How to unlock a locked Linux PC remotely

Unlocking works in a session the PC has allowed. Check these while you're still at the PC:

• The Agent is installed and set up on the Linux PC, and starts when you sign in. See how to install RemoteAccessApp on Linux, or, on Ubuntu, how to access an Ubuntu desktop remotely.
• Allow remote control is on in the Agent's window. A view-only session can see the lock screen but can't type into it.
• Unattended access is on, if nobody will be there to click Allow. See unattended access on a Linux PC.
• On Wayland, screen sharing has been approved once. After you unlock, the desktop is shared using that approval. If it was never given, someone at the PC has to answer the desktop's dialog first. See approving screen sharing on Ubuntu.

Wayland desktops such as Ubuntu's GNOME don't let any app see or control a locked screen, not even one you've approved. So instead of a black picture, the Agent shows you its own lock screen in the session. The PC's own screen keeps showing the desktop's lock screen. Our post on Linux remote desktop when the screen locks explains why locked screens cause trouble and what we do about it.

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   Step 1: Connect as usual

   Open the PC from the Console's Devices page or your dashboard in the browser. Unless unattended access lets you in, the PC asks Allow remote access? first.

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   Step 2: See This computer is locked

   The session opens on a screen that says This computer is locked, with the user's name and the PC's name under it, and Type the password of that user and press Enter to unlock it.

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   Step 3: Type the password and press Enter

   Click into the session and type that user's Linux password, the one they'd type at the PC. Each character shows as a dot. Press Enter.

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   Step 4: Carry on where they left off

   The system checks the password, the screen says Unlocking…, and the desktop appears in the session with everything still open.

On an X11 desktop there's nothing special to learn. When you connect, the Agent wakes the screen, so you see the desktop's own lock screen in the session. Click into it, type the password and press Enter, exactly as you would at the PC. Not sure which one your PC uses? Linux remote desktop on X11 and Wayland shows how to check.

• It stays awake while you're connected. During a session the Agent wakes the screen and holds off blanking, locking and suspend. When the last session ends, the PC goes back to its normal settings.
• Turn off automatic suspend in the desktop's power settings, at least while it's plugged in. A suspended PC shows as offline, and a locked one doesn't.
• The person at the PC can still lock it. If they do while you're connected, you'll see the lock screen again and can unlock it the same way.

Everything above is for a locked screen, where the person is still signed in. After a restart, or if they sign out, the Agent stops with their desktop session, so the PC shows as offline until someone signs in again.

• Available after a restart in the Agent's settings at the PC signs you in by itself after a restart and locks the screen straight away, so the Agent comes back online and you unlock it from your side as above. Turning it on asks for an administrator password. The desktop can show for a moment before the lock comes up, so use it for a PC somewhere you trust.
• Don't sign out when you step away from a PC you want to reach. Lock it instead: you can unlock it from anywhere.

Unlocking a locked screen works on every plan, and a Linux PC is one of the 5 PCs on the free plan. To start, download RemoteAccessApp on the Linux PC.