A great way to Learn Linux is by working with it directly! In the spirit of hands-on #Linux Learning, in this video you’ll be walked through the process of setting up a remote desktop in the cloud. You’ll be able to connect to it from an X2go client whenever you need it. This is a fun project for those looking for a more practical way to learn.

Build your own cloud desktop

What you’ll need:

• A Linux Cloud instance, preferably with at least 4GB of RAM
• X2Go client installed (Windows, macOS, or Linux)

Links:

• XQuartz (macOS users only)
• X2Go client

Disclaimer

Two common sponsors of Learn Linux TV (Akamai and CrowdSec) were mentioned during this video. However, this video is 100% non-sponsored. These services were mentioned only because the author actually uses them. Neither were made aware of their mention while this video was being produced.

Commands used

In this section, you’ll find notes pertaining to commands and such that were used within the video.

Security

Install the unattended upgrades package:

sudo apt install unattended-upgrades

Adjust configuration for unattended upgrades:

sudo nano /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/50unattended-upgrades

Enable automatic reboot:

Find the line:

//Unattended-Upgrade::Automatic-Reboot "false";

Uncomment by changing it to:

Unattended-Upgrade::Automatic-Reboot "true";

Also uncomment:

Unattended-Upgrade::Automatic-Reboot-WithUsers "true";

Set a time for the automatic reboot to happen:

// Unattended-Upgrade::Automatic-Reboot-Time "02:00";

Change to (and adjust with your desired time):

Unattended-Upgrade::Automatic-Reboot-Time "04:00";

Verify automatic updates are fully enabled:

sudo nano /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/20auto-upgrades

Ensure both are set to 1.

Install crowdsec

Add the repository:

curl -s https://packagecloud.io/install/repositories/crowdsec/crowdsec/script.deb.sh | sudo bash

Install Crowdsec:

sudo apt install crowdsec

systemctl status crowdsec

Install the firewall bouncer for Crowdsec:

sudo apt install crowdsec-firewall-bouncer-iptables

systemctl status crowdsec-firewall-bouncer

systemctl start crowdsec-firewall-bouncer

Install the Mate desktop

sudo apt install mate-desktop-environment

Enable required DBUS support

nano ~/.profile

Add:

export DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS="unix:path=$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/bus"

Install X2go server

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:x2go/stable

sudo apt-get install x2goserver x2goserver-xsession

And that should do it! Install the X2Go client on your local computer and attempt connecting to your remote desktop.