This article has been updated and reformatted - it was originally provided to TechRadar by Linux Format, the number one magazine to boost your knowledge on Linux, open source developments, distro releases and much more. It appeared in issue 220, published February 2017. Subscribe to the print or digital version of Linux Format here.
BEST LINUX REMOTE DESKTOP CLIENTS
There are times when you need to remotely access the complete desktop session rather than just a single application. You may want to guide the person on the other end through installing software or want to tweak settings on a Windows machine from the comfort of your Linux desktop yourself.
This is where remote desktop software comes in handy. Using these nifty little applications you can remotely access and operate a computer over the network from all sorts of devices. There are various protocols, and a lot of people are probably familiar with SSH.
While the clients we’ll cover in this article support multiple ones, we’ll focus on Virtual Network Computing (VNC) which is amongst the most popular. VNC isn’t the only protocol in town for accessing the remote desktop and you can use a few applications in this feature to connect to other ones.
1. VNC Connect
If transferring files is imperative to your remote access, then there’s no better option than VNC Connect. The client performs decently with other servers but works best when paired with its own. We recommend it for remotely accessing all kinds of graphical work on the Pi, especially if you use Raspbian, as the server software now comes preinstalled.
You’ll have to define a new connection before connecting with the VNC Connect client by manually entering the IP address of your VNC server. You can then either use the default settings or tweak them from the New Connection window.
The General and Options tabs list common parameters while the Expert tablets experienced campaigners modify the default values of various parameters. You can access these options during an active connection either by using the hidden menu at the top of the connection window or by pressing the F8 key.
By default, the VNC Connect client also saves screenshots for connections. During an active connection, the client also gives you the option to transfer files to and from the remote server and exchange instant messages. However, these options will only work when connected to a VNC Connect server.
The client also allows multiple sessions and can run sessions full-screen and scale the remote display to fit the current window on the client computer. It can also remember remote access credentials so you don’t have to enter them each time which is a definite plus, especially if you need to remotely manage a handful of machines. Simply double click on a machine from the VNC Connect window to connect automatically.
Remmina scores decently in the performance department and gives you the flexibility to change connection quality settings on the fly. The client supports the widest range of protocols and will connect to all kinds of remote desktop servers.
Remmina doesn’t have its own server software, but you can use it for all sorts of remote connections to all kinds of servers. Sadly, Remmina lacks some extra functionality that you get with other clients.
Remmina houses default remote connection settings under its Preferences window. Here you’ll find options to tweak some auto-save settings for the connections, and define custom hotkeys for common tasks. You can also alter a few aspects of the client’s behaviour and define a list of resolutions for the remote desktop.
Before you can establish a connection, Remmina asks you to create a profile to define parameters for the connection. At the very least, you’ll have to select a protocol from a drop-down list and enter the server’s IP address.
Optionally, you can define other parameters that vary depending on the protocol being used, e.g. for VNC connections, you can optionally choose the colour depth and quality of the connection as well as encryption. You also get checkboxes to toggle some quick settings like starting a simple View Only session and disabling encryption etc.
With Remmina you can manually tweak the quality of the connection to make good use of the available bandwidth. Best of all Remmina lets you alter the colour depth of the remote desktop on the fly. The application encrypts VNC connections with the AES256 algorithm and also offers a button to send all keyboard commands to the remote server.
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