LinHES Forums • View topic - HOWTO: use Xdmcp to remote control LINUX through windows

graysky · **Posted:** Sun May 28, 2006 4:57 am

WHAT WILL THIS DO FOR YOU:
You can't watch shows by using this. You can launch the frontend to make configuration changes, set options, etc. but I would recommend if you want to do that to follow this guide I wrote awhile ago. What can you do with this? Access the gdm desktop as if you're sitting in front of you mythbox. For me, I wanted to leverage this knowledge to a totally different problem (not mythtv related) and now that I know how to do this, I wanted to share it with the community.

REQUIRED SOFTWARE:
PuTTY (freeware) - http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgta ... nload.html
Xming (freeware) - http://freedesktop.org/wiki/Xming

ASSUMPTIONS MADE BY ME:
A working, networked KnoppMyth install (I tested this guide on R5B7)
A working, networked Windows machine (I tested this guide on xp)
Dollar sign prompts ($) are commands done as mythtv user; number sign (#) prompts are commands done as root.

REFERENCES:
I wrote this guide from my experience reading this page so if you want the more complete version, go there. Also, the broad strokes are here.

HOWTO SETUP XDMCP ON THE LINUX BOX:
Once you have everything installed, you'll simply do it by this single-step procedure:

Start xming on your windows box with this command

Code:

C:\Program Files\Xming>Xming -query <myth machine IP> -nodecoration -lesspointer <win machine IP.  -notrayicon -clipboard

SETUP STEP 1: INSTALL PuTTY ON WINDOWS BOX:
If you're not already using PuTTY, download from the link provided. It will allow you to ssh into your mythbox.

SETUP STEP 2: INSTALL Xming ON WINDOWS BOX:
Run the setup exe for the app and the fonts.

SETUP STEP 3: SETUP ON MYTHBOX:
Use putty to connect via ssh to your mybox for these steps.

I'm not sure if XDMCP uses X11 forwarding like the other xsession guide I wrote does... if this doens't work, follow the follow steps from that post:

SETUP STEP 3: SETUP PuTTY ON WINDOWS BOX
SETUP STEP 4: SETUP ON MYTHBOX

You'll need to su to complete these modifications and it's ALWAYS a good idea to make a backup of the file you're about to modify before you do so (i.e. cp /dir/nameoffile /dir/nameoffile_virgin)

Modify /etc/X11/xdm/xdm-config and change this line:

Code:

DisplayManager.requestPort: 0

to

Code:

! DisplayManager.requestPort: 0

Now modify /etc/X11/xdm/Xaccess and change this line:

Code:

#* # any host can get a login window

to

Code:

* # any host can get a login window

Now modify /etc/X11/gdm/gdm.conf and change this line:

Code:

Enable=false

to

Code:

Enable=true

Now do a

Code:

# chmod 444 /etc/X11/xdm/Xservers

At this point you'll need to restart gdm:

Code:

# etc/init.d/gdm restart

START A XDMCP SESSION ON THE WINDOWS BOX
open up a command prompt and type this:

Code:

C:\Program Files\Xming>Xming -query <myth machine IP> -nodecoration -lesspointer <win machine IP.  -notrayicon -clipboard

(You can ovbiously make this into a shortcut or batch file.)

If it worked on your machines like it did on mine, you should see the GNOME Desktop Manager login screen prompting you for a username.

HOWTO: use Xdmcp to remote control LINUX through windows

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