[kwlug-disc] KWLUG - The Kitchener Waterloo Linux User Group new content notification: 2009-12-27 22:08

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Recent content - 1 new post
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1. NX
Published Blog entry by Raul Suarez
[ http://kwlug.org/node/713 ]

On my post about XDMCP I mentioned that there was a better way to open
a
X session on a remote computer.
After reading this post you'll see why I left it at the end of this
blog therad: NX uses elements and concepts explained on the previous
posts (SSH, X forwarding, XDMCP, VNC)

Nomachine, creators of the NX protocol, have a closed source
implementation of the protocol, with free (no-cost) versions for both
the client, server and nodes and also paid support plans.
They've open sourced the compression algorithm and protocol and
provided very detailed documentation.
The open source implementation is FreeNX
Although the server must run on an Linux/Solaris/BSD system and
natively provides support for the X protocol, the server can also work
as a gateway to access RDP (Windows Terminal server)  or VNC
connections
to other Operating systems.
The client can work on Linux, Windows, Mac
It can start a full session similar to XDMCP or a single application,
similar to SSH X forwarding.
The implementations work over SSH 
Here is a diagram of NX in a nutshell.

Installing it
To use NX you must install the server on the remote computer and the
client on the local computer.
Note: The server must have a properly configured SSH server. The client
must be able to SSH to the server. i.e. the port must be open and
security properly set up.
The installation for the non-open source version is clearly explained
on the Nomachine website
But it is basically Download and execute the installers.
To set up the open source version search for instructions for your
distribution. For example:
Debian/Ubuntu
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FreeNX
Fedora
http://www.blogcatalog.com/blog/kernelhardware/460cb0944dffe0636484b73327ed9f12
Connecting
Once the server has been set up, and the client installed, creating a
new session is quite easy. Just start the client, and define the server
address, desktop environment and geometry.
Here is a snapshot of QtNX, Although comparative to the no-machine
closed source version this client provides less functionality, it is
still quite usable.

RDP and VNC
To connect to a Windows server through Remote desktop or to any OS
through VNC, you must have a Linux server on the same side of the
network as the server you want to access.
If you are connecting to Remote desktop, the Linux server must have
rdesktop installed
If you are connecting to a VNC server, the Linux server must have tight
VNC installed
The client connects to the Linux server which in turn uses rdesktop or
the VNC viewer to connect to the destination server. (See diagram
above)
This means that when configuring the session you must define both the
Linux server address and the address of the destination server as seen
by the Linux server.

For more detailed information
The Nomachine website is full of information on both the closed source
and the open source implementation
http://www.nomachine.com
The FreeNX website has information on the open source implementation
http://freenx.berlios.de/


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