BitNami :: How to install Ubuntu Desktop on EC2 EBS

How to install Ubuntu Desktop on EC2 EBS

Feb 02, 2010 | Tags: Hosting, Infrastructure, Other Category

Ctdh, a BitNami community member, has generously provided us with a great tutorial on how to make persistent data in Amazon Machine Images :

" Many of the instances of Ubuntu on EC2 are not based on an EBS instance which means you cannot stop/start the service without loosing the data and you cannot create your own ami fresh from the instance. So here is How to create your own Ubuntu Desktop on an EBS based EC2:

First follow:
http://bitnami.org/tutorials/amazon_machine_images

Make sure the AWS security group has port 22 open for the IP address you are using locally.

Launch ami-b3c0ebc7 AWS EBS instance (from http://alestic.com) using default settings.

If you use Windows to connect to the Amazon cloud, you can use the PuTTY tool, set the Host to ubuntu@[use the public DNS] and set Connection/SSH/Auth/Private Key file to the mykey.ppk you created in http://bitnami.org/tutorials/amazon_machine_images

Set Connection/SSH/Tunnels Source port: 9000 and to Destination: localhost:5901

If you want to install the Ubuntu Desktop you can enter the following commands at the terminal prompt:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop
sudo apt-get install vnc4server
vncserver :1

Enter a password when prompted

You can then install tightvnc client on your local machine and open a connection to 127.0.0.1:9000 whilst the PuTTY ssh connection is still open.

When your vnc client connects, you will be presented with a terminal window in the desktop. Type the following command to start your gnome desktop:

nohup gnome-session &

Apparently NXserver is better, but I have not managed to install it yet.

Hope this helps someone. "

Comments

NX makes this rock

On the EC2 Ubuntu "Desktop server".. you will initially have to SSH into it or use the VNC described already. For the EC2 Desktop "server" side follow this guide to install the FreeNX server and get it configured. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FreeNX After you've completed all the steps to "install" FreeNX there are usually a couple other things to take care of note: the key FreeNX configuration file you will want to edit later is /etc/nxserver/node.conf I usually change the Clipboard option to "both' right away because its useful during setups. node.conf is also where you setup remote printing, etc etc. then in in your client (if it's Ubuntu) goto Synaptic and and search for "NX" install the "NX Client" when that's done get the Public DNS for your EC2 Ubuntu "Desktop Server (if you look at that you can see the IP address - just remove the dashes) Run the NX Client, click Configure Enter your EC2 Public DNS name for "HOST" select "save" then Enter your login ID and Password for the remote EC2 Ubuntu machine... and you should get logged in assuming you did everything. on the server side in the /etc/nxserver/node.conf file you can turn debug logging ON ... to help you ID what might be going wrong if for some reason you can't log in. FYI... to get audio make sure the Security Group (re access list) for your EC2 Ubuntu Desktop "server" has ports 8000-8200 open. Setting this up usually takes me about 5 minutes but that's having practiced <g>. Its really pretty easy and the NX protocol makes the remote desktop response really great... like being there.

2010-02-15 06:27 AM by bmullan

NX makes this rock

2010-02-15 06:28 AM by bmullan

NX makes EC2 Ubuntu "Desktop server" rock (formatt

On the EC2 Ubuntu "Desktop server".. you will initially have to SSH into it or use the VNC described already. For the EC2 Desktop "server" side follow this guide to install the FreeNX server and get it configured. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FreeNX After you've completed all the steps to "install" FreeNX there are usually a couple other things to take care of note: the key FreeNX configuration file you will want to edit later is /etc/nxserver/node.conf I usually change the Clipboard option to "both' right away because its useful during setups. node.conf is also where you setup remote printing, etc etc. then in in your client (if it's Ubuntu) goto Synaptic and and search for "NX" install the "NX Client" when that's done get the Public DNS for your EC2 Ubuntu "Desktop Server (if you look at that you can see the IP address - just remove the dashes) Run the NX Client click Configure Enter your EC2 Public DNS name for "HOST" select "save" then Enter your login ID and Password for the remote EC2 Ubuntu machine... and you should get logged in assuming you did everything. on the server side in the /etc/nxserver/node.conf file you can turn debug logging ON ... to help you ID what might be going wrong if for some reason you can't log in. FYI... to get audio working turn on the 2 settings for preload in node.conf and then make sure the Security Group (re access list) for your EC2 Ubuntu Desktop "server" has ports 8000-8200 open. Setting this up usually takes me about 5 minutes but that's having practiced <g>. Its really pretty easy and the NX protocol makes the remote desktop response really great... like being there.

2010-02-15 06:34 AM by bmullan