Presentation

To remotely connect to a Microsoft Windows server, Microsoft's 'Remote Desktop' application is perfectly suitable.

For a Linux server, an SSH connection is sufficient in 90% of cases. However, sometimes a full graphical environment is necessary, not just a simple window forwarding (with ssh -X or ssh -Y).

To meet this need, we have deployed X2GO to allow you to remotely connect to the institute's and laboratory's Linux servers with a graphical environment.

This documentation aims to present the client-side installation of this tool, as well as its usage.

Installation

The official X2GO website allows you to download the client for Windows, Linux, and macOS.

For macOS, you will also need to install an X server like XQuartz.

Configuration

To configure a connection, you must at least specify:

• the hostname
• the username
• the type of Window Manager used on the server. In most cases, we use XFCE (for etud, berzet, VMs on Galactica, etc.).

Example:

Starting a Connection

Simply click on the icon:

And enter your password:

You are now connected; a window opens:

Ending the Session

The session ends as usual: by clicking on your name in the menu and then 'logout' or 'disconnect', depending on the language used.

Do not close your X2GO window before properly exiting your session.

Disclaimer

We would like to point out that remote graphical access is less efficient than if you are physically in front of the server, particularly if you connect through the VPN. In this case, your network path crosses nodes outside our control, and we cannot address issues related to slowdowns in this context.