Remote Control on SLED 10

This document (3527459) is provided subject to the disclaimer at the end of this document.

Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10

Situation

There are several options on SLED 10 for remote control. We are only going to go over the Remote Control option (vnc server component) in the gnome-control-center and the terminal server client (vnc-viewer component).

Resolution

Client Side Configuration- For controlling other desktops.

Launch Yast, go to theSoftwaresection and selectSoftware Management.
The package rdesktop should be pulled in automatically as a dependency. Click Continue.
After installing the packages you can access the client by clicking on Computer, More Applications, and typingtsclientin the search field. You have many options with this client, including support for a variety of protocols. In this example we will be using the VNC protocol to control another Linux workstation but this client can also be used to control Windows workstations as well. To connect to another workstation, just specify the IP address and the VNC protocol. You can leave the rest of the fields blank.

Remote Desktop Configuration- For allowing other systems to control your desktop.

To enable other systems to control your desktop you need to configure the Remote Desktop configuration. This is done by clicking on Computer and choosing Control Center off of the main menu. Then within the main menu select Remote Desktop. Here you will find your configuration and security options. Choose the desired options and then close the window.
The port used in this configuration is not setup in the desktop firewall by default. You will need to open this port if your firewall is running. To do this go to Computer, More Applications, and in the search field type Yast. Click on the Yast icon and then go to theSecurity and Userssection and click on Firewall.
On the left hand side of the firewall configuration, click onAllowed Services. In theService to Allowdropdown dialog, choose Remote Administration and click Add.
Highlight the Remote Administration service (now listed in the Allowed Service section) and click the Advanced button. Add port 5900 to the TCP ports section and then click OK and Accept.
You should now be able to use any vncviewer compatible client to take over your desktop. You may also need to specify the display when you put in the IP address (not required if you are using tsclient). For example, let's say that your IP address was 192.168.0.1. In order to take over the current display (ie: The one currently showing on your desktop) you would need to specify a :0 after the IP address for display 0 to be used (example: 192.168.0.1:0). Doing this would allow the person running the desktop to see the actions performed by the remote session. If you specified another display (example 192.168.0.1:1) then you would not be taking over the current display and the person running the desktop would not see the actions performed by the remote session.

Disclaimer

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