Tech Volta

Accessing your computer remotely is critical now-a-days. When I’m at work I find myself needing files, documents, and other things from my home computer. When I was running Windows XP I used logmein.com to remotely access my computer. The reason logmein worked so well was because it used port 80; most other ports are blocked at work, so other programs wouldn’t work. Since my home computer is now Ubuntu Feisty Fawn I have to try a different route.

Fortunately, Ubuntu comes with a built-in VNC support. It’s easy to implement:

System -> Preferences -> Remote Desktop

Under sharing select:

• Allow other users to view your desktop
• Allow other users to control your desktop

Under security select:

• Require users to enter this password:
• Password: PICK A DIFFICULT PASSWORD

This is not the most secure method of having remote desktop on your linux box, but this is the easiest way. Since ubuntu is utilizing VNC it will use ports 5900 - 590x depending on how you have it setup. 5900 will be the port you want.

To access my linux box remotely from an XP box I use a free web-based VNC viewer from s-code.com, which I believe is open sourced.  It is much like logmein.com, except logmein.com also supports java, but not linux.

http://www.s-code.com/products/viewerx/webvnc.aspx

This lovely little site will allow you to access your VNC at home on whatever port via http port 80. Firewalls control what ports you can access, but as long as a port is open you can get to anything.