FreeNX

Getting FreeNX working on Slackware (-current as of writing (13/08/2009)).

Build it

Get Eric Hameleers' build script:

wget -np -r http://connie.slackware.com/~alien/slackbuilds/freenx/build/

cd connie.slackware.com/\~alien/slackbuilds/freenx/build/

Build nx and freenx:

./nx.SlackBuild && ./freenx.SlackBuild --cleanup

Install the resultant packages:

installpkg /tmp/{nx-3.3.0-i486-1alien,freenx-0.7.3-i486-2alien}.tgz

The installer runs the initial configuration (including adding a new user "nx" to the system).

Configure it

The main config file is /etc/nxserver/node.conf. The comments are helpful, so read them.

Of interest to me was specifying the port that the system's sshd listens on. If you run your sshd on a non-standard port (i.e. not 22), then uncomment the line:

  #SSHD_PORT=22

and replace 22 with whatever your port number is.

If you're a bit paranoid with your security settings in /etc/ssh/sshd_config (like I am), make sure you add the user nx to AllowUsers, otherwise the client you choose will fail to connect to your ssh daemon.

If you've made changes in /etc/ssh/sshd_config, then restart sshd. This is the command I use when I'm logged in remotely and I need to restart sshd:

/etc/rc.d/rc.sshd stop; sleep 5; /etc/rc.d/rc.sshd start

Run it

Check to see if the server is running (it was after my installation, but your mileage may vary):

nxserver --status

If you see:

  root@darkstar:~# nxserver --status
  NX> 100 NXSERVER - Version 3.2.0-73 OS (GPL, using backend: 3.3.0)
  NX> 110 NX Server is running
  NX> 999 Bye

you're good to go. Otherwise, run:

nxserver --restart

Connect to it

http://en.opensuse.org/FreeNX_Server_HOWTO lists a number of clients able to connect to a (free)nx server. Since my main interest was in accessing my Linux box at home from my Windows box at work, I used the NoMachine client for Windows.

The NoMachine Linux client works just as well. Simply download the archive (http://64.34.161.181/download/3.3.0/Linux/nxclient-3.3.0-6.i386.tar.gz), unpack it and run bin/nxclient. When prompted, enter the IP or hostname of the machine you wish to connect to, the port through which you would SSH into it and which DE you want to run (KDE, Gnome etc.). Obviously Slackware doesn't ship with Gnome, but I've successfully tested it with KDE. I have yet to get XFCE to work.