Leaving firefox running remotely through a ssh connection

[Paul Smith]

Dear All,

I am remotely running firefox through a ssh connection with the
following command:

firefox -no-remote &

and everything works fine. However, I would like to leave firefox
running remotely after quitting the ssh connection. Is that possible?

Thanks in advance,

Paul

[JD]

On 08/03/2010 04:38 PM, Paul Smith wrote:
> Dear All,
>
> I am remotely running firefox through a ssh connection with the
> following command:
>
> firefox -no-remote&
>
> and everything works fine. However, I would like to leave firefox
> running remotely after quitting the ssh connection. Is that possible?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Paul

you can do this:

nohup firefox -no-remote &

And it will remain running after you log out.

[Paul Smith]

On Wed, Aug 4, 2010 at 12:54 AM, JD  wrote:
> > I am remotely running firefox through a ssh connection with the
> > following command:
> >
> > firefox -no-remote&
> >
> > and everything works fine. However, I would like to leave firefox
> > running remotely after quitting the ssh connection. Is that possible?
>
> you can do this:
>
> nohup firefox -no-remote &
>
> And it will remain running after you log out.

Thanks, but I cannot logout (it gets stuck) after I run a X
application. Any ideas?

Paul

[Suvayu Ali]

On 3 August 2010 17:11, Paul Smith  wrote:
> On Wed, Aug 4, 2010 at 12:54 AM, JD  wrote:
> > > I am remotely running firefox through a ssh connection with the
> > > following command:
> > >
> > > firefox -no-remote&
> > >
> > > and everything works fine. However, I would like to leave firefox
> > > running remotely after quitting the ssh connection. Is that possible?
> >
> > you can do this:
> >
> > nohup firefox -no-remote &
> >
> > And it will remain running after you log out.
>
> Thanks, but I cannot logout (it gets stuck) after I run a X
> application. Any ideas?

If you don't mind my asking, why do you want to keep it running? I
can't see a possible use case since there is no way to connect to a
running session of firefox. In fact if you try to run firefox on the
same machine as the same user, it will complain that another session
is running and you need to close that.

If your intention is to keep a constantly running firefox session
which you want to connect to at some point in time in the future, then
I would suggest you run a VNC (or some other remote desktop protocol)
and start firefox from there. So something like this should work,

paul@remote-host $ vncserver :<display> -geometry <desired_resolution>

Then locally start a vnc client of some kind (vncviewer, tigervnc,
remmina, ... ) and connect to the remote machine and start firefox.
Now every time you connect with a vnc client you will have access to
the same firefox session.
> Paul

GL

[Paul Smith]

On Wed, Aug 4, 2010 at 1:22 AM, suvayu ali  wrote:
> > > > I am remotely running firefox through a ssh connection with the
> > > > following command:
> > > >
> > > > firefox -no-remote&
> > > >
> > > > and everything works fine. However, I would like to leave firefox
> > > > running remotely after quitting the ssh connection. Is that possible?
> > >
> > > you can do this:
> > >
> > > nohup firefox -no-remote &
> > >
> > > And it will remain running after you log out.
> >
> > Thanks, but I cannot logout (it gets stuck) after I run a X
> > application. Any ideas?
>
> If you don't mind my asking, why do you want to keep it running? I
> can't see a possible use case since there is no way to connect to a
> running session of firefox. In fact if you try to run firefox on the
> same machine as the same user, it will complain that another session
> is running and you need to close that.
>
> If your intention is to keep a constantly running firefox session
> which you want to connect to at some point in time in the future, then
> I would suggest you run a VNC (or some other remote desktop protocol)
> and start firefox from there. So something like this should work,
>
> paul@remote-host $ vncserver :<display> -geometry <desired_resolution>
>
> Then locally start a vnc client of some kind (vncviewer, tigervnc,
> remmina, ... ) and connect to the remote machine and start firefox.
> Now every time you connect with a vnc client you will have access to
> the same firefox session.

Yes, my intention is to keep a constantly firefox session, which I
want to connect to at some point in time in the future. Thanks for
suggesting me VNC. I will try it, but meanwhile I have a question: can
the VNC session be seen by someone nearby the remote computer?

Paul

[Hakan Koseoglu]

On 4 August 2010 14:55, Paul Smith  wrote:
> Yes, my intention is to keep a constantly firefox session, which I
> want to connect to at some point in time in the future. Thanks for
> suggesting me VNC. I will try it, but meanwhile I have a question: can
> the VNC session be seen by someone nearby the remote computer?

Not if you start a new session (i.e., vncserver :1)
It won't stop someone else connecting to the session you have started
as long as they have the password you have entered when you created
your first-ever VNC session.

[Christopher K. Johnson]

On 08/04/2010 11:01 AM, Hakan Koseoglu wrote:
> On 4 August 2010 14:55, Paul Smith  wrote:
> > Yes, my intention is to keep a constantly firefox session, which I
> > want to connect to at some point in time in the future. Thanks for
> > suggesting me VNC. I will try it, but meanwhile I have a question: can
> > the VNC session be seen by someone nearby the remote computer?
>
> Not if you start a new session (i.e., vncserver :1)
> It won't stop someone else connecting to the session you have started
> as long as they have the password you have entered when you created
> your first-ever VNC session.

FYI vncviewer can take care of starting the ssh connection for tunneling 
if you use the -via option.
That simplifies making your vnc over ssh connection to a single command 
instead of two.

[Hakan Koseoglu]

On 4 August 2010 16:08, Christopher K. Johnson  wrote:
> FYI vncviewer can take care of starting the ssh connection for tunneling
> if you use the -via option.
> That simplifies making your vnc over ssh connection to a single command
> instead of two.

That's a good tip!

[Suvayu Ali]

On 4 August 2010 06:55, Paul Smith  wrote:
> On Wed, Aug 4, 2010 at 1:22 AM, suvayu ali  wrote:
> > If your intention is to keep a constantly running firefox session
> > which you want to connect to at some point in time in the future, then
> > I would suggest you run a VNC (or some other remote desktop protocol)
> > and start firefox from there. So something like this should work,
> >
> > paul@remote-host $ vncserver :<display> -geometry <desired_resolution>
> >
> > Then locally start a vnc client of some kind (vncviewer, tigervnc,
> > remmina, ... ) and connect to the remote machine and start firefox.
> > Now every time you connect with a vnc client you will have access to
> > the same firefox session.
>
> Yes, my intention is to keep a constantly firefox session, which I
> want to connect to at some point in time in the future. Thanks for
> suggesting me VNC. I will try it, but meanwhile I have a question: can
> the VNC session be seen by someone nearby the remote computer?

As Mike mentioned in one of his posts, you can try ssh port forwarding
from the command line. If you prefer the gui I would recommend remmina
(available on both F12 and F13). It has very easy to use ssh port
forwarding interface for vnc connections. I use it quite often during
the course of my work.
> Paul

GL

[Roberto Ragusa]

suvayu ali wrote:
> If your intention is to keep a constantly running firefox session
> which you want to connect to at some point in time in the future, then
> I would suggest you run a VNC (or some other remote desktop protocol)
> and start firefox from there. So something like this should work,
>
> paul@remote-host $ vncserver :<display> -geometry <desired_resolution>

And the operation of starting a vncserver can be automated
with a two-line configuration of /etc/sysconfig/vncservers and
a possible "chkconfig vncservers on".
You can start firefox in $HOME/.vnc/xstartup.
(preferably also start a window manager like fluxbox or twm)

I can reply with an example, if needed.

[JD]

On 08/03/2010 05:11 PM, Paul Smith wrote:
> On Wed, Aug 4, 2010 at 12:54 AM, JD  wrote:
> > > I am remotely running firefox through a ssh connection with the
> > > following command:
> > >
> > > firefox -no-remote&
> > >
> > > and everything works fine. However, I would like to leave firefox
> > > running remotely after quitting the ssh connection. Is that possible?
> >
> > you can do this:
> >
> > nohup firefox -no-remote&
> >
> > And it will remain running after you log out.
>
> Thanks, but I cannot logout (it gets stuck) after I run a X
> application. Any ideas?
>
> Paul

I don't understand what you are saying.
Firefox IS an X client.
You run nohum firefox .... &
and you log out and it gets stuck????

Is this what you are saying??

[Paul Smith]

On Wed, Aug 4, 2010 at 2:34 AM, JD  wrote:
> > > > I am remotely running firefox through a ssh connection with the
> > > > following command:
> > > >
> > > > firefox -no-remote&
> > > >
> > > > and everything works fine. However, I would like to leave firefox
> > > > running remotely after quitting the ssh connection. Is that possible?
> > >
> > > you can do this:
> > >
> > > nohup firefox -no-remote&
> > >
> > > And it will remain running after you log out.
> >
> > Thanks, but I cannot logout (it gets stuck) after I run a X
> > application. Any ideas?
> >
> > Paul
>
> I don't understand what you are saying.
> Firefox IS an X client.
> You run nohum firefox .... &
> and you log out and it gets stuck????
>
> Is this what you are saying??

Yes, that is it. I have searched the Internet for further information,
and I have got some references to this problem:

http://fixunix.com/networking/10827-ssh-x-user-server-hangs-logout.html

Paul

[Ed Greshko]

On 08/04/2010 07:38 AM, Paul Smith wrote:
> I am remotely running firefox through a ssh connection with the
> following command:
>
> firefox -no-remote &
>
> and everything works fine. However, I would like to leave firefox
> running remotely after quitting the ssh connection. Is that possible?

Not exactly sure as to your requirements....  But, on the local machine
why not run:

ssh -Xf remote.com "firefox -no-remote"

[Mike Klinke]

On Tuesday 03 August 2010 18:38, Paul Smith wrote:
> However, I would like to leave firefox
> running remotely after quitting the ssh connection. Is that
> possible?

Another handy option might be to use vncserver/vncviewer to run the 
remote machine over the network.  You can also optionally connect 
through an ssh connection if you're trying to avoid the prying eyes 
of tcpdump etc. :

Remote Machine:
---------------
$ vncserver :1

Local Machine:
--------------
$ ssh -f -N -L 5900:localhost:5900 <user>@<remote IP>
$ vncviewer localhost

--Mike

[Paul Smith]

On Wed, Aug 4, 2010 at 2:55 PM, Mike Klinke  wrote:
> > However, I would like to leave firefox
> > running remotely after quitting the ssh connection. Is that
> > possible?
>
> Another handy option might be to use vncserver/vncviewer to run the
> remote machine over the network.  You can also optionally connect
> through an ssh connection if you're trying to avoid the prying eyes
> of tcpdump etc. :
> Remote Machine:
>
> $ vncserver :1
> Local Machine:
>
> $ ssh -f -N -L 5900:localhost:5900 <user>@<remote IP>
> $ vncviewer localhost

Thanks, Mike. Concerning the suggested way, I have a question: can
someone nearby the remote computer see what I do on the vnc session?

Paul

[Mike Klinke]

On Wednesday 04 August 2010 09:22, Paul Smith wrote:
> Thanks, Mike. Concerning the suggested way, I have a question:
> can someone nearby the remote computer see what I do on the vnc
> session?

If a monitor is connected and it's turned on, yes.

--Mike

[Ed Greshko]

On 08/04/2010 10:34 PM, Mike Klinke wrote:
> On Wednesday 04 August 2010 09:22, Paul Smith wrote:
> > Thanks, Mike. Concerning the suggested way, I have a question:
> > can someone nearby the remote computer see what I do on the vnc
> > session?
>
> If a monitor is connected and it's turned on, yes.

I believe you are confusing VNC on Windows with VNC on Linux.  On
Windows the answer is yes since there is a single video server and you
are simply taking over.  However, with vncserver on Linux you are
actually creating a separate Xvnc server with its own display.  It will
not be visible on the "console" of the remote machine.

[Craig White]

On Wed, 2010-08-04 at 23:05 +0800, Ed Greshko wrote:
> On 08/04/2010 10:34 PM, Mike Klinke wrote:
> > On Wednesday 04 August 2010 09:22, Paul Smith wrote:
> > > Thanks, Mike. Concerning the suggested way, I have a question:
> > > can someone nearby the remote computer see what I do on the vnc
> > > session?
> >
> > If a monitor is connected and it's turned on, yes.
>
> I believe you are confusing VNC on Windows with VNC on Linux.  On
> Windows the answer is yes since there is a single video server and you
> are simply taking over.  However, with vncserver on Linux you are
> actually creating a separate Xvnc server with its own display.  It will
> not be visible on the "console" of the remote machine.

----
if I recall correctly, you can get the same behavior - maybe use xnest
but out of the box, no.

Craig

[Mike Klinke]

On Wednesday 04 August 2010 10:05, Ed Greshko wrote:
> I believe you are confusing VNC on Windows with VNC on Linux.  On
> Windows the answer is yes since there is a single video server
> and you are simply taking over.  However, with vncserver on Linux
> you are actually creating a separate Xvnc server with its own
> display.  It will not be visible on the "console" of the remote
> machine.

Thanks for the head's up.  I found that it can be done either/both 
ways.  Right out of the box, using the FC13 
tigervnc/tiger-vncserver apps it will operate just like the VNC on 
Windows where both the local and remote sides can view and control 
the desktop according to the System->Preferences-Remote Desktop 
setup utility.  The commands I noted in my previous message will 
give that mode of operation.

However, as another option, you can setup the /etc/init.d/vncserver 
with the appropriate config in /etc/sysconfig/vncservers 
and /etc/xinetd.d and you can get the type of operation you 
mentioned too where there's no interaction on the remote desktop at 
all.

Like anything else we do with these boxes I guess there're 25 other 
ways to do the same thing too.

--Mike