Remote desktop over the internet

Disclaimer: Work in progress - please contribute! (First acknowledgements to Magic Banana)

I've failed to find a good step-by-step guide on how to make a remote desktop connection between two computers over the internet. Specifically this guide is meant to establish a remote desktop connection between two GNU/linux computers.

First problem is to lay down an outline of the process. Secondly each step is to be described, comprising considerations of alternatives and variations.

Case: Establishing a remote desktop connection between the computer the bewildered (B) and that of the assistant (A) over the internet.

PREPARE CONNECTION
1) Install server and client software.
* For the computer of the (B)ewildered to serve access to the computer of the(A)ssistant, server software must be installed on (B).
* Correspondingly, client software must be installed on (A), which (B) then serves. (For reasons of ease, both server and client software may be installed on both).

2) Devolve administrator rights on (B) to (A).
* Create administer account to (A) on (B) (or simply give the password of (B)'s administer account to (A))

3) Install and set-up SSH.
* Next step is to make the actual and secure connection over the internet. For this SSH is used, which requires SSH software to be installed on both (A) and (B).
* For reasons of security it's appropriate to generate rsa keys, exchange these (?) and disallow for pass phrase approval.

CONFIGURE CONNECTION
4) Configure internet connection.
* After installation of SSH, the connection over the internet must be set-up. That is, the internet route from (A) through (A)'s router, over the internet, through (B)'s router to (B). This may be tricky as computers are often behind a NAT router. There are three cases: Only (A) or only (B) is behind NAT, or they both are. (is it only relevant for (B)?)

* On (B) a port between WAN (Wide Area Network, i.e. the internet) and LAN must be opened on (B)'s router (the usual standard is 22). The access from the router to (B), can be directed by use of (B)'s MAC address.

* Note that Wifi and Ethernet have different MAC addresses. If both are used, both must be assigned a local/private ip address to which (A)'s access through the port is directed.

* (B)'s public ip address must be known to (A). This can be solved by assigning (buying) a static ip address from (B)'s ISP (Internet Service Provider) or via e.g. icanhazip.com or whatismyipaddress.com/ (may be bookmarked for convenience).

SET-UP VNC (Virtual Network Computing)
5) Install and set-up a VNC
* Install e.g. realVNC on (A)

* Setup VNC to connect to (B)'s public ip address(es)

Revisions

10/03/2016 - 20:29
GNUbahn