Basic Linux Lite Power Networking For The Small Office Linux To & From Linux Connections
*(Though these tutorials are dated in places most of the instructions apply. These tutorials concern Linux Lite 3.x Series and Debian 8)
Contents (Contents is not bookmarked. Scroll to get to tutorials.)
Introduction/Explanation
Tutorial (1) Debian Remote Desktop Via x11vnc And Remmina
Tutorial (2) Set Up SSH/SFTP On Linux To Linux Ad Hoc Wifi
Tutorial (3) Getting A Secure Shell Terminal With Remmina
Tutorial (4) Getting A Linux Lite Remote Desktop With x11vnc And Remmina
Tutorial (5) Getting A Linux Lite Remote Desktop With x11vnc, Remmina, SSH Tunnel & Keys
Tutorial (6) Simple Saving Of Multiple Connections To Thunar
Congratulations and welcome to Linux Lite. You now have one of the most stable and beautifully executed XFCE Linux distributions up and running on your computer. Chances are pretty good you have been a Windows user in the past, or still are a Windows user, perhaps dual booting Linux Lite with Windows 10, or running Linux Lite on a laptop, with Windows 10 on a desktop. Feel comfortable here, because Linux Lite more than any other Linux distribution out there aims to, and succeeds at, giving Windows users a comfortable and familiar computing experience from the desktop.
The group of tutorials that follow here will help you set up a diversity of power networking functions, most with fully cross platform functionality. You are about to discover the networking power of Linux Lite, a stable GUI friendly Linux system that plays well with Windows, Mac, and many other Linux distributions across platforms on a network.
Tutorial (1)
Remmina & x11vnc Server To Enable A Debian 8.3+ Remote Desktop In Linux Lite 3.0
This tutorial is specific to connecting to a Debian 8.3+ OS running an x11vnc server, to enable its remote desktop on your Linux Lite 3.0 OS with Remmina. All steps can be done from the Debian and Linux Lite desktop GUIs. Depending on the setup used, in this case a user with sudo privileges on both computers, the Debian 8.3+ remote desktop in Linux Lite is fully functional, again with Libreoffice on both systems, and sudo user privileges with the terminal, and file managers. This set up will perform very well, and quite fast, if both computers have at least 2gig of ram, and at least 2.33g cpus, but because it is Linux at heart, it will also function admirably on less endowed systems if configured more thinly.
There is a lot of Ubuntu sludge, and dated material on x11vnc available on the Internet. A good portion of it is redundant to the GUI that comes with x11vnc in Debian Jessie, and/or unnecessary except for the SSH tunneling protocol (another subject I will cover in follow up tutorial), and possibly using dconfig on x11vnc in Ubuntu based distros for automatic startup through login (again another subject I will cover in a follow up tutorials related to PXE booting and ad hoc networking) If this is your first time with Debian, or with x11vnc, just ignore the Internet and the terminal for now, and trust this tutorial to get you started on the right track, and get your Debian 8.3 remote desktop displayed and active on your Linux Lite 3.0 desktop. Many things can be configured after you are connected, many actually doable from the remote desktop of your Debian system that Remmina produces on your Linux Lite 3.0 desktop.
The x11vnc server has been around forever, and now that default Debian Jessie has abandoned the XFCE desktop a lot of the old quirks in XFCE requiring add ons and plugins are moot and Remmina is quite modern and powerful with GTK2+ and new GTK3 features that fit quite nicely with the new Debian and systemd and any XFCE distro, i/e the setup to follow here works equally well with Ubuntu based Linux Lite 3.0, and the Solydx OS implementation of XFCE on Debian. I have a laptop with with Linux Lite 3.0, and another with Solydx and can attest to this.
This tutorial is intended to be clicker friendly, and GUI friendly, to ease new users and Windows converts into the real power of Remmina on their Linux Lite 3.0 systems. Below are two links included here for your future reference, one regarding terminal session work to accomplish x11vnc configuration in Debian Jessie, and the other with all the available commands in x11vnc.
https://debian-administration.org/article/135/Remotely_administering_machines_graphically_with_VNC
http://linux.die.net/man/1/x11vnc
*Installing x11vnc via GUI on your Debian 8.3+ OS
Click on >Activities in the top left hand corner of the Debian 8.3+ default desktop. Click the >Show Applications button at the bottom left of the left side panel. Click the small >radio buttons on the right center of the dashboard to scroll. Locate and click on >Synaptic Package Manager. Type in your password and click >Authenticate. Once Synaptic has loaded click the >Search button, and when the window entitled >Find opens up, type in > x11vnc and click the >Search button.
Several package files may then be listed depending on the repositories and PPA's you have enabled. Find x11vnc 0.9.13-1.2+b2, and x11vnc-data 0.9.13-1.2. Right click on them, and from the menu select >Mark for installation. Click >Apply in the upper tool bar. A query window will appear entitled >Summary asking >Apply the following changes. Click the >Apply button in the lower right hand corner, and x11vnc will install to your Debian 8.3+ OS. After confirming installation quit Synaptic, log out, and restart your computer.
Now click the >downward pointing arrow head in the upper right hand corner of the upper tool bar, and from the drop down menu select the >crossed wrench radio button in the lower left hand corner of the menu. This will open up a window entitled >All Settings. Click the >Network icon in the menu. This will open a window entitled >Network. Click the >History button in the lower right hand corner. This will open a window entitled >History. Click the >configure button to the right (the square one with the little gear on it) of your current Internet connection. A window will open entitled >with the SSID of your current Internet connection. Copy the IPv4 address onto paper for later reference. It will be formed something like this i/e 192.168.0.3. Close all open windows and return to desktop.
Now locate a terminal using the dashboard as prescribed above and open it. Everything in the command line between the @ sign and the first :colon is the netbios name of your computer. Write this down on paper for later reference. Now type in >exit, and hit >enter to close the terminal. Leave the system running and return to your Linux Lite 3.0 computer.
*Configuring Remmina to connect to x11vnc on Debian 8.3+ from Linux Lite 3.0.
On your Linux Lite 3.0 computer go to >Menu>Internet> highlight and click on >Remmina. A window will open entitled Remmina Remote Desktop Client. Click on >New from the upper tool bar menu. A window will open entitled Remote Desktop Preferences. From the box beside, to the right of, Protocol open the drop down menu and select >VNC-Virtual Network Computing. In the box to the right of Name >type in the netbios name you wrote down earlier of your Debian 8.3+ computer. In the box to the right of Group >type in simply / as a delimiter. In the box to the right of Server type in the IPv4 address of your Debian 8.3+ computer that you wrote down earlier, and add the port 5900, i/e 192.168.0.3:5900. Leave the box to the right of Repeater blank. In the box to the right of User name type in the >user name with sudo privileges of your Debian 8.3+ computer. In the box to the right of Password type in >that same user’s password. To eliminate possible issues on our first connection open the drop down menu to the right of Color depth and select >High color (16 bit). In the box to the right of Quality open the drop down menu and select >Poor (fastest). Leave the >Advanced tab, and >SSH tab alone for now. Click >Save in the lower left hand corner of the window, and then close the window.
Now click >Edit>Preferences from the upper tool bar in the window entitled Remmina Remote Desktop Preferences. A window will open entitled Remmina Preferences. Check the box >Remember last view mode for each connection. Check the box >Save settings when starting the connection. Uncheck the box >Invisible toolbar in fullscreen mode. Check the box >Always show tabs. Uncheck the box >Hide toolbar in tabbed interface. Make sure the box to the right of Default view mode reads >Automatic. The box to the right of Tab interface should read >Tab by groups. The box to the right of Scale quality should read >Hyper. Leave the other settings boxes alone.
Next click on the >Applet tab and check >Disable tray icon. Click on the >Terminal tab and check the box >Use system default font. Click on the >RDP tab and set the Keyboard layout to <Auto detect> from the drop down menu. Set the Quality option to >Poor (fastest) from the drop down menu. If the desktop wallpaper on your Debian 8.3+ computer is not too heavy check the box >Wallpaper. It is also okay to check the box >Composition if your Debian 8.3+ is using the default desktop. Click >Close in the lower right corner of the Remmina Preferences window. Leave the Remmina Remote Desktop Client window open and return to your Debian 8.3+ computer.
*Initial configuration of x11vnc in Debian 8.3+ via the GUI
The default installation of x11vnc in Debian 8.3+ is set to allow only one connection per server instance. For now you should leave that as it is, until in a tutorial to follow this one, you can get through the SSH configurations for Remmina and x11vnc, and/or create an ad hoc wifi network setup which is preferable. It is important to remember that this initial setup will send unencrypted data through your IP provider router, so it is advisable not to use any other Internet accessing applications while running your remote desktop this first time.
Navigate the dashboard, as described previously, and locate the x11vnc server >icon and click on it (looks like a computer monitor in the default icon set). Make sure you have selected the x11vnc server, and not the x11vnc viewer, as Debian 8.3+ installs both. A small information window will appear entitled >Select an x11vnc port. In the lower left portion of the window the Port should read >5900, and to the right of File Transfer, the radio button >none should be selected. Click the >OK button and the window will close.
After a brief pause a new small window will open entitled x11vnc Properties. Leave the >Show Instructions box checked, and check the >Accept Connections box. Leave the other boxes unchecked, and click on the >Apply button.
Now in the same x11vnc Properties window click the >Advanced button. A new small window will appear entitled tkx11vnc – (netbios name of your computer):0. From this window you can configure most of the important settings of your x11vnc server instance. Since many of the settings can be changed on a running x11vnc server, clicking on the original x11vnc tray icon during a desktop session will bring up this window to allow configuration changes, and many can be made from the running remote desktop. This convenience allows for easily configuring the performance of the remote desktop, and because Debian and Remmina are so compatible as far as GTK2+ this works very well.
In the tkx11vnc – (netbios name of your computer):0 window, now click the >Tuning tab, and from the drop down menu scroll down and select >XDAMAGE. A menu will appear to the right with three choices. You must click on them to check or uncheck. All the choices should be unchecked. This will introduce the noxdamage feature into our running x11vnc server and turn off the ncache feature. You do not need or want these somewhat glitchy features because your x11vnc server is not running on an XFCE desktop Debian system, and does not require any XFCE plugins, and you have ample available ram on both computers. It does not matter that your Linux Lite 3.0 computer uses an XFCE desktop, because Remmina is in control of the remote desktop.
Next in the tkx11vnc – (netbios name of your computer):0 window click the >Screen tab. Scroll down the menu and click >8-bit-color. Make sure all the boxes are unchecked in the menu that appears to the right. Remmina in Linux Lite 3.0 will control the initial color mapping then.
Next in the tkx11vnc – (netbios name of your computer):0 window click on the >Actions tab. Scroll down and click on >Settings and from the menu to the right click >save-settings. Click on the >Actions tab again and take notice of the >stop command and click on the >? to the right of it. This will open an explanation of how to stop x11vnc, and explain a few options concerning the GUI (small window) you are currently using. Click >Dismiss to close the help information. Click on the >Actions tab again and scroll down to >Quit and click the >? to the right. Read the help information and then click >Dismiss. Finally click on the >Actions tab again and scroll down and click >Quit. This will dismiss the GUI but leave x11vnc still running. Now you are ready to connect from Remmina on your Linux Lite 3.0 desktop and enable a remote desktop display of your Debian 8.3+ desktop via the x11vnc server running in your Debian OS. Leave your Debian 8.3+ computer running and return to you Linux Lite 3.0 computer.
*Connecting
On your Linux Lite 3.0 desktop with the open Remmina Remote Desktop Client window, right click on the connection you created and from the menu click >Connect. The connection and remote desktop display from Debian 8.3+ will be almost instantaneous, much faster than the Windows 10 RDP remote desktop display. Enjoy.
*A Few Quirks
You will notice that Debian desktop works a little differently than the Windows 10 rdp. When you move the mouse on your remote screen in Linux Lite 3.0 the mouse movement occurs on the Debian 8.3+ home desktop. When you open an application on the Debian remote desktop, it opens on the Debian home computer desktop display. All of these things occur in the background on a Windows 10 home computer, via the “other” user dialogues, so there is no mouse fighting and so forth, the MS flaw being of course that a dilettante Windows 10 user could be completely unaware that their Windows 10 desktop is being accessed remotely.
You cannot control the display size from Remmina with presets for an x11vnc server enabled remote desktop as in the Windows 10 rdp setup. I did not cover the clip and scale options for the x11vnc server in this tutorial because the upper tool bar in your Remmina remote desktop display can change the screen size manually. A good praxis for the new user is to read the help information enabled from >? for all the x11vnc server options in the menus of the tkx11vnc – (netbios name of your computer):0 window. Even GUIs can have a learning curve. Good luck with your new Debian 8.3+ remote desktop configuration.
Tutorial (2)
Set Up Ad Hoc Wifi In Linux Lite 3.0 For SSH Server Access And SFTP
At the outset it is sensible to remember the Windows idea of a “hosted network” when considering Linux ad hoc wifi. What I mean by this is that the new ad hoc wifi network must be initially set up on the same Linux computer where the SSH server resides. The SSH client side of ad hoc wifi is only to make a secure connection to the SSH (hosted network connection) of the wifi network created on the SSH server side. It’s nature (no DHCP) makes it technically difficult to test with ping so we won’t. Certain things done in a correct order can ease the creation of such an ad hoc connection in Linux Lite 3.0 as network manager in Xenial (Linux Lite 3.0 version) is now predisposed to often correctly configuring an ad hoc wifi network (except for WPA) and generating a private IPv4 address during setup. To avoid IP conflicts, and allow shared Internet provider connections via ethernet cable, Linux network manager generally defaults to the address range 10.0.0.0 to 10.255.255.255 for ad hoc wifi, reserving the 192.168 range connections for DHCP router host/client assigning.
The first thing we need to do is download and install SSH server on our Linux Lite computer. Make sure you are connected to the Internet and click >Menu>System>Install/Remove Software to open Synaptic in Linux Lite. Type in your password when prompted and click the >Authenticate button. Make sure the left pane is set to >All and in the search box type ssh. Scroll through the package list and find the package: openssh server – 1:7.2p2-4ubuntu2.1. Left click on it, and select mark for installation. Agree to the dependencies and download and install it to your Linux Lite 3.0 computer.
If you’re a new Linux user or nervous about the terminal and/or the nano editor, open a terminal and enter the following command: sudo cp /etc/ssh/sshd_config{,.bak} This will back up the default sshd configuration file in case you mess up.
Now type the command: sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config and the configuration file of your newly installed ssh server will appear. It will run as is, with the defaults enabled from Ubuntu, but to simplify things for setting up our ad hoc wifi connection we are going to edit the file. Use the down arrow on your keyboard to navigate through the file. In the first few lines find: # What ports, Ips and protocols we listen for. The next line should read: Port 22. The next line should read: # Use these options to restrict which interfaces/protocols sshd will bind to. At the first: #ListenAddress line navigate to the end of the line with keyboard arrows and backspace out the existing entry and type 10.42.0.1. (or any unique IP beginning with the 10.0-254... addressing convention). At the second #ListenAddress line repeat the navigation and backspace out the entry and type: 0.0.0.0 if it’s not already there.
Next navigate through the file to the line PermitRootLogin and check to see that it reads prohibit-password. The line below: StrictModes should read- yes. Navigate further down with the arrow key until you find the line: x11Forwarding and backspace out the no replacing it with yes. Navigate down to the SFTP subsystem files and make sure the last line UsePAM is set to yes. Now hit control+x and then enter shift+y at the prompt, and then hit >enter at the file selection prompt. You new sshd configuration file is saved.
Now if you a using a wifi Internet connection you will have to disconnect from the Internet so copy this tutorial to a Libreoffice file first, and save it.
Disconnect from the Internet and open a terminal and type the command: sudo systemctl restart ssh. Your ssh server will now start. Click on the tray wifi icon (exclamation point when disconnected) and open the window dialogue from the menu >Create new wifi network. Leave Connection set to new. In the box next to name enter any name you like for your network. For wifi security choose WEP 128bit passphrase. Check the show key box, and then click on the key box and enter a password of thirteen mixed characters. Click the >create button. Because SSH server is running, and we have already bound it to a lower scale IP addressed interface, network manager will create an ad hoc wifi network with the IPv4 address we bound SSH server to, which will connect immediately after prompting for and confirming the password. If it connects, disconnect it and click the >wifi tray icon again, clicking >edit connections, and select it from the list to uncheck the >automatically connect to this network box, and uncheck the >automatically connect to vpn box, and check the >All users may connect this connection box.
If your new network connected immediately you are done and have working Linux ad hoc wifi so now click >Save. If it did not connect Click the >Wifi Security tab and check the box >show password and verify you have entered the correct password, also verify that the security box reads >WEP 128bit passphrase. Also click the >Wifi tab and verify that mode is set to >ad hoc. Finally click on the >IPv4 tab and verify that the method is >Shared to other computers. Click the >Save button and close the remaining >Network Connections window. Find the network again by clicking on the tray icon, and selecting >Connect to hidden network. Click the drop down menu reading >new, and find and select your network from the list. Click the button >connect, and it should now connect.
Once connected click >Menu>Settings>Settings Manager and navigate to and click on >Firewall Configuration. Enter your password when prompted and click >Authenticate. When Firewall opens, because we are running one off server instances, and running on ad hoc wifi, we are not going to go through the process of adding firewall rules, but rather simply set the incoming setting to >allow and close the firewall dialogue. Of course the Firewall in Linux Lite can be configured to special rules, but that is another tutorial, and really not particularly necessary for ad hoc wifi without DHCP with a server bound interface, and a range no farther than sixty feet. At this point it’s good praxis to log out and reboot your computer, so do it. After you log back in, open a terminal and type the command: sudo systemctl start ssh and then connect to your new hosted ad hoc wifi network.
The laptop I’m using to connect to my Linux Lite 3.0 desktop SSH server is running the newest version of Solydx. I am not going to go through all the steps concerning its configuration other than to say that network manager has subtle, but not particularly difficult to sort out differences between distros. Firewalls have the same kind of subtle distro quirks as well. For the most part, network managers, and firewalls on Debian based systems, and Ubuntu based systems work essentially the same, and are capable of the same things in closely matched versions. Things vary of course with RHEL, Mint, and free BSD bases. All we are going to do with the laptop is set the firewall like our Linux Lite desktop is set, and make sure we can connect to its hosted wifi network. If it does not immediately connect, and in this case by default it used the wrong WEP setting we will just manually change what needs to be changed. The client side of ad hoc wifi connections can be manually IPv4 addressed, which is also the case for this laptop, and we entered 10.42.0.2 then 255.255.255.0 and 0.0.0.0 and connected quite nicely after the first attempt hung because of the wrong WEP setting. We simply right clicked on the tray icon, and selected edit connections, found it, and edited it.
Once connected we opened Thunar on the Solydx laptop, backspaced out the URI address bar and typed - - sftp://10.42.0.1/home/Linux Lite user name/ and hit >enter, and I was prompted for user name and password, and entered my Linux Lite user name and password and the files on my Linux Lite 3.0 desktop computer loaded immediately to my Solydx laptop. When the two computers are close enough together the transfer speeds can be dazzling, not to me so much as I have business class broadband, but if you are suddenly running at 72mb/s after trudging along at 7 to 12 on your normal wifi connection you will appreciate another advantage of ad hoc wifi connections.
Tutorial (3)
Use Remmina On Another Linux OS To Display A Linux Lite 3.0 Secure Shell Remotely
This tutorial is specific to enabling a remote Linux Lite 3.0 Secure Shell on another wifi connected Linux computer utilizing Remmina. Remmina works well on most modern Debian based and/or Ubuntu based Linux distros. I will be using a Solydx laptop, a similar Debian based XFCE distro a little less hybrid and a little less compatible with Ubuntu than Linux Lite, but suitable for the purposes of this tutorial.
To begin open a terminal in Linux Lite 3.0 and type- sudo systemctl start ssh -. Enter your password and ssh will start on Linux Lite. We will connect via ad hoc wifi the first time, so reset the firewalls on both machines as in our previous tutorial. Select and connect to the ad hoc wifi hosted network we set up in the last tutorial with your Linux Lite machine.
Go to your other Linux computer, and if it’s an XFCE desktop click >Menu>Internet>Remmina to open it. Click on >Connection at the top left of the window and from the drop down down menu select >New. A window will open entitled Remote Desktop Preferences. In the box next to >Name type in the the netbios name of your Linux Lite 3.0 computer (the one we will be connecting to). In the box next to >Group simply type in / a forward slash. In the box nest to >Protocol click open the drop down menu and locate and click on >SSH Secure Shell. In the box next to >Sever type in 10.42.0.1 i/e the ad hoc wifi IP address of you Linux Lite computer. Leave the >Character set and Startup program boxes blank for now. Type your Linux Lite sudo user name in the box next to >User name. Turn on the >Password radio button. Click the >Save button in the lower left corner of the window.
Now click on your new SSH remote secure shell connection, and from the menu select >Connect. After authentication a remote desktop terminal shell will appear immediately reading at the first line >Welcome to Linux Lite 3.0 (listing after, which kernel is in use by the Linux Lite system), a few lines below listing *Documentation, *Management, and *Support URLs. Next the number of available updates may be listed, and qualified as to security in the next line. The next line will usually be Last Login: with a date, and the IP address of the computer that logged in. Next will be the your Linux Lite command prompt now usable from your SSH connected other Linux machine as a secure shell remote terminal. To exit the shell type in >exit at the prompt and hit >enter. More networking power added.
Tutorial (4)
Get A Remote Linux Lite Desktop On Ad Hoc Wifi From Another Linux OS With Remmina & x11vnc
To produce a remote version of our Linux Lite desktop on another Linux OS computer we are going to need to add some kind of vnc server to our Linux Lite 3.0 system. In the past Ubuntu based distributions have used vino and a few others, several enabling various versions of Internet based softwares. We are going to download and install the powerful, versatile, and immensely configurable x11vnc server to our Linux Lite 3.0 computer, and use Remmina on our other Linux OS to get a fully functional Linux Lite 3.0 remote desktop. *Because we are going to use our now properly functioning ad hoc wifi to make the connection between the two computers, we are going to use a simple and powerful setup in x11vnc, but it’s important to remember to use an SSH tunnel if you are intending to send data over any broader easily reachable wifi public channels like your Internet access provider’s. We will cover that setup in another tutorial.
Make sure you are connected to the Internet, and on your Linux Lite 3.0 computer click >Menu>System>Install/Remove Software to open >Synaptic. Authenticate and select >All from the left menu and wait for the package inventory to update. Type >x11vnc into the search box. From the files that appear select the package >x11vnc 0.9.13-1.2build1. Make sure the file numbers are correct, because if you have added Debian8 “jessie” repositories to Synaptic as I have you may get the wrong package listed. If that is the case for you click >Settings in the top toolbar, then >Repositories, then the >Other Software tab, and uncheck the Debian8 “jessie” repositories. Close Synaptic, and then reopen it and do your search query again and the correct x11vnc package will appear. Select the > x11vnc 0.9.13-1.2build1 package and click >Apply, agree to the dependencies and x11vnc will download and install to your Linux Lite 3.0 system. Log out and reboot your system.
You will have to disconnect from the Internet for the next part of this tutorial so copy it and paste it to a Libreoffice document so you can review it as you go along.
The x11vnc GUI tool kit we used so handily in Debian 8.3+ still does not entirely work with Linux Lite 3.0, so don’t bother clicking on the x11vnc Server icon now located at >Menu>Internet on your Linux Lite 3.0 desktop. Instead open a terminal and type in the following command as the syntax is expressed here: x11vnc -once -loop -noxdamage -repeat -rfbport 5900 -shared This will start the x11vnc server. Once it has started connect to your ad hoc wifi, and MINIMIZE the running terminal. DO NOT exit or close the terminal window as this will shut down the x11vnc server in Linux Lite 3.0. If you do accidentally close the terminal, simply re-open it and enter the above command again.
The first link below provides an exhaustive list of current commands for x11vnc, and the second link contains Ubuntu documentation for using several different vnc servers, including x11vnc.
http://www.karlrunge.com/x11vnc/x11vnc_opts.html
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/VNC/Servers
Now go to the computer running the other Linux system you want to have your Linux Lite 3.0 remote desktop load to. Open Remmina. Click >Connection in the upper left window menu, then >New and the window entitled Remote Desktop Preferences will open. In the box to the right of >Name type your Linux Lite computer’s netBIOS name. (everything between @ and the colon: that appears in your command line in the terminal when you open it) Now in the box to the right of >Group type simply / a forward slash. Now in from the drop down menu in the box to the right of >Protocol select >VNC – Virtual Network Computing. Next in the box to the right of >Server type i/e 10.42.0.1:5900 (which should be whatever the IPv4 address of your Linux Lite 3.0 computer is on your ad hoc wifi network, plus the listening port definition of 5900. Leave the box to the right of >Repeater blank. In the box to the right of >User name type in your sudo Linux Lite user name. In the box to the right of >Password type in your Linux Lite sudo password. In the box to the right of >Color depth click the drop down menu and try >High color 16bit first. You can experiment with color settings later on. With ad hoc wifi you shouldn’t need to worry about bandwidth so most of the better options will be available to you to experiment with later. In the box to the right of >Quality click the drop down menu and select >Poor (fastest). Again you can experiment with these settings after our first successful connection. Click next on the >SSH tab and make sure the box next to >Enable SSH tunnel is unchecked. Click the >Save button to save your connection.
Now click on and connect to the ad hoc wifi we enabled previously and connect the two computers together via ad hoc wifi. Select and right click on your now listed new connection in the Remmina Remote Desktop Client window and from the >menu click connect. Your new Linux Lite 3.0 remote desktop should appear almost instantly on the desktop of your computer running the other Linux system.
*Read This Note: You will notice if you are close enough that with our current settings the mouse movement occurs on the remote desktop and your Linux Lite desktop, and applications open and close at the same time as well. This is typical for Linux to Linux remote desktop connections, but it can be configured away with x11vnc commands and Remmina selections depending on the computers involved, the Linux distro involved, and the peripheral hardware involved. The basic setup we used here is just a beginning, but one that works most of the time, and obtains the unique security of an ad hoc connection.
Tutorial (5)
Getting A Linux Lite Remote Desktop On Another Linux OS Via SSH Tunnel With Keys
First we will cover, as simply as possible, setting up an SSH tunnel to connect to x11vnc via Remmina and enabling a Linux Lite remote desktop on another Linux OS computer. Since in previous tutorials we have already installed and enabled both x11vnc server, and SSH server on our Linux Lite 3.0 computer, and previously enabled an ad hoc wifi connection between the two, this first instruction will be simple and brief. Again you will have to disconnect from the Internet, so make a copy of this tutorial in a Libreoffice document for use off line.
First open a terminal on your Linux Lite 3.0 computer. Type in the command below, and enter your password when prompted, and then hit enter, and your SSH server will start.
sudo systemctl start ssh
Next find and select your ad hoc wifi connection we created in the previous tutorial, and connect your two Linux computers together. Once connected type the command below into the terminal, and hit >enter, and x11vnc server will start.
x11vnc -once -loop -localhost -noxdamage -repeat -rfbport 5900 -shared
Now go to the computer running another Linux OS, and locate and open up Remmina. Click >Connection and from the drop down menu select >New and the Remote Desktop Preferences window will open. In the box to the right of >Name type in the netBIOS name of your Linux Lite 3.0 computer. In the box to the right of >Group type simply / (a forward slash). In the box to the right of >Protocol select >VNC – Virtual Network Computing. In the box to the right of >Server type in the IPv4 address of your Linux Lite 3.0 computer on ad hoc wifi i/e 10.42.0.1. You do not need to add a port number. In the box to the right of >User name type in your Linux Lite sudo user name. In the box to the right of >Password type in your password. Make sure these match the ones you entered into the original SSH connection we previously set up.
Next click on the >SSH tab. Check the box >Enable SSH tunnel. Check the box >Tunnel via loopback address. Click the radio button >Same server at port 22. In the box next to user name type in the same user as before. Click on the radio button >Password. Click the >Save button to the lower left. Now right click on your new connection and from the menu select >Connect. When prompted enter your SSH password, and your Linux Lite 3.0 remote desktop will load to your other Linux OS computer. You have now connected two Linux computers together via an SSH tunnel and accessed a remote desktop with Remmina. Disconnect from Remmina once you have assured all is working, and go on with the rest of this tutorial to set up keys for SSH.
*Setting Up And Using Keys In SSH
Now if you intend to use this connection over your Internet provider’s router and modem, you will of course need to change the IP addressing convention to DHCP scale something like i/e 192.168.0.1-254, and it is a good idea to use keys rather than passwords on your SSH client and servers. This is easier to do than you may expect, and we are going to go ahead and do it while our two computers are still connected via our ad hoc wifi connection. Before we begin we are going to increase the key bit depth of encryption on our server. Open a terminal and enter the command below on your Linux Lite 3.0 computer which is in this case the SSH server side of the connection. This step may or may not be necessary, but because we are going to generate our keys on the client which is in our case not a Linux Lite 3.0 computer, we will do it just to avoid any unforeseen complications.
sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config
Hit >enter and enter your sudo password if prompted hitting >enter again. Our SSH configuration file will open. Navigate through the file to around the twentieth line and locate: ServerKeyBits: 1024 or 2048 and navigate to the end of line and backspace out the number typing in the new entry 4096. Hit >Control+x, then shift+y, then >enter again to accept file path and save changes. Now enter the command below to restart ssh.
sudo systemctl restart ssh
Now go to the computer running the other Linux OS (the client side in our case) open a terminal and enter the command below to generate our 4096 bit key pair.
ssh-keygen
-t rsa -b 4096
Enter
your sudo password when/if prompted and hit >enter. The keys will
then generate. When prompted to create a password use the SSH
password which is our Linux Lite sudo user password we have used all
along, or create a new strong password of at least thirteen multiple
characters and symbols, and hit >Enter again. Accept the default
file paths by hitting >enter again. Next to check the permissions
on the files enter the command below.
cd
~/.ssh
And
at the next prompt enter the command below..
ls
-l
This
lists your key files, locations, and permissions. Now to load our new
keys to the server we need to enter the command below. Our two
computers are already connected via ad hoc wifi so this will work
nicely. Enter password when prompted, and the keys will be copied to
the server.
ssh-copy-id
10.42.0.1 (the IPv4 address of the Linux Lite computer where our
server is located.)
Return
to the terminal on your Linux Lite computer and enter the command
below to open up our SSH server configuration file again.
sudo
nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config
PermitRootLogin:
(around line 27) on my server reads: prohibit -password.
RSAAuthentication (around line 30) should read: yes.
PubkeyAuthentication (around line 31) should also read: yes.
PasswordAuthentication: (around line 50) should read no. Phew! Almost
done. Hit control+x, then shift+y, then >enter again to accept the
file path save the file. Now enter the commands below to restart our
SSH server, and x11vnc.
sudo
systemctl restart ssh
x11vnc
-once -loop -localhost -noxdamage -repeat -rfbport 5900 -shared
Return
to the terminal on the computer with the other Linux OS (our client)
and enter the command below, entering password when prompted.
ssh-add
-k ~/.ssh/id_rsa
Once
prompted that the key for 10.42.0.2 (see previous note) is added,
accept the default file path by hitting enter. When the command
prompt returns, type in exit, and hit >enter to close the
terminal.
Open
up Remmina again, and right click on the new connection we just
created, and from the menu select >Edit. Click on the >SSH tab
and click on the radio button >Public key (automatic). Click the
>Save button on the lower left. Now right click on the connection,
and click on >connect from the drop down menu and your Linux Lite
3.0 remote desktop will reappear on your other Linux OS computer,
using an SSH tunnel, and now using keys instead of passwords to
connect. Remember to MINIMIZE the terminal on the server (Linux Lite)
side to hide it, as closing it ends the x11vnc session, also remember
to reset the previous SSH secure shell connection we set up to now
use keys. SFTP in Thunar will now be instantaneous via this keyed SSH
connection and ad hoc wifi.
After
your first SSH session has ended, and both computers have been shut
down, to restart another session, you will have to enter the two
commands again when restarting the server side of the session, and
then connect again to your ad hoc wifi connection.
sudo
systemctl start ssh
x11vnc
-once -loop -localhost -noxdamage -repeat -rfbport 5900 -shared
If
you did enter a password on the client side for your created key
(optional but a good idea) you will have to open Remmina again, click
on your connection and edit the key settings on the SSH tab. Click on
the >Identity file radio button. From the menu that appears when
clicking on the box to the right select >id_rsa. Click the >Open
button on the bottom right on the window, and your saved private key
will load to Remmina. Click the >Save button at the bottom left of
the SSH tab window. You will have to do the same for your saved SSH
secure shell connection as well. Connect to your ad hoc wifi, and
then right click on your connection, and click connect. Effectively
both sides of your server/client connection are now prompting you for
a password to allow the keys to be exchanged for an SSH connection.
Only the keys are passed via wifi, not any clear text passwords you
enter on either side of the connection. Remember to issue the command
below at the end of your session, effectively closing down your SSH
server from any new connections, and then closing the terminal to
shut down x11vnc, and resetting your firewall to >deny incoming,
before connecting to any new wifi Internet access.
sudo
systemctl stop ssh
Tutorial (6)
Simple Saving Of Multiple SFTP And Samba Connections To Thunar
As we’ve gone along with these Linux Lite 3.x networking tutorials you may have created several SFTP and Samba connections using Thunar by now, and may be wondering what is the simplest way to keep track of them. It’s not too difficult to do once you become familiar with Thunar, so we will now go through the simplest steps for creating active bookmarks for Thunar in Linux Lite 3.x. I do it this way myself, and have multiple connections saved to one of my laptops. This simple tutorial does not cover settings for using multiple ssh listening addresses, multiple networks, and multiple keys, and does not apply to older versions of Thunar, but it should be enough to get you started with a simple way to keep track of your multiple connections on a single network in Thunar itself in Linux Lite 3.x.
To begin open up Thunar on your Linux Lite desktop. Click on >View in the upper window menu. Scroll down and highlight >Side Pane and from the menu that appears check the >box to the left of Shortcuts. Scroll down in the same menu and check the >box to the left of Show Hidden Files.
Now find the folder named .config and click on it to open it up. Next find the folder named gtk-3.0 and click on it to open it up. Click on the text file >Bookmarks that appears and it will open in Leafpad. On the first line below - computer:/// Drives - type in the connection you want to save in the following format examples, either- sftp://192.168.0.5 or- smb://192.168.0.5 putting each new connection on its own line below the other. When you are done adding your connections click on >File in the upper window menu, and scroll down and click >Save and your changes will be saved, then scroll down and click >Quit and Leafpad will close.
Now you can rename your connections that have appeared under Places in the side pane of Thunar from the GUI in Thunar with a simple method that allows upper and lower case character names. Right click on each connection in the side pane and select >rename and enter names, i/e, Mom’s PC, Kid’s PC, Camera, Security, or whatever your case may be.
You should now have all your connections named, and listed in your Thunar side pane. Now carefully right click on the divider >Places in the side pane and a menu will appear with >Devices >Places and >Network listed. Scroll to and highlight >Places and another menu will appear with a list of your places with check boxes next to them. To hide your connections for convenience in the case you have several connections and don’t want the clutter, (to make them not show up in the side pane) simply uncheck the boxes. To find them again in Thunar when you need to use them just right click on the >Places separator again, and go through the routine to raise the menu checking which connection you want to use.