ASUS Zenbook

To VNC through SSH

Assuming you have already set up openssh on the server (previous post) the instructions are as follows:

On the server:
install a VNC server such as x11vnc

sudo apt- get install x11vnc

your firewall settings should be as follows:

port 22 (ssh) should allow incoming connections from anywere

port 5900 (vnc) should be open to ip address 127.0.0.1 (local host)


On the Client:
install a VNC client such as gtkvncviewer

sudo apt-get install gtkvncviewer


Still on the client:
You can now  use local port-forwarding to connect port 5,900 on your server to port 5,900 your client.

ssh -L 5900:localhost:5900 <user>@<host>

note if using a port other than 22 for ssh add the -p XXXX option where XXXX is the port dedicated to ssh

Now that you are connected to the server issue the following cammand to enable the VNC session:

x11vnc -safer -localhost -nopw -once -display :0


Still on the client: 
You can now open gtkvncviewer from the menu or issue the command from a fresh terminal window (or new tab)

set the server to 127.0.0.1
enter your username  and password (for the server) to complete the connection

the server's desktop should appear after pressing "connect"

Linux in the clouds

There are quite a few distros available for netbook users including at the time of this writing ubuntu remix, lubuntu, peppermint os, linux mint (XFCE or LXDE), jolicloud and chrome OS to name a few. Currently I own an Asus 1005-HAB and two of the distros that I personally enjoy are jolicloud and peppermint. Jolicoud is unique in the sense that the interface has resemblance to a smartphone. This feature makes it very user friendly and an easy concept to grasp for those making the switch to linux for the first time. Jolicloud has quite an extensive hardware compatability list and a separate list for 3G support. Being somewhat of a linux noob the fact that it works right out of the box is a definite plus. They also provide an app store with a wide variety of apps including boxee and hulu desktop. In fact if the app you want isn't listed Jolicloud gives you the option of making your own. Peppermint OS appears to be a stripped down versions of linux mint without any additional bloatware incorporated. It uses LXDE wich is very light on resources. It is extremely fast to boot-up and is my goto if I just want to do something on the internet. I even replaced puppy linux on all of my jumpdrives with peppermint. Puppylinux is another lightweight operating system that can load completely in RAM. However I never quite mastered navigation in puppy using a touch pad on a net book since puppy uses a single click to open windows; thus merely navigating across the screen would pop up unintended applications.

Setting up SSH in linux

From the command line install open ssh client and server with the following commands:

sudo apt-get install openssh-client sudo apt-get install openssh-server

make a copy of the original configuration file and protect it from being over written with the following commands:

sudo cp /etc/ssh/sshd_config /etc/ssh/sshd_config.original
sudo chmod a-w /etc/ssh/sshd_config.original

Rather than use a password for logging in we are going to use keys.

mkdir ~/.ssh
chmod 700 ~/.ssh
ssh-keygen -t rsa

note: The default file location is fine. Also be sure to set a good pass phrase. To make sure your key is even more secure we are going to encrypt it at 4096 bits rather than the default 2048:
ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096

To transfer the public key from the server (or host computer) to your computer (client) ssh in to the server using the password then issue the following command:

ssh-copy-id <username>@<host>

note: this has to be done using port 22

Next we are going to edit the /etc/ssh/sshd_config

gksu gedit /etc/ssh/sshd_config

note this can also be done with, leafpad, nano. vim, vi....

Since we are using keys instead of passwords we want the following:

PasswordAuthentication no

More security can also be achieved by allowing particular users:

AllowUsers Alice Bob Eve

Now is a good time to set the following:

PermitRootLogin no

AuthorizedKeysFile %h/.ssh/authorized_keys

note: It is also a good idea to change the port from 22 to something else but only after issuing the ssh-copy-id command.

Make sure the following lines are uncommented by deleting the preceding “#” sign.

PubkeyAuthentication yes
RSAAuthentication yes

Personally I also change the following settings:

LogLevel VERBOSE

Banner /etc/issue.net

note: The Banner option lits the contents of /etc/issue.net file when logging in

After saving the file and restart the sshd server by issuing the following command:

sudo /etc/init.d/ssh restart