RemoteAccessApp on Linux

RemoteAccessApp for Linux includes the Agent (so this PC can be reached) and the Console (to reach your other PCs), in one package. The Agent makes the Linux PC reachable from your account: from the website in any browser, or from the RemoteAccessApp Console on another Windows or Linux PC. Both work on 64-bit (x86-64) PCs whose desktop runs on X11 (Xorg) or Wayland, such as Ubuntu, Debian, Linux Mint and Fedora. Everything goes through RemoteAccessApp's servers, encrypted, so there's nothing to open on your router.

Install it

Open the download page on the Linux PC. It offers two files:

• The .deb package, for Ubuntu, Debian, Linux Mint and other distributions that use apt. In a terminal, in the folder you saved it to, run the command the download page shows. It starts with sudo apt install ./ followed by the file's name. It installs the Agent and the Console for everyone in /opt/remoteaccessapp and adds RemoteAccessApp (the Console), RemoteAccessApp Agent (this computer's settings) and Get help (one-time code) to the app menu. If the older separate RemoteAccessApp Agent or Console package is installed, this one replaces it and your settings stay.
• The archive (tarball), for any other 64-bit distribution. Extract it, open a terminal in the extracted folder and run its install script. That installs the Agent and the Console just for you, with no sudo. Add --system to install it for everyone instead. The read-me in the folder lists the commands.

The PC needs glibc 2.27 or later, so a distribution from about 2018 or newer. ARM computers aren't supported yet.

Set it up

1. Open RemoteAccessApp Agent from your app menu.
2. On your dashboard, or in the RemoteAccessApp Console, choose Add a PC to get a 6-digit setup code.
3. Type it under Setup code and choose Set up this computer. The code works once, for 10 minutes.
4. Or switch to Sign in, enter your account's email and password (and your two-step code, if you use one) and choose Set up this computer. The password is only used to add the computer; it isn't stored there.

The computer then shows as online in your account. From now on the Agent starts when you sign in to the desktop. Start when I sign in in its window turns that off or on. If it's a virtual machine, you can clone a VM that's in your account, and each copy joins as a new PC with no setup on the copies.

Xorg and Wayland

The Agent works on both, with nothing to set. It sees which kind of desktop you're signed in to by itself. To check which one you're on, run this in a terminal. It prints x11 or wayland:

echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE

On X11 (Xorg) there's nothing more to do.

On Wayland, such as Ubuntu's default GNOME desktop, the desktop asks once before it shares the screen. The first time someone connects (after Allow remote access?, unless unattended access let them in), the desktop shows its own Remote Desktop dialog at the PC:

1. Turn on Allow Remote Interaction, so the person connecting can use the mouse and keyboard, not just watch.
2. Keep Remember This Selection ticked.
3. Click Share.

After that it's remembered: later sessions start without the dialog, and unattended access works with nobody at the PC. While a session is open, GNOME shows its screen-sharing icon in the top bar; Stop sharing there ends the session.

If the Agent says this desktop can't be shared, it's a Wayland desktop that doesn't offer screen sharing to apps. Choose an Xorg session at the login screen instead: most login screens have a session menu in a corner. Xfce, MATE and Cinnamon run on X11 anyway.

Using it

• Someone at the PC clicks Allow on Allow remote access? before anything is shared, unless unattended access lets your console in. The question also shows as a desktop notification with Allow and Don't allow. A banner with End stays on the screen during every session.
• While a session is open, the PC is kept awake: the screen stays on and it won't blank, lock or suspend. That's released when the session ends.
• If the screen is locked, the person connecting can unlock it in a session the PC allowed, with remote control on, by typing the Linux user's password; the system checks it, as at the PC. On Wayland the Agent shows them its own lock screen for this; on X11 they type into the desktop's lock screen.
• Allow remote control off makes sessions view-only.
• Get help (one-time code) in the app menu (also on the right-click menu of RemoteAccessApp Agent), the window or the tray menu gives a one-time code for someone you asked for help.
• In the Console, on Windows or Linux, a Linux PC's terminal is bash, running as you. The Console's tools show its processes, systemd services, sign-in sessions and journal.
• File transfer and clipboard sync are free with an account. Sound and every monitor are part of Pro, as on Windows.

Reach it after a restart

Normally the Agent starts when you sign in to the desktop, so after a restart or a power cut the PC stays offline until someone signs in at it. To reach it straight away instead, turn on Available after a restart in the Agent's window at the PC, under What's allowed. It asks for an administrator password.

From then on, when the PC starts, the login screen signs you in by itself and the screen locks straight away. The Agent comes online, and the person connecting unlocks the PC from their side by typing your Linux password, the same way as any locked screen. Turning it off asks for the administrator password again and puts the login screen's settings back exactly as they were. Removing RemoteAccessApp turns it off too.

• It works with the GDM (GNOME, Ubuntu, Fedora), LightDM (Linux Mint, Xubuntu) and SDDM (KDE) login screens. With another login screen, the Agent says it isn't available yet.
• It can only be turned on at the PC, not from a remote session.
• Keep Unattended access on, or someone at the PC still has to click Allow. On Wayland, approve screen sharing once first (see above), or sessions after a restart wait for someone at the PC to approve it.
• The desktop can show for a moment before the lock comes up, so use it for a PC somewhere you trust.
• The login keyring stays locked until you sign in at the PC, so Wi-Fi networks must be available to all users (the usual setting), and apps that keep passwords in the keyring may ask for it.

Windows PCs don't have this yet: after a restart, someone has to sign in to Windows first.

The Console on Linux

Open RemoteAccessApp from the app menu and sign in with your account to reach your other PCs. It has nearly everything the Console on Windows has: the Devices list, live sessions, file transfer, chat, the terminal and running commands without a session, the tools, your saved SSH, SFTP, VNC and Remote Desktop hosts (Remote Desktop hosts open in FreeRDP: sudo apt install freerdp2-x11), teams, the management views, Help someone and the settings. Sessions from the Console are end-to-end encrypted. It keeps its sign-in and settings in ~/.config/remoteaccessapp-console, separate from the Agent's.

There's no Mac app. On a Mac, sign in to the website in your browser to reach your PCs.

Troubleshooting

Can't reach RemoteAccessApp

If the window says Can't reach RemoteAccessApp, the Agent can't get to the server and keeps retrying by itself.

1. Check that other websites load on the PC.
2. Open the Server status page on the same PC.
3. If you use a firewall that controls outgoing connections, allow the RemoteAccessApp Agent to connect out. It never needs incoming connections, and nothing has to be opened on your router.
4. On a work network, ask your IT team whether new programs may connect out.
5. Choose Quit in the tray menu or the Agent's window, then open RemoteAccessApp Agent again to retry at once.

More in relay or direct connections and firewalls.

The screen is black or nothing is shared

• On Wayland, check the desktop's Remote Desktop dialog at the PC: it's shown the first time, and screen sharing starts once someone clicks Share (see above). If it was turned down, connect again and approve it.
• If the Agent says the desktop can't be shared, choose an Xorg session at the login screen (see above).
• The Agent shares the desktop of the person signed in. At the login screen, or after a restart before anyone signs in, it isn't running yet, unless Available after a restart is on (see above).
• A PC that's suspended shows as offline. The Agent keeps the PC awake only while a session is open, so turn off automatic suspend in your power settings if you need to reach it at other times.

No tray icon

On Ubuntu the icon is at the top right, through Ubuntu's AppIndicator support, which is on by default. KDE, Xfce and Cinnamon show it in their tray. On a desktop without a tray, the Agent's window stays open instead; closing it minimizes it.

Logs and journal

Reading the system journal in the Console's tools needs your user in the adm or systemd-journal group. Add it with sudo usermod -aG adm followed by your user name, then sign out and in again.

Updates

The Agent checks for updates by itself and installs only ones that match the signed release. An update brings the Agent and the Console up to date together. A copy installed just for you updates itself when nobody is connected. A .deb install needs your administrator password to update; you can also install a newer .deb over it the same way as the first time. Your settings are kept.

Uninstall

For the .deb, run:

sudo apt remove remoteaccessapp

For the archive, run the uninstall script from the folder you extracted, with --system if you installed it for everyone. Add --purge to delete your settings too. Either way the Agent and the Console are removed together; apt remove never deletes the settings in your home folder.

Uninstalling stops the Agent and the Console at once and takes the computer out of your account. Its credentials, trusted consoles and passwords are deleted, so nobody can connect to it any more. If the computer is offline at that moment, it shows as offline in your account until you remove it on your dashboard.