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In rare instances you may need to use remote access to configure some software players (e.g. XMMS), or when want to play around with the linux system. This chapter describes the three approaches you can use to access your Snakeoil machine.

VNC

VNC stands for Virtual Networking Computer. It creates a virtual desktop on a computer and that virtual desktop can be remotely controlled from another networked computer via a VNC client. You can download VNC clients for for desktop computers (Apple, Windows and Linux), android, iOS, and even Google Chrome.

In our example, we will describe logging in from a Windows machine. Other platforms will have a similar interface. You will be prompted for a server address upon starting the VNC client. The entry format for this is the server address, followed by :1 (colon one). The server we are trying to connect to is largos, therefore we enter largos:1 in the text box.Hit the "OK" button and you will be challenged to enter a password. Enter "Password1". Once you are authenticated you will get access to the remote X server, and whatever GUI software you selected. During the LiveCD you will see the Ubiquity installer wizard. Once Snakeoil is installed, the GUI player you chose will show up instead, e.g. XMMS.

You can now remotely control your Snakeoil machine from another computer now. And control the XMMS GUI like it's on your current computer. Accessing via this method is very limited as typically the VNC session will be started by a account that can't do much. For more useful access, you'd need to use secure shell (ssh).

SSH

Use secure shell when you need full remote access to your computer. A good freeware ssh client is putty. Android devices the JuiceSSH app works great.

This example shows you how to connect to your Snakeoil machine via putty, all other SSH clients will behave similarly. First step to do is to enter your machine name (or IP) in the address box, the following example attempts to connect to example.com. Substitute that with your machine name. Leave port number 22 alone as that's the port you'd connect to.Once connected, you'd be prompted to login. Type in the user name you created during installation.If you have already forgotten your login account or password, you can reset it from the System page.

Once you entered your login account, Snakeoil will challenge you to enter your password.Do that and you're in!This user account is a special account as you can escalate it to root (the administration account with full access to everything.

To escalate to root, type in these commands "sudo su" and enter the password for your user account.

Registered users have the option to disable SSH access to conserve memory. If you want to use SSH again, please enable it in the snakeoil tab, and reboot the machine.

Direct Access

Also know as the local console (also called terminals, or tty), you'd need to connect a monitor and keyboard to your machine to use this. Enter the user you created during installation, and the password to login.By default Ubuntu gives your 6 terminals, but Snakeoil only enabled one terminal- tty1.

Registered users have the option to disable TTY access to conserve memory. If you want to use local login again, please enable it in the snakeoil tab, and reboot the machine.

With Power Comes Responsibility

With root access you now have the power to do make changes to your computer, including making it non-bootable, perhaps even damaging your computer (e.g. overheating).  If the damage is done in software, simply whip out your LiveCD and reinstall again. If it's hardware, just buy a new component.

Life is too short, experiment!

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