Help a novice secure his VNC connection ?

[Copps]

Hi all,

I need to be able to access my Ubuntu desktop from a remote Windows machine.

I have added vnc4server and xinetd via aptitude, set config, and can start an ubuntu session locally via vncviewer:localhost:1

I can also start a session using tightvnc.exe on a Windows machine on my local network. What I've read about accessing sessions through VNC remotely doesn't fill me with much confidence! From what I understand of SSH tunnelling, I could connect remotely to my Ubuntu machine via SSH and begin the desktop session by running the same command as above, "vncviewer:localhost:1"

This is where my understanding may be drifting off. Is this SSH tunnelling? When I try to do this, I get "Error! Cannot open display!"

Here are the things I can't figure.

Do I understand what SSH tunnelling really is?

How can I access an Ubuntu desktop session remotely AND securely using SSH tunnelling?

Do I need to port forward SSH traffic to my Ubuntu machine, which is sat behind a router?

How can I change the SSH connection port to something else to help prevent unauthorised access?

Thanks for any help anyone can offer!

[Copps]

Hm, OK I've made *some* progress here.

I have switched the access port for SSH in sshd_config, and set up port forwarding on my router to the new SSH port.

I've set up a SSH tunnel using the notes at http:www.brainonfire.net/2006/08/21/vnc-over-ssh/.

Now here's the thing. I can connect to SSH on my Ubuntu machine via Windows Putty if I use the 192.168.* IP address, and the port number I specified. If I try to connect using the external fixed IP that my ISP has given me, from the same Windows machine, I get "Connection refused" - http://www.tartarus.org/~simon/puttydoc/Chapter10.html#errors-connrefused

I'm far from being an expert as you can probably tell, but this suggests that the port forwarding I have set up on my router is OK, and Ubuntu itself is refusing the SSH connection! Yet it permits the SSH connection when I connect using Ubuntu's internal IP address.

Further, I've double-checked the port is open using http://www.canyouseeme.org/ and everything checks out, and confirmed my external IP address at http://www.whatismyip.com

Anyone got an idea why the SSH connection fails to work only when I try to connect on my external IP?

[Copps]

I've fixed this, please disregard/close etc.

[DarkKoopa]

I found your post as was scratching my head with getting VNC to work over SSH

Until I found this post that is

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=11808

Works a treat, can access it from anywhere now and I know it's secure. Yippee!

Took all of 48.98 seconds to get it working too. =D>