Guide

How to run commands on a Linux PC without a remote session

Most checks on a Linux PC are one command: how full the disk is, whether a service is running, what the last log lines say. Opening the whole desktop for that is slow, and the person at the PC wonders why you're looking at their screen.

From the RemoteAccessApp Console on Windows or Linux you can run a bash command on a Linux PC, or open a terminal on it, without a session. Nobody's screen is shared. The Linux PC still decides: unless unattended access lets you in, the person there sees the exact command and chooses whether it runs.

  • No screen shared
  • The exact command, shown first
  • bash, as the signed-in user

Updated · Windows or Linux Console, Linux desktops on X11 or Wayland

Run a command

  1. Step 1: Pick the Linux PC

    In the RemoteAccessApp Console on Windows or Linux, open the Devices page and right-click the Linux PC. Select several first to run the same command on all of them.

  2. Step 2: Choose Run a command

    Choose Run a command… and type or paste the command. It runs in bash; it can be several lines.

  3. Step 3: Click Run

    It runs as the person signed in to the Linux desktop, with their rights. A PC that has to ask first shows as waiting until the person there answers.

  4. Step 4: Read the result

    Each PC shows its output and the command's exit code. Stop ends a command that's still running.

A few that work well this way:

df -h
free -h
uptime
systemctl --user --failed
journalctl --user -n 30 --no-pager
cat /etc/os-release

For an interactive shell instead, choose Open terminal. It opens bash on the Linux PC in a window on your side, also without a session, with full-screen programs like top and nano working as usual.

When it runs, and when the PC asks

The Linux PC decides exactly as it would if you opened a session from the same console. It runs straight away when unattended access is on and lets your console in: your console is on the PC's trusted list, or it's signed in to the account that owns the PC.

Otherwise the person at the PC sees Allow this command?, with who is asking and the whole command exactly as it will run. It runs only if they click Allow. If nobody answers in 45 seconds, nothing runs. If the PC has a connection password, it's asked for first.

It won't run at all when…

Remote control is turned off at the PC, the person there is already answering another prompt, or you connect through a team without the Terminal permission. You get a message saying which.

What the person at the PC sees

They never see your screen, and you never see theirs. While a command or terminal is running, the banner shows on their screen, and turning off Allow remote control stops it at once.

Good to know

  • Commands run as the signed-in desktop user. The Agent never runs anything as root by itself; in the interactive terminal, sudo asks for the password as it would at the PC.
  • bash is the shell on Linux PCs. PowerShell and VBScript are offered for Windows PCs only.
  • Management (saved scripts on many PCs, on a schedule) isn't available on Linux PCs yet. Run a command handles one-off jobs on one PC or several.
  • In a session, the same bash terminal opens in a panel under the screen. See controlling a Linux PC from Windows.

What it costs

Run a command and Open terminal are on the free plan, for up to 5 PCs. The commands come from the Console on Windows or Linux; the website doesn't run commands on PCs. The same works for Windows PCs: see running a command without a remote session.

Questions, answered

More on RemoteAccessApp for Linux

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