Chrome Remote Desktop Install for Linux

Chrome Remote Desktop Install for Linux

Here I will explain how to install and setup Chrome Remote Desktop install for Linux.

You will also see how to Enable remote connections on your Linux box so you can log in unattended, 24/7.

 **** NOTE: make sure you have a backup. I am still working on the  .chrome-remote-desktop-session file. right now is messing up the desktop. So only set this up right now if you have a very good back up of your Box…. Just warning you….***********  

Set up Chrome Remote Desktop

Step 1:

Install the Chrome Remote Desktop app on every computer you want to access remotely and every computer you’d like to connect from.

  1. Visit the Chrome Remote Desktop app page in the Chrome Web Store.
  2. In the upper-right corner of the window, click the blue + Free button to download Chrome Remote Desktop.
  3. Click Add in the confirmation dialog.Once the app has been added, the Chrome Remote Desktop icon will appear in the App Launcher   When you open Chrome Remote Desktop app for the first time, you’ll be asked to authorize it. This will allow the app to do the following:
  • See your email address
  • See your Chrome Remote Desktop computers
  • Receive and send chat messages (this is how we get the two computers to “talk” to each other)

Stop here and go to the next section  Install the Debian package

 

Applies only Debian and Ubuntu – Mint (12.04 or higher)

Chrome Remote Desktop for Linux is currently in active development. To run this app on Linux, you’ll need to create a separate virtual desktop
session.

Install the Debian package

Download and install one of the following Debian packages for the Host components. When you click one of the links below, the package will
download automatically. Click on the package you need and download it.

The software will update on its own.

Now open a Terminal Window and change to your Download directory by typing in Exp: cd /home/bob/Downloads and hit enter

Now in the Terminal Window type in sudo dpkg -i chrome-remote-desktop_current_amd64.deb  then hit enter (or sudo dpkg -i chrome-remote-desktop_current_i386.deb  if you have a 32 bit box)

Next type in: sudo /etc/init.d/chrome-remote-desktop stop then hit enter  This makes sure the service is not running yet….

Step 2:

Create a virtual desktop session

  1. Create a file called .chrome-remote-desktop-session in your home directory. This should be a shell script that starts your preferred desktop environment.
  2. Find the correct command to start the desktop by looking in /usr/share/xsessions/ for the desktop entry. For example, has the line:  (This was for a Mint 17 XFCE box) Open a simple Text Editor and add just the following line. Then save the file to your Home Directory. Exp: save to /home/bob/.chrome-remote-desktop-session
    startxfce4

3. Now with the Text Editor already open, find the file .profile from your home directory Exp: /home/bob/.profile (Note: any file that has a .
(period) in front of it is a hidden file.

4. At the end of the file on a new line add the following

export CHROME_REMOTE_DESKTOP_DEFAULT_DESKTOP_SIZES=1024×768

Now Save the file…

5. Next type in your Terminal Window: sudo /etc/init.d/chrome-remote-desktop start then hit enter 

Making it all Work…

Enable remote connections

  1. Open the Chrome Remote Desktop web app.
  2. Click “Enable remote connections.”
  3. Enter a PIN and re-type the PIN. Then click OK.
  4. Dismiss the confirmation dialog.
  5. Close all programs and then reboot

That should be it, you should be able to log into the box you just set up with Chrome Remote Desktop. Just don’t forget the pin you created. If you forget you can always go back into Chrome and disable and then re enable Enable remote connections it will ask you for a new pin number.

Reference for this article can be seen at: Chrome Remote Desktop

Enjoy