Accessing the Desktop of a Linux Machine (server) throught Remote Access

Question

I was looking for:

how to access my Linux machine(OpenSuse 11.3) that is being hosted at my hoster company from my home Win Pc, I found TightVNC , but I am confused, should I install it on both systems ( viewer and server) ? .. what about the VirtualBox , can i Access with that tool or it is only for mounting the local Virtual Machines?

Answer 1

You can definitely use TightVNC, and yes, you must install the viewer and the server. The server you obviously install on the remote machine, and the viewer you install on your local Windows PC.

VirtualBox is virtualization software, it has nothing to do with accessing remote machines.

Answer 2

If you don't need the entire desktop on the remote machine, X-forwarding is what you want. You can connect from one X-equipped Linux/Unix/Mac/Cygwin or whatever machine to another using

ssh -X <remote hostname>

If your local machine is a windows computer you need something as cygwin (install the ssh and the X server package). On the server you don't need an X server, but you need xbase-clients to be installed. After connecting to the server as shown above you can start any GUI application and it will be displayed on your local maschine. It is however terminated when you disconnect.

If what you are looking for is a way to run virtual machines with VirtualBox on the remote machine, then you should look into the headless mode of VirtualBox, i.e. controlling VirtualBox from the command line rather then with the GUI VirtualBox Manager.