Remote desktop before login?

taylorkh · 08-13-2011, 02:29 PM

I have a PC running Ubuntu 10.04 with vino to share the desktop. After I login to the PC I can connect to it from another PC (again 10.04) with the vinagre Remote Desktop Viewer. Canonical has made this rather easy to configure. However, I cannot connect to the remote PC and use the Desktop Viewer to login to the remote PC.

Short of ripping out vino and installing vnc or tightvnc is there a way to configure Ubuntu's desktop sharing to allow me to connect to the remote PC and then login?

TIA,

Ken

macemoneta · 08-13-2011, 02:47 PM

Yes, you can define an independent session that gives you a login prompt at connection.

First, edit /etc/gdm/custom.conf and add ‘Enable=true’ to the ‘[xdmcp]’ section:

Code:

    [xdmcp]
    Enable=true

Edit /etc/services and add an entry for the second VNC session:

Code:

    vnc2         5901/tcp                # VNC & GDM

Create an xinetd service (install xinetd if you don't already have it) by creating /etc/xinetd.d/vnc2 with the following contents:

Code:

    service vnc2
    {
      disable = no
      socket_type = stream
      protocol = tcp
      wait = no
      user = nobody
      server = /usr/bin/Xvnc
      server_args = -inetd -query 127.0.0.1 -geometry 980x600 -depth 24 -once -securitytypes=none :1
    }

Set the parameters, like the geometry, to your desired screen size. This is handy if you are connecting via a mobile device, so you don't have to scroll the screen.

Open the firewall to port 5901 for the service if you have the firewall active (use your subnet, obviously):

Code:

    -A INPUT -s 123.45.67.0/24 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 5901     --syn -j ACCEPT

Restart your system.

You should now be able to connect via a VNC client to port 5901 on your desktop and get a login prompt. This is completely independent from your desktop session. If you have remote desktop functionality enabled in the preferences, that should still function on port 5900 (the default).

taylorkh · 08-13-2011, 05:16 PM

Thanks macemoneta, I may have to give that a try. It is not exactly what I was looking for. I used to run vnc on Red Hat and Fedora. I would connect as my normal user ID or a test user ID or (although I should not) as root. All in their own little worlds. And I could be logged in to the main console at the same time. Almost like a REAL operating system

Windoze XP allowed me to connect to the "console" before login and then decide which user I wanted to be. And of course Canonical took the worst of both worlds. I am required to use the main console but have to be logged in to the main console first. Oh well. Again thanks for the instructions.

Ken

p.s. Manalapan - I used to live in Holmdel. And all those quarters you paid on the Garden State Parkway... I went to school with with the son of the Head of the Parkway Authority - the one who took all those quarters (collected to maintain the Parkway) and built the Garden State Art Center!