VNC Server Setup

VNC is a server software that needs to run on the desktop so that it can be controlled remotely. Here is how you need to set it up to access a Ubuntu desktop machine from anywhere.

First go to System -> Preferences -> Remote Desktop as seen on the screenshot below. Here you will set up the permissions and other features that you need for remote access.

Secondly, on the remote Desktop Preferences window you need to enable remote desktop access. (By default remote desktop feature is turned off since its a security risk.) To remove any confusion here is the meaning of the options in plain English.

• Sharing – The option for others to view your desktop is needed to turn on the remote access feature. If you want someone to have only viewing privileges then you don’t need the second option for others to control your desktop. But for the most of us who needs to access their own computers remotely this option must be turned on as well. As soon as both options are filled out a highlighted field appears which specifies what IP address the computer is available at outside your network. Not down this IP address because you will need it to access your machine.
• Security – The first option for confirm each access would give an on-screen prompt whenever anyone is trying to remotely access the computer. Remember to turn this option off if you want to be able to remotely control your desktop. The second optional feature for setting a password. This will generate a prompt when you try to remotely log in. The next option should be checked automatically for any network changes that might affect your connection. It is a good idea to keep this option checked.
• Notification Area – The notification area options do not affect remote access functionality. Set them to your liking. The notification icon will appear on the top right of your Gnome panel – next to date/time and network connectivity icons.

Router Setup – Port Forwarding

This is the last step of the remote access setup. You need to set up the router to access your desktop from outside your home network – such as from work or from a friends house or from the moon (if only ). In simple terms when you try to access your desktop from (say) your work network, you will be trying to reach the IP address (that you noted down in the previous step) over port 5900. This port is needed for communicating with the VNC server running your desktop. So for your home router to understand how to handle the VNC traffic you need to specify that any data that comes to the router from any outside source – please forward it to my home computer at a certain local IP address in a format such as 192.168.0.100 or something similar.

Let’s find out what the IP address of your computer and the router is. First open up a terminal prompt by going to Application -> Accessories -> Terminal.

STEP 1: Now type in ifconfig -a and press enter. This will give your IP address. If you have multiple network connections then all will be displayed. For most people the section of interest will be under eth0 or wlan0. You computer’s address is specified in inet addr: . Note this down and you will need this when configuring the router.

STEP 2: Now in the same terminal window type in route and note the line starting with default …. – the second column of that line will give you the router’s IP. In the below example: the router is 192.168.1.1

Now it’s time to configure the router. Open your favorite web browser and type in the IP adress of the router that you received in Step 2 above. In the router menu links look for Port Forwarding. Then setup port forwarding for TCP ports 5900, 5901 and 5902 to your cmoputers IP address. It should look something like the below screenshot.

That is all you need to setup VNC on your Ubuntu desktop to access to from anywhere.

Ubuntu, the rising star of desktop Linux distributions, has a lesser known counterpart for servers. There are several advantages of going for Ubuntu Server but the lack of a GUI is a little off putting for some. Coming from the Windows world of point, click and Ctrl+Alt+Del it took me a few minutes to get used to the completely command driven Ubuntu server. Finally I gave up trying to do everything with commands and looked for a GUI replacement to do things on the server.

GUI Options

The official Ubuntu server documentation gives several different options for installing a graphical interface on Ubuntu. Openbox, Fluxbox, Webmin seem reasonable as a light weight interfaces to manage the server. Each has its own benefits and disadvantages. Since I was already much familiar with the Ubuntu Desktop environment

Ubuntu Desktop GUI on Server

To install the Ubuntu desktop Gnome environment on the server follow these steps.

1. First of all make sure you have an IP address on the server. Run ifconfig and check for a valid IP address (like 192.168.0.101), subnet mask (like 255.255.255.0), gateway (like 192.168.0.1) and DNS server (like 192.168.0.1). When all these fields are valid try to ping google.com. The output should show the name google.com being resolved to an IP address and then certain outputs telling if it succeeded or not. If any part of this is not working consult Ubuntu server networking configuration docs and troubleshoot.
2. The next step is to update aptitude. Most likely right after install the aptitude component would not be up to date. To do this run sudo aptitude update and wait for it to completely finish.
3. The next step of the process is to actually install the Gnome environment. This step is the most time consuming and give yourself an hour for it to run. The easiest way is to run sudo aptitude install ubuntu-desktop and wait.
4. When the install finishes reboot the system using sudo reboot The server should load the GUI on the reboot. If not then run sudo /etc/init.d/gdm start to bring up the Gnome interface.

Ubuntu Linux

Ubuntu is a free Linux Operating System with all the bells and whistles of any standard Operating System such as Microsoft Windows or Macintosh OS. The Ubuntu Desktop Edition is geared towards the typical home user and it covers the basic needs of any computer user. This guide is meant for the typical home user to install and run Ubuntu on a Virtual Machine without changing or overwriting the existing Operating System.

Video Procedure

This video procedure covers all aspects of installing a Ubuntu Virtual Machine. If you prefer text instructions are provided below the video.

How To Intall Ubuntu Desktop 7.10 On VMware – video powered by Metacafe

Ubuntu Image Download

Ubuntu distribution can be downloaded for free from the downloads page. Or you can request free cd’s from Ubuntu ShipIt page.

VMware Server Download & Install

The following procedure shows how to build a Ubuntu virtual machine.

• Download VMware server from VMware.com
• Register with VMware to get registration keys. This is required as without the registration keys you will not be able to create a virtual machine.
• Install VMware Server – simply double click on the executable and accept all the defaults for best performance.

Install Ubuntu on VMware

• Launch VMware Server and Connect To Localhost
• To create a virtual machine click on the New Virtual Machine link and choose Ubuntu from the predefined list.
• VMware will take a significant amount of time to create the disk which will act as the hard drive for the guest OS.
• When disk is created you will have the option to specify where the guest OS will be installed from – a physical CD drive or an .ISO image
• When you have put in the Guest OS CD in the drive or specified the location of ISO image Power-On the virtual machine
• You will see a console screen where the Guest OS is being installed. Click inside the window to control it – press Ctrl + Alt to get out of the console screen.
• Once installed power down the guest OS and remove the CD or ISO image and restart the virtual machine and enjoy the benefits.

Everex gPC is a cheap desktop computer meant for basic tasks. Email and websurfing were meant to be the primary uses for the “Green PC”. The tech crowd familiar with web-based office suites heralded the arrival of Everex in stores last October. Google Docs and Skype could be very easily used on this desktop. But the non-technical Walmart user base does not seem to be interested in the gPC. Even with the attractive price tag putting it below $200 the Everex PC failed to get much sales. In the words of a Walmart spokesperson ”This really wasn’t what our customers were looking for”. For those of you who want to snag the Everex gPC before they disappear head to Walmart store website today.

FOSSBazaar makes HP’s expertise freely available to the software community as part of a collaborative effort with industry-leading software vendors and The Linux Foundation. Coverity, DLA Piper, Google, Novell, Olliance Group, OpenLogic and SourceForge have joined HP to offer online resources, educational documentation and community interaction to address FOSS business issues and promote best FOSS governance practices.

Video Intro To FOSSology

The company blog has reported that Dell is offering the latest Ubuntu version 7.10 nicknamed Gutsy Gibbon on its XPS 1330 laptops in Spain. This is the latest addition to Dell’s list of countries offering Ubuntu which has grown to include UK, Germany, France and now Spain. Dell is not just offering Linux customers also get built-in DVD playback feature. Does not sound like much to Windows users but Dell’s gestures of supporting the Linux community is an emerging trend affecting all hardware manufacturers. Interested? Check out Dell’s website dedicated to Ubuntu for more details.

“Sun’s culture and business model complements MySQL’s own by sharing the same ideals that we have had since our foundation — software freedom, online innovation and community and partner participation. We are tremendously excited to work with Sun and the millions of members of the MySQL open source ecosystem to continue to deliver the best database for powering the modern Web economy.”

Source: Linux.com

Source: Lifehacker

Source: Direct2Dell Blog