If a freenx client is not available, download the client from the NX web site. To launch the Linux client from the freenx-client package, launch the qtnx application (also available under Applications | Internet in Fedora’s GNOME menu).

Essentially, the NX client will connect to the server as the user nx, then authenticate locally to the defined user with the defined password, and finally start the remote desktop. You also need to know the user’s password that you want to establish the connection for. Next, you need to obtain a copy of the server’s /etc/nxserver/client.id_dsa.key file and import it on the client. The client will connect to the remote system as the nx user, so if you have modified /etc/ssh/sshd_config to only allow specific users, you will need to add the user nx to this list. The best transport mechanism NX uses is SSH - this allows strong authentication and encryption of the session. Once the server package is installed, you can start it by executing: # service freenx-server start The client package is called freenx-client clients for other operating systems can be downloaded from the NX web site. On Fedora, you can easily install it using: # yum install freenx-server The free NX server is packaged with many Linux distributions. If, however, you strictly need something to share or access a remote Linux or Solaris system, NX is a perfect solution. NX server is available for Linux and Solaris, so it isn’t as cross-platform as one might like.

If the remote system can run sshd, and port 22 or some other port that sshd is listening to can be accessed through a firewall, then you have most of the pre-requisites for remote desktop access via NX already in place. NX has been around for a long time, and one of the reasons I enjoy it so much is that it uses SSH as a transport and authentication layer. We have looked at other remote desktop-sharing programs in the past, but one of my favourites is NoMachine’s NX.

It is fast, secure, and has free clients available for Linux, Windows, OS X, and Solaris. Vincent Danen shows you the basics to using the NX remote desktop system for Linux and Solaris. Check out NX remote access for Linux and Solaris systems

Ssh vs nx nomachine