On Du, 26 iun 11, 03:11:51, Eric d'Halibut wrote:
> I'm thinking that in order to set up a remote X login to a given
> machine, that X must be running and configured on that machine. But X
> doesn't want to configure itself on a "virtual private server" that
> has NO PHYSICAL VIDEO CARD, or so it seems to me at present.
>
> But surely all the computing horsepower I have available to me in my
> virtual private server (to which I have of course root access) can be
> put in the service of providing X access to that server. Am I crazy,
> or how do I set up X for remote login on a machine with no video card,
> or even no physical existence?
Hello Eric,
X seems to be reversing the meaning of 'server' and 'client', which has
created a lot of confusion for many. To be able to understand it you
must remember that the X server part runs on the machine with the video
card + display + input devices and the X client can be on the same
machine or on a remote one.
To avoid confusion I will use 'remote' and 'local' machine whenever
necessary. For your use case here are a few options with pros(+) and
cons(-)
1. Make use of the fact that the X protocol is sever-client ;)
1a. "pure" X (with or without XDMCP)
+ remote machine needs only a few X libraries and "client" programs
- insecure
- not really usable over slow connections (less than 100 Mbit/s?)
1b. SSH X forwarding
+ X client machine needs only a few libraries and client programs plus
SSH server (of course)
+ secure (tunneled via ssh)
+ very easy to setup ('ssh -X remote_machine' on a default Debian
install)
- even slower than pure X (additional encryption overhead), but might be
sufficient for occasional use, even over internet
2. VNC: basically VNC transmits the pixels on a display over the wire
and input back to the machine running X. It comes in two flavours:
2a. x11vnc: most useful to connect to an already running X session (ex.
for remote assistance), but can be used to start a new X session
+ simple to use
+ IME more usable over slow internet connections
- insecure (unless tunneled through SSH)
2b. VNC server: not sure how much of X this requires on the remote
machine and can't tell you much about it (no experience), but might be a
good option given enough compression+encryption.
3. NX: as far as I understand this enhances the pure X protocol to make
it usable over the internet (both speed and security). Unfortunately
it's non-free.
Hope this helps,
Andrei
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