Headless Setup

[PeterE]

Hi
Is it possible to run EasyOS with a headless setup. I am new to linux. I tried installing the Debian version of TeamViewer. It added it to the menu but doesn't seem to work. Is there any othersoftware which is easy to install which would allow me to run the system headless?
Thanks

[rockedge]

I use Dropbear and SSH into remote sessions using pUTTY that I forward X11 from allowing me to run the headless system in a graphical mode from another machine.

@mikewalsh knows more about packages for running remote machines in a graphical environment. He might be able to steer you into more useful information

[Clarity]

Best Open source solution that I am aware of is XRDP. But I have NO CLUE how to get any audio via the connection although the video is outstanding. It is written about and works in other distros but this one is a problem.

So a complete multimedia desktop connection solution, here, is not currently possible.

[rockedge]

So a complete multimedia desktop connection solution, here, is not currently possible.

I run Audacity once in awhile from a remote machine but keep in mind that all of the audio input is connected to the remote machine. I can run a browser from the remote machine and play YouTube videos locally though.

[don570]

A good choice is fatdog linux because the x11vnc server can be easy installed.
Here are the instructions for fatdogarm but an X86 computer will be a similar method.
https://oldforum.puppylinux.com/viewtop ... 68#p983568

Fatdog linux uses dropbear rather than ssh but it uses the same commands.
dropbear has to be turned on by the control panel.
__________________________________________________________

[mikewalsh]

@PeterE :- Hallo.....and to the "kennels".

I use Dropbear and SSH into remote sessions using pUTTY that I forward X11 from allowing me to run the headless system in a graphical mode from another machine.

@mikewalsh knows more about packages for running remote machines in a graphical environment. He might be able to steer you into more useful information

@rockedge / @PeterE :-

What I know about running stuff "remotely" via GUI is basically in a 'chroot' environment. This can be on the same machine.....or it could, of course, be on a different machine. If it's on a different machine you then need a method of connecting to that other machine; this could be on your local LAN, or it could be in a totally different location, which then necessitates ways of connecting via t'interweb itself, often using VPNs/tunnels/etc, etc., for additional security.

As Erik (rockedge) says, if you're running a remote machine with any specific equipment attached to that machine, it's only going to be functional in that machine. I'm not aware of a method whereby you could, say, record a music track on your remote machine while at the same time monitoring it - in real time - on the machine in front of you.....for example.

Chroots are very much the same. Anything you want to do in that environment has to be available to the OS inside that environment, since they cannot communicate outside the chroot in real-time while running. (You can, of course, have a specific folder/directory sym-linked to the 'host' if working with a local chroot, so you can then access it after the chrooted application has shut-down. I'm not sure how you'd pull this trick off with a truly 'remote' machine).

The Linux version of TeamViewer hasn't worked under Puppy since they re-built the thing with a natively-ported Qt5 build. The older Linux TV utilised the Windows build running under a self-contained WINE 'prefix'; that worked quite well. But the current one is a complete pig.

Browsers are somewhat different. Due to the way they work, and the way in which the chroot environment links to the host OS, these CAN be interacted with in real-time. I regularly stream NetFlix content through an up-to-date Opera in a Fossapup chroot running under an older build of Quirky April......which is Tahrpup-era, some 7 or 8 years earlier.

I think the chroot/host link employs some kind of X11 forwarding anyway.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Meh. I digress. I don't think this is what you want. "Headless", to me, has always suggested running something like a remote server via either the terminal (more common) or some kind of GUI (less common) on your local machine. As I understand it - and rockedge mentioned this above - usual practice for this kind of thing is using SSH & Putty via a VPN (VNC?) 'tunnel'.

I suspect this is what you actually want.....which may be beyond your current capabilities (without teaching yourself about how all this stuff works). It's definitely 'do-able', but may not be quite so easy as you've envisioned.

It sounds as if you could be trying to run before you've learnt to walk....

Mike.

[wizard]

@PeterE

Don't have any experience with EasyOS, but do on regular Pups. Suggest you try either Anydesk or VNC. Check this link for VNC's that work on a lot of PUP's: https://forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?t=1776

wizard

[geo_c]

@PeterE

Don't have any experience with EasyOS, but do on regular Pups. Suggest you try either Anydesk or VNC. Check this link for VNC's that work on a lot of PUP's: https://forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?t=1776

wizard

Anydesk is actually quite powerful for operating a machine remotely. I once had it installed on several laptops running fossapup, and tried some wacky and somewhat successful experiments involving Zoom. Unfortunately, it caused the one Dell that always ran hot to shut itself down!

[Clarity]

VNC does NOT do multimedia. If you want a complete console experience as if you were sitting at the remote machine, you need something like what XRDP provide.

It intends to do EXACTLY what RDP does on Windows...give the user a console experience as you ryou were running a multimedia app aa id you are sitting at remote PC's desktop console.

Windows ability to provide multimedia experience for its remote users has been around since 1995. XRDP Linux serving started about a decade ago.

It has been in Ubuntu for about the same timespan. I is included in all Edubuntu packages for schools-classrooms.

It can support multiple users at the same time. So, any 64bit modern PC within the last decade could be a headless PUP in all its glory in the home, if it is outfitted with XRDP.

Further, terminal clients, terminal-OSes and terminal PCs all work with both RDP as well as PCs outfitted with XRDP yielding a multimedia connection as if the user was sitting at the remote PC.. Terminal operations like this has been around for over 3 decades. So this is not new.

Thus, something like this multimedia experience would be nice for home user on ANY of the forum's PUPs/DOGs.

Found this for PUPPY Linux on the old PUP forum

[Clarity]

BTW: How many are aware that Chrome to Chrome allows a full multimedia desktop experience between PCs?

If capable to run on this PUP, it could be a simpler solution for development.

[rockedge]

@wiak runs big graphic heavy games with VNC I think successfully

[wiak]

@wiak runs big graphic heavy games with VNC I think successfully

This way:

Using VirtualGL with a vnc server (tigervnc) to provide fast graphics for low graphics capability client computers
https://forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic. ... 236#p33236

[wizard]

Well here we are talking to each other again since the OP has not responded. Many general ideas, but until @PeterE gives us hardware specifications and his intended use (admin, audio needed or not, etc) we're pretty much at a stopping point.

wizard

[mikewalsh]

Well here we are talking to each other again since the OP has not responded. Many general ideas, but until @PeterE gives us hardware specifications and his intended use (admin, audio needed or not, etc) we're pretty much at a stopping point.

wizard

Mm-hm. Yes, I agree; let's put this on hold until we find out whether or not the OP has been frightened off and "left the building", as it were!

Don't forget, guys; many Puppians only get on here infrequently. Often, they get scared off by information overload. Let's wait & see.

Mike.

[PeterE]

Hi,
Yes, maybe I should explain my project. I am a relative newbie to Linux, so be gentle.
I am trying to run a personal VPN to use for watching CatchUp TV occasionally. I am based in France and the VPN server is to be based in the UK. I have a Dell WYSE 3290, running Linux Mint, with Teamviewer and OpenVPN server. I have DuckDNS running to track the IP address changes should the router be rebooted. It all works.
However, Linux Mint seems such a heavy distribution to run what appears to me to be a lightweight operation. I was hoping to have a lightweight distribution run the OpenVPN server, but I need to be maintain it over the internet. Hence the requirement for a headless system.
I stumbled upon EasyOS, and that appears very slick on the Dell, but I couldn't figure out how to run it headless. If this was possible, I was going to ask how to setup a Wireguard or OpenVPN server. On my current Linux setup, I have used the script available on github to setup the server https://github.com/angristan/openvpn-install. I could try PiVPN setup too, but that installation script currently has errors which they acknowledge but haven't fixed for weeks.
I have a spare WYSE 7010 to test on. It is ideal since the BIOS prevents anything being installed on the harddrive, so running off a USB stick is perfect.

The raspberry pi is very convenient since it has a simple option in the configuration to activate the preinstalled vncviewer server
https://www.realvnc.com/en/blog/how-to- ... spberry-pi

Thanks for your help

[wizard]

@PeterE

Based on your specs & application you could try EasyOS and Anydesk (works like Teamviewer). Since you are new to LInux and Puppy you might consider installing Friendly Fossa64 (instead of EasyOS) which has Anydesk already installed.
https://forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?t=4681 .

You will also find a wealth of information about Puppy Linux on the main forum page in Getting Started and System Requirements.

wizard

[Clarity]

HIi @PeterE. Curiously, I ask:

• How many local PCs do you have a home?

• Will the headless PC be a Proxy?

• AND, are you intending to set this PC up for headless access remotely or some other local PC?

[PeterE]

Hi,
I only have 1 Windows PC and the Dell WYSE which I am setting up to use as VPN servers. The VPN servers will be based in the UK whilst I am based in France. I have a raspberry pi which I fiddle with too.

[mikewalsh]

Hi,
I only have 1 Windows PC and the Dell WYSE which I am setting up to use as VPN servers. The VPN servers will be based in the UK whilst I am based in France. I have a raspberry pi which I fiddle with too.

@PeterE :-

Mm. O-kay... Now:-

Is this by any chance the beast in question?

https://www.parkytowers.me.uk/thin/wyse/3030/n03d.shtml

I know it says '3030', but it seems the same machine was frequently referred-to under more than one model number.

As always with these thin clients, the overarching snag is the limited on-board resources, since they were generally intended for use as local 'workstations' running from a much more powerful mainframe/server set-up.....usually within the same building, though not always. Mind you, 4GB RAM and 16GB flash storage IS better than some we've seen on here.

(I second wizard's recommendation of AnyDesk in place of TeamViewer, because this DOES "play nice" with Puppy, and is a hell of a lot smaller & less resource-intensive into the bargain. And although the older Puppy versions of TeamViewer will still run, you can't get a connection.....because TeamViewer have deprecated older versions prior to TV 15 so that you can't use them any more.)

Mike.

[BarryK]

I downloaded anydesk 6.2.0 and tried to run it:

Code: Select all

# ./anydesk
./anydesk: error while loading shared libraries: libpolkit-gobject-1.so.0: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
# 

EasyOS does not have polkit package.

[BarryK]

I just remembered, there is a package 'polkit105' available via the package manager, that provides the missing library.

[mikewalsh]

@BarryK :-

Or, the OP could try the current AnyDesk-portable I put together.....which contains all the necessary libs for it to run (at least under Puppy).

https://forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?t=1104

Not sure whether it will play nice with Easy, Barry.....you ARE using pretty cutting-edge versions of everything there, aren't you? Well, all PeterE can do is give it a try.....

Mike.

[PeterE]

Hi
I tried Friendly Fossa64 (with AnyDesk) as suggested, and that appeared to work however I ran out of time to thoroughly test. Will try this all again on the weekend.
I assume GADMIN is the best package for setting up a VPN server? Any suggestions?
Yes, I have WYSE 3290 and a WYSE 7010. The 3290 is heads and shoulders better than the 7010, and is currently running Linux Mint. I was trying to get the 7010 up and running because you cannot install anything on its harddrive (always get installation errors with the popular distributions). I am attempting to use WYSE machines since they are much cheaper than raspberry pis and the raspberry pi can comfortably run a VPN.
Thanks for all the input