Guide
How to control a Linux PC from a Windows PC
If your own computer runs Windows and some of the PCs you look after run Linux, you shouldn't need a different tool for each. With the RemoteAccessApp Agent on the Linux PC, it shows up in the RemoteAccessApp Console next to your Windows PCs, and you open it the same way.
You get the desktop, a bash terminal, and the Console's tools for processes, services and logs, end-to-end encrypted between your Windows PC and the Linux one.
- Same Devices list as your Windows PCs
- Bash terminal in the session
- End-to-end encrypted
Updated · Windows 10 and 11 Console, Linux desktops on X11 or Wayland
Connect to the Linux PC
Step 1: Install the Agent on the Linux PC
Install the .deb or .tar.gz on the Linux PC and set it up with a setup code from Add a PC in the Console. X11 (Xorg) and Wayland desktops both work; on Wayland the PC asks once to approve screen sharing. The install guide has the steps.
Step 2: Find it on the Devices page
In the RemoteAccessApp Console on your Windows PC, signed in to the same account, the Linux PC is listed on the Devices page with its online status, like your other PCs.
Step 3: Open a session
Double-click it. Unless unattended access lets your console in, the person at the Linux PC sees Allow remote access? and the session starts when they click Allow.
Step 4: Work as you would on a Windows PC
The screen, mouse and keyboard work as usual, and the PC can sit in a tab or the live grid next to your Windows PCs. The banner on the Linux PC shows you're there, with an End button for the person at it. The PC stays awake while you're connected.
Keyboard and screen
- Keys follow the Linux PC's layout. What you press is sent to the Linux PC and mapped to its keyboard layout. Text you type arrives as text, so characters that layout lacks still come through.
- Several monitors. The free plan shows the PC's main screen. With Pro you can switch between its monitors or see them all, and the mouse lands on the monitor you're viewing.
- A locked screen. If the Linux PC is locked, type its user's password in the session to unlock it. The system checks it, as it would at the PC. This works in a session the PC allowed, with remote control on.
- Speed and quality. The picture adapts to your connection, with sharp image tiles or the video codec, as on Windows PCs.
A terminal on the Linux PC
In a session, open the terminal from the session toolbar: on a Linux PC it's bash, in a panel under the screen, running as the person signed in to the desktop, with their rights. Full-screen programs work, and it resizes with the panel.
df -h / systemctl --user list-units --type=service journalctl --user -n 50
You don't need a session for a quick command: right-click the PC on the Devices page and choose Open terminal or Run a command…. See running commands on a Linux PC without a session.
Processes, services and logs
The Console's Windows tools page works with Linux PCs too, using their Linux counterparts, so the ideas in how to manage multiple Windows computers remotely carry over to your Linux desktops:
- Processes, with the option to end one: it's asked to stop first, then stopped.
- Services from systemd: start, stop and restart, where the signed-in user may. Anything that needs root is refused with a clear message instead of a password prompt on the PC.
- Sessions: who is signed in.
- Event logs from the systemd journal, as System and User logs. Reading the system journal needs the signed-in user to be in the
admorsystemd-journalgroup, and the tool tells you how to add it.
Files, clipboard and sound
You can drop files on the session or browse the Linux PC's folders in two panes, and copy text and pictures both ways through the clipboard. With Pro, you can also hear the PC's sound. See transferring files with a Linux PC. Chat works on every plan.
Not on Linux yet
No Windows PC? Use a browser
From another Linux PC, install RemoteAccessApp for Linux: it includes the Agent (so this PC can be reached) and the Console (to reach your other PCs), with end-to-end encrypted sessions, the terminal and the tools, as on Windows. From a Mac or a Chromebook, sign in at remoteaccessapp.com and open the Linux PC in the browser instead: the screen, control, chat and sending files work there, encrypted but not end to end. The terminal and the tools are in the Console. See access your PC from a browser.
Questions, answered
More on RemoteAccessApp for Linux
- Remote desktop for LinuxRemoteAccessApp for Linux: the Agent and the Console in one package. See and control your Linux desktops, on X11 or Wayland, free for up to 5 PCs.Learn more
- Install on LinuxInstall the Agent and the Console with the .deb on Ubuntu, Debian and Mint or the .tar.gz elsewhere, add the PC, and approve screen sharing once on Wayland.Read the guide
- Remote access to UbuntuInstall RemoteAccessApp on Ubuntu, approve screen sharing once at the PC, and open the desktop from a browser or the Console.Read the guide
- Unattended access on LinuxTurn on unattended access at the Linux PC, trust your console once, approve screen sharing once on Wayland and start the Agent at sign-in.Read the guide
- Help someone on LinuxThe person on Linux reads you the 8-digit code on their Home screen and clicks Allow; you connect from the app or a browser.Read the guide
- Linux terminal without a sessionRun a command or open a bash terminal on a Linux PC from the Devices page: straight away under unattended access, otherwise after an Allow.Read the guide
- Transfer files with a Linux PCDrop files on a session to put them in Downloads, or browse the Linux PC's home folder and filesystem from the Console, with resume.Read the guide
- Unlock a locked Linux PCA locked Linux screen is no dead end: type the user's password in the session and the system unlocks it, on Wayland and X11.Read the guide
- Approve screen sharing on WaylandThe one-time Remote Desktop dialog on Ubuntu and other Wayland desktops: what to pick, how to do it ahead of time, and what to do if it asks again.Read the guide
- Control Windows from LinuxInstall RemoteAccessApp on your Linux PC, sign in to the Console and open your Windows PCs: screen, keyboard, terminal, tools and files.Read the guide
- RemoteAccessApp on LinuxRemoteAccessApp for Linux is here, Agent and Console: X11 and Wayland desktops, the same Allow prompt and banner, a bash terminal, files and sound.Read the post
- X11 vs Wayland for remote desktopWhat X11 and Wayland change for screen sharing and remote control, and how the Agent works on both: on Wayland, approve once and it's remembered.Read the post
- Windows and Linux PCs in one appA mixed home or office in one account: the same Devices list, sessions, terminal, tools and consent rules for Windows and Linux PCs.Read the post
- When the Linux screen locksWhy a locked Linux screen so often ends a remote session, and how RemoteAccessApp keeps the PC awake and lets you unlock it, on Wayland and X11.Read the post
Related
- Remote desktop for WindowsSee and control your Windows PCs from anywhere, free for up to 5 PCs.Learn more
- Remote console accessRemote console access to PCs, servers and devices: PowerShell, bash, SSH and serial consoles from anywhere, in the app or a browser.Read the guide
- SSH to a Linux serverConnect to a Linux server from Windows or another Linux machine, check its key, and copy files.Read the guide
