i posted earlier regarding ssh tunneling and the responses have
me rethinking my situation on a broader level.

i have a local network of seven mandriva linux boxes, one xp box, and
one mac pro. i'd like to be able to log in to this network from my
home and be able to remotely run applications, move files, and, generally,
administer all of these machines.

i currently have an ssh tunnel set up to give me vnc access to the mac
pro. i have the same capability with the xp box but i have to manually
access the router and change it to the box i want to access. in other
words, i can only access one machine at a time without manually changing
router settings at the remote location. this is, obviously, impractical.

i'd like to expand the current setup to give me access and control of
all of the machines.

what's the best way for me to set things up for secure remote desktop
access to this network and all its machines? vpn? ssh and vnc? not
having used vpn, does it allow me to do more than just move files
around? can i use it to run apps, see the desktop? links to tutorials
and how-to's appreciated.

thanks,
BabaG

I would just access one main machine from home and then initiate another connection from that machine to all your other machines(local remote from your remote machine).

thanks lazlow.

once i've got the ssh connection to the remote 'master' machine as you suggest, do i need to use ssh or another secure methodology to connect to the other machines in the 'master's' local network? or will having that initial ssh connection take care of the security of the connection? for simplicity, i'd like to be able to just use vnc from the master to the others. fwiw, this is a small network i run and am, pretty much, the only user.

thanks,
BabaG

Like most security calls, that is a judgment thing. If you are certain (enough) that your lan is secure (enough) then just vnc. If not (or in question) run vnc over ssh(or whatever).

thanks again lazlow.

i just can't figure out how, with my router already forwarding ssh port 22 to the master machine,
i would be able to use ssh to call another machine. they'd both be running through the same router
which is set up to forward port 22 to the master machine.

BabaG

Your router will not need to forward another port. The second session will stay entirely on the local lan(local machine A to local machine B), the only external(wan) connection will be from machine A to your home. You will only be "seeing" machine B through machine A(which you are in turn seeing through you machine at home). You might think of it as seeing a photograph of another photograph.