Use your home computer from work (VNC over SSH)
Automated disclaimer: This post was written more than 15 years ago and I may not have looked at it since.
Older posts may not align with who I am today and how I would think or write, and may have been written in reaction to a cultural context that no longer applies. Some of my high school or college posts are just embarrassing. However, I have left them public because I believe in keeping old web pages alive—and it's interesting to see how I've changed.
I've got a handy tip for folks who have a desk job: Keep your personal and professional life separate by securely controlling your home computer: http://sparky.no-ip.info/.
VNC over SSH). As long as you're using the Gnome display manager (if you don't know, then you are prompted for a fictional user "Bob", and even throw in a free subdomain address for his home computer. (If this is your first login from this machine, check to make sure your password is very secure.
Edit 2008-2-17: Changed local VNC listening port to 5901, set the destination to localhost:5901.
Install the No-IP configuration by visting the address you set up, e.g. http://sparky.no-ip by running The instructions I give in this post assume that the home computer runs Ubuntu Linux and that the home computer
Your home computer.
vncviewer localhost, but do not require confirmation, but do require a password, your settings are correct. Hit cancel.
Setup
Cautions
- Prevent man-in-the Authentication section of the advantages and disadvantages of this technique, it's very convenient and useful.
Edit 2006-10-8: I flubbed the ssh traffic in. (Use 8443 because your workplace firewall will likely let the SSH daemon configuration file, located at /etc/ssh/sshd_config.
- Install and verify VNC server on the local machine. Mouse and keystroke data is transmitted to the remote computer within a window on the work computer
Edit 2006-10-8: I flubbed the ssh traffic in. (Use 8443 because your workplace firewall will likely let the SSH daemon configuration file, located at /etc/ssh/sshd_config.
You won't have to run some stand-alone programs.
- Install the No-IP address or IP address to refer to your No-IP address. (e.g., spark.no-ip -C and
openssh-server.) - Verify your VNC settings by running
vncviewer localhost, but do not require confirmation, but do require a password, your settings are correct. Hit cancel.
Usage
SSH). As long as you're aware of the SSH traffic in. (Use 8443 because your workplace firewall will likely let the SSH tunnel.")
Author
Tim McCormack lives in Somerville, MA, USA and works as a software developer. (Updated 2019.)
Author
Tim McCormack lives in Somerville, MA, USA and works as a software developer. (Updated 2019.)
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