Secure remote desktop with Linux? VNC? SSH? VPN?

sauce · 12-15-2005, 04:17 PM

At home I have a linux machine that I run RealVNC on. I know its insecure so I ssh to the box to start the server then shut it down when I am ready to log out. This is OK but I would like to leave it up 24/7. How can I do this securely?

I don't know much about VPN but I know it's a hassle to set up and probably not worth it for my situation, but I just wanted to say I have a Linksys WRT54G wifi router which has VPN capability.

Finlay · 12-15-2005, 06:50 PM

ssh your.host.com -L 5900:localhost:5901

if you are connecting from a windows machine then download plink.exe
the syntax is a little different but the point is the same.

this forwards the vnc port in the encrypted ssh tunnel.

osio · 12-15-2005, 06:54 PM

Quote:

I ssh to the box to start the server then shut it down when I am ready to log out.

I think that you can tunnel your vnc session with ssh.
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/Research/DTG...nc/sshvnc.html
Is that what you are doing at the moment?

sauce · 12-16-2005, 01:24 PM

No I am not using any encryption at the moment. Stupid, I know, but that's why I made this thread

Thanks for the tips I'll check them out later.