Remote access to workstation

Sometimes I am at the university and I need some files I got on my workstation at home or I need to run some software I do not have installed on my laptop. Therefore I would like to have a tool or a collection of tools to turn on my workstation remotely if it is switched off and to interact with it. I want to be able to access all files on it and transfer them to my laptop if needed or copy data from my laptop But sometimes it is also necessary to start a program on the workstation. Theses programs could be simple shell scripts or other command line tools but also software with a graphical user interface. The workstation is connected to a Wifi-Router that is always turned on. Security is import, no one else should be able to gain access or intercept the communication.
1 answer

Wakeonlan + ssh + VNC

*) Check if your IP address is static. If not you should use a service like dyndns to find your home IP.
*) Install an alternative firmware on your router like DD-WRT.
*) Install the program wakeonlan and ssh on your router.
*) If your workstation is switched off you can now use ssh to open a shell on your router and run wakeonlan from there to boot the workstation.
*) For secure remote access to your workstation you can install ssh.
*) Choose an unused port on the router and forward it to the ssh-port on your workstation so you can access it from the outside.
*) ssh can also deal with graphical user interfaces but this is quite slow and needs quite a lot of bandwidth.
A better option is to install a VNC-server on the workstation and a VNC-client on the laptop. The connection can be tunneled through ssh so it is encrypted.

Taggings: