Google’s remote desktop app which lets you log into one computer from another (or from a smartphone or tablet) is now available for Linux. Chrome Remote Desktop for Linux is still in beta, but it now supports Ubuntu, Debian, and related Linux-based operating systems.

That means you can use a Linux system to log into a Windows PC… or a Windows PC or Android phone (for example) to log into your Linux desktop.

chromoting

Setting up Chrome Remote Desktop on a Linux system takes a little more work than doing it on a Windows or Mac machine.

First you’ll need to install the Google Chrome or Chromium web browsers, visit the Chrome Web Store and install the Chrome Remote Desktop app, and then you’ll need to manually download and install a Debian package and create a virtual desktop session.

You can find detailed instructions at the Chrome Remote Desktop support page under “enable remote access to your computer” in the Linux area.

I’ve tried to configure Chrome Remote Desktop beta on a few different virtual machines and one laptop running Linux Mint in my office with no luck so far. Your results may vary.

via Chrome Story

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7 replies on “Google launches Chrome Remote Desktop for Linux (beta)”

  1. I am not sure I understand the stated need to install a Debian package. I have a Windows-based computer in my office and an Ubuntu-based computer at home, and am using the remote access feature one-way only (i.e., using the Ubuntu machine to access the Windows machine). I had installed the Chrome browser on both of them many months ago, so I could skip those steps. To get Google Remote Desktop up and running, I merely added the Remote Desktop extension to the Chrome browser on both machines and created a PIN. I was up-and-running in 5 min. Unless the Debian package is required to remotely access an Ubuntu-based machine, I don’t understand why it would be needed.

  2. That messed with my ubuntu 14.04, a basic user would need a reinstall to fix that. Wont use it anytime soon!

  4. I’ve been using this for years to help my in-laws with their computers (both Windows and Linux). My main complaint is that it times out after five minutes, so they have to sit there while I futz with their system.

  5. This has been around for a while. It’s been notoriously buggy though. I stopped using it a long time ago because of all the issues. The worst problem I found was if you closed your session, it’d terminate the client so I’d have to use VNC to start it all over again. If I have to bother with that, why not just keep using VNC!

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