control my ubuntu pc from my ubuntu netbook using only terminal instead of vnc
 

ok my ubuntu server sits in my kitchen and is a headless box, though it uses ubuntu desktop not server

my netbook is a samsung n110 running ubuntu remix (love that os)

now vnc can be slow and awkward (specialy when using a internet dongle) and 90% of what i do is done in terminal so i wondered is it possible to somehow log a terminal season on my netbook into my server pc and use it as though i was using the terminal on my server pc

the things i vnc into it for

burning discs (i use grow something... forget the name but its all terminal based)
editing config files (normaly sudo gedit /home/me/.aplication name/config.cfg ) this triggers gedit so not sure if that would work as the cfg would have to be sent to my netbook to be opened in gedit of my netbook then sent across to my server pc
installing stuff to mess about with (normaly sudo apt-get install app name

so is it doable?...by a ubuntu newb?

You would use a utility called ssh. To enable it on your server (the box you remote into) just install openssh-server (I may not have the package name right) and start the service. Then on your client just type ssh or ssh -X to remote into the server and use your applications.

Regards,

Alunduil

Check for ssh and what comes with it. The client is installed, you need to install the server (sudo apt-get install openssh, if i recall correct).
To move stuff around you might use rsync ( -e ssh ...) instead of scp. I for one would edit the cfg-files with nano, vim or another cli-editor (to avoid moving them around), but that is up to you.
You could also use ssh with the -X option and open gedit on your netbook.

It's rather easy (both: setting it up and using it).

ups: I missed the previous post. Sorry.

PS: You might also consider replacing VNC by No mashine/NX (for me its way "faster" than VNC)
http://www.nomachine.com/

i ran sudo apt-get openssh-server on my machine (while using vnc)

i then ran ssh -x and got the help info on my netbook

so i tried ssh -x my-servers-ip and it just sat there and waited
i tired ssh -x fakeip and it errored

im guessing (hoping infact) i just need to pass on my user and password details, i tried adding -l myusername at the end again it just sat thier doing naught lol

im about to do a massive google hunt wish me luck

It's a capital X not a lowercase x for the option.

Regards,

Alunduil

tried lower and upper

also looked up the manual page and tried,

ssh hostip -X -f -l username

the -f was recommanded in the maual incase it was asking for a password

and it errored
Cannot fork into background without a command to execute.

i added XTERM to the end
and it froze up again


i am still reading through the manaul but it is rather heavy reading and damn confusing lol

What is the output of nmap -p 22 <host_ip>?

Regards,

Alunduil

i figured it out...man im embarrassed, i forgot to port fwd port 22

its working now ... oops lol

thanks guys!

Glad to hear you got it figured out.

Regards,

Alunduil

am i right in thinking that if i lose connection or if close the terminal while burning the burning fails?

It kills the process so probably, yes. If you need to background a process and then "hangup" prefix your command with SIGHUP and it should stay alive when you disconnect.

Regards,

Alunduil

Rather than VNC I just use XDMCP enabled on the machine I intend to log into. The GDM chooser in Ubuntu has an option for remote session, or you can do it from the a virtual terminal with something like . The nice thing about the manual way, is that then you can ctrl+alt+fN between the local and remote X sessions.

SSH as mentioned above is the way to do it for strictly terminal work.

you can try to check ssh and what comes with it. hope this help