Linux Mint Forums

Rationale:
I can no longer be bothered to lug my laptop around with me anymore, and I've also recently moved all my data to an external HDD, so to work properly, I would have to carry that round with me too. I do not (yet) have a spare box that I can just turn into a full-blown server to solve my document access issues. I want to be able to access my computer from anywhere, also I don't need a gui, so this will give you access to your machine as if you had opened a terminal.

However for those who want guis, simply add the "-X" option to each ssh command, forwarding the graphical server and allowing you to launch guis from the command-line, e.g. "mintupload ~/.profile". The disadvantage of this is it's platform dependent, you need to have an X server running on your guest machine, with means either linux, or mac with the server running.

1) install the openssh-server package (you might have to reboot afterwards). AK Dave recommends securing it, but I haven't got around to following his advice yet: http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.p ... sh#p148429
2) if you're lucky enough to have a static IP, you're done: find your IP by right-clicking on the network-manager, selecting connection info. You can now login to your machine using the following command from any remote linux box (look at Putty for windows): if like me, not only do you not have a static IP address, but you're also behind a stupid campus firewall that doesn't even allow you to ping your IP address, then it's more complicated:
3) get an account hosted somewhere that you can ssh into. In my case I'm using my department's servers, where we get a free account.
4) setup a "reverse ssh tunnel" from your machine to the server (PORT should be a high numbered, four figures, port on the server, e.g. 1234): 5) while that program is running, you can first logon to the server: 6) then from there you can logon to your machine: viola, you can now login from anywhere in world (well, at least anywhere you can get to the server)

EDIT: just noticed this howto for securing the ssh server: http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=19183

I thought I'd get an explanation of how to pass a X11 session through SSH.

there you go grimdestripador, it's as simple as adding the -X option.

of all things, I have yet to do this sucessfully.

hmm, you may be right, I just tried the X forwarding now and it didn't work, anyone have any ideas?

Can i do this on an ipod touch jailbroken with a terminal app on it?
Thanks

Most of the hard part is on the host system end, you should be able to connect to it using any device that can run an ssh client program (you probably need to install openssh according to many google results)

Brilliant! Thanks for the heads up mate! It never crossed my mind that this was a piece of cake to be do! Followed your steps with no sweat and got it done immediately. Thank for the info! More Power!

Glad I could help, JesseWilliams, though I should probably update this how-to with what I now know about dyndns.org - an amazing site that effectively gives you a free domain tied to your non-fixed IP, allowing you to be done after step 2! It also gets around the issue of having to know in advance you're going to need access.

Team viewer, easy to use, has linux version also, free and works fast

No machine NX is also worth a look
http://linuxgazette.net/135/knaggs.html

I like to use teamviewer myself.

ssh is the best & easiest way, and safest.
$ ssh username@IP_ADDRESS
I would for sure block telnet & ftp as insecure. scp, putty, winscp, ssh, the best & safest way to get back & forth.

Team viewer, easy to use, has linux version also, free and works fast

+1.

I find that if I reboot my machine remotely I am effectively locked out. None of the services, such as ssh, start up until I physically login. How can I rectify this?

Linux Mint 11 Katya (GNU/Linux 2.6.38-8-generic x86_64)

emorrp1 wrote: However for those who want guis, simply add the "-X" option to each ssh command, forwarding the graphical server and allowing you to launch guis from the command-line, e.g. "mintupload ~/.profile". The disadvantage of this is it's platform dependent, you need to have an X server running on your guest machine, with means either linux, or mac with the server running.

There is a x-win server for windows too called x-ming http://sourceforge.net/projects/xming/
Xming works just as well as a normal xserver for both for the terminal and for graphical programs, but...