Ask HN: What is the best setup to work remotely with GUI on Linux?

[TheCabin]

In the past I tried a couple of setups using different protocols (VNC / RDP) with varying server / client software but was never really satisfied. Since this is a common problem, I am sure that some people here on HN have a well tested configuration for this and might be willing to give some advice.

Scenario I am interested in: * Server machine runs graphical applications (potentially GPU / OpenGL intensive) * Client can connect via SSH and is supposed to see graphical application (full desktop or just application)

Thanks for any recommendation!

[hexadec]

I recommend Parsec. I use it for gaming on remote Windows machines, but the Linux server works well too. I can access from my Chromebook or laptop with enough fidelity and good networking that allows me to do nearly anything.

I still suck at CounterStrike, but that is not the software's fault.

https://parsecgaming.com/

[dajohnson89]

>gaming on remote Windows machines

I have a linux desktop, but would love to do some windows gaming remotely. Isn't the latency introduced by gaming over VPN a problem? If not for single-player, then certainly multiplayer?

[Can_Not]

Parsec doesn't support remoting into linux machines.

[nickthemagicman]

Can we remote into the machine with it?

[LukeShu]

I'm pretty happy with VNC with JPEG compression (which not all VNC implementations support). Depending on the use-case, I either use TigerVNC `vncserver` (creates a virtual X11 display, in my experience OpenGL performs very poorly), or TigerVNC `x0vncserver` (which attaches to a real/existing X11 display and polls it to serve it over VNC; OpenGL performed normally).

TurboVNC is a fork of TigerVNC that has improved OpenGL performance. I can't comment on it too much.

I either connect to VNC directly on :5900 if I'm on the same LAN, or I `ssh -L5901:localhost:5900 server-box`, then `vncviewer localhost:5901`.

[lclc123]

I agree, VNC+JPEG is a good fit for this kind of thing.

I posted a comment recommending TurboVNC earlier, but it looks to be hidden. It compared favorably with TigerVNC when I tested both. VirtualGL support is baked right in, though of course you have to first set up VirtualGL itself. That'll allow you to use the GPU on a headless machine and share it between users. (with some caveats)

[Ologn]

If the applications are running on Windows I tend to use RDP, if they are running on Unix I tend to use VNC.

Running Firefox over a WAN is slow-going with X11 and ssh, VNC is much faster. The first one I tried was tightvnc, and it did the job for what I needed, so I have stuck with that.

[mcgrath_sh]

X over SSH works for individual apps you launch from the command line. I do this for Calibre on my home server. I have never tried with a desktop. It is simply a config in the SSH config and then an option when launching SSH.

[TheCabin]

Good recommendation. I've used this approach before but somehow had the impression that this doesn't work for OpenGL applications. Now that I think about it, I should simply give it a shot.

[bnegreve]

You may want to activate ssh compression (see ssh -C).

If you're remote it can speed up X forwarding and make the whole application more reactive.

[anujsharmax]

Have you looked into Apache Guacamole (http://guacamole.apache.org/)

Once you install Apache Guacamole on the remote machine, you can access it via your web browser

[sandreas]

Well, what varying server / client software did you try? I'm pretty satisfied with xrdp on Ubuntu 18.04 Desktop.

I did not test GPU intensive software, but its easy to install, runs nearly out of the box and client software is available for Windows, Linux and MacOS:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/xrdp

[lclc123]

Which VNC implementation(s) did you try? TurboVNC was developed with OpenGL applications in mind. It's from the same developer as VirtualGL, so the two are well-integrated.

It does take some tweaking of the compression parameters for good performance. I also had better luck using its native TLS encryption rather than tunneling over SSH.

[tempfasowsl]

x2go for opensource or nomachine if you don't mind paying are good options.

They are better than X over ssh and usually a little better than rdp

[rmurri]

They also have good support for different screen sizes, and multi monitor differences between machines.

[TheCabin]

Awesome, thanks! Didn't hear of either yet.

[gregopet]

nomachine worked great when I tried it (granted, that was a few years ago). Definitely worked better than RDP at that time!

[simplyred]

GPU and OpenGL intensive? NoMachine Terminal Server - that's what our company uses https://www.nomachine.com/terminal-server

[daverobbins1]

Why not something like TeamViewer?

https://www.teamviewer.com/en/download/linux/

[TheCabin]

In principal a good option, but can't use it due to policies.

[granda]

Weren't they hacked?

[gargarplex]

Just want to give a shoutout to my trusty friend Xvfb. Used many times to remotely & automatically operate GUI apps on Linux.

[algorithm_dk]

there's nothing acceptable over ssh

you can do steam in-home streaming over zerotier.

it's actually faster than geforce now

i have a raspberry set up so that i can plug it anywhere and work on my home computer

latency is so low that shooters are very much playable

you can use steamlink hardware as a client, or the newish raspberry pi release

[rubicon33]

yea steamlink is amazing BUT as far as I know, it cannot be used for arbitrary desktop streaming. You can certainly stream games wonderfully, but that's it.

[akulbe]

RealVNC Enterprise works fantastic for me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[nickthemagicman]

AWS has workspaces. They're not super cheap but it's all handled for you.

Browser, mobile, desktop, etc.

[phakding]

No linux client

[bigjojoto]

login into your machine using ssh export your display to your ip xstart and the you'll have the complete remote desktop running on your machine. Of course you'll need a xserver emulator running on your local client.

[tonyaiken]

We use NoMachine at company.

[Samon]

I've had decent success using Xpra.

[ta3057]

Could you give more details or point to documents which helped you reaching "decent success" level? Xpra can be a bit difficult to configure due to the amount of possibilities available.