and plenty of others like OpenSCAD that just won't fit in 'just a terminal'. I don't need a /fancy/ desktop (I use LXDE) but I still need one...

Steveocee · 10 Sep 2015 at 20:30

BusError said:
Administering is one thing, using is another. I develop all day on linux, and I use tools from Eclipse, Geany, other IDEs, Eagle CAD, GtkWave, and plenty of others like OpenSCAD that just won't fit in 'just a terminal'. I don't need a /fancy/ desktop (I use LXDE) but I still need one...

Why would you have a remote machine in a hard to reach place to use as a daily machine when you can't get remote guy access?

You are comparing in general terms Cli vs gui which is a whole different topic.

BusError · 11 Sep 2015 at 08:57

Steveocee said:
Why would you have a remote machine in a hard to reach place to use as a daily machine when you can't get remote guy access?

You are comparing in general terms Cli vs gui which is a whole different topic.

You mean, compiling, crunching and stuff on a tiny laptop for example, when I can remote in to a overclocked quad core with 64GB ram and 2 Xeon Phi cards in?

I can access that machine from anywhere, including my lab, that only has a small PC (but 2 big screens) OR I can reattach that same session from the laptop, OR I can go to it's location in the office and pick up what I was doing the same way...

Steveocee · 12 Sep 2015 at 07:59

BusError said:
You mean, compiling, crunching and stuff on a tiny laptop for example, when I can remote in to a overclocked quad core with 64GB ram and 2 Xeon Phi cards in?

I can access that machine from anywhere, including my lab, that only has a small PC (but 2 big screens) OR I can reattach that same session from the laptop, OR I can go to it's location in the office and pick up what I was doing the same way...

That was kind of my point. Although OP hasn't mentioned yet. I doubt they are going to have a "beast" tucked away in this remote location which is a half hour walk and however many sets of keys away.

Obviously we can't be certain until OP comments but I'm not imagining this is going to be a remote box where they do most of their daily work via RDP. In fact if it was I think they'd have been sacked for not finding a way to RDP in yet.....

Feek · 13 Sep 2015 at 09:17

Sorry, I've had a hectic week.

I might be able to do what I want via CLI. I've enabled port forwarding for port 22 on the router but when I try and SSH in, I'm getting no response from the server. Is there something I need to do to enable access?

Frozennova · 13 Sep 2015 at 09:37

You will probably need to open the port in ip tables as well Cent OS is pretty well secured out of the box

quackers · 13 Sep 2015 at 19:31

Hi,

as Frozennova has mentioned it could be a firewall rule, but it also could be that SSH server isn't actually installed.

Either way, make sure you use SSH keys to access the box, if you leave it as passwords you're asking for it and you could always change the default port from 22 to something else, it'll stop a lot of the automated bots.

And install Fail2ban to stop brute force attempts on the box

)

Rroff · 13 Sep 2015 at 19:41

You might find webmin useful as well. (Or web panel - though thats a far more comprehensive implementation for a range of server tasks/hosting).