Skip Navigation

Using a Laptop as a KVM (or dumb terminal) with SSH X11 forwarding

Here is my latest blog post on a method of using a laptop equipped with an X11 server as a KVM or graphical dumb terminal (not to be confused with "kernel virtual machine") to display an entire desktop environment on one of the virtual terminals of the laptop. You might be familiar with running an X11-compatible program over SSH, seeing a remote GUI app displayed on your local machine. You could also run a whole desktop environment such as "xfce4-session" over SSH and attach it to a virtual terminal (which you switch between using Ctrl-Alt-F1 through Ctrl-Alt-F7, usually, on Debian-based systems).

This is nice if you have a few always-on Raspberry Pis laying around, and you usually use SSH to remote login and control them, but you would like to have a full desktop environment, not just one app, show up on your local computer.

14

You're viewing a single thread.

14 comments
  • There is also waypipe which allows you to run Wayland apps over ssh.

    • Really? Wayland mentions are getting up there with vegans. We know already, go home!

      • While I agree Wayland still immature despite decade of development, you don't have to be a dick when voicing your opinion.

        • Three things you can count on. Vegans, Wayland fanbois, and Arch users all telling us about their respective choice. That is being a dick.

14 comments