Tags: tips | ubuntu

In Karmic Koala 09.10, the powers that be removed the UI to switch on XDMCP. This enables one to log-in remotely to your workstation / computer from another Linux box. This comes in very, very handy but its also a bit non-secure. (Which is probably why the people in charge of Gnome / Ubuntu stripped it out). But is still there if you want to use it.

The following instructions are adapted from this blog entry. Its mostly the same, I've just removed some of the original authors slightly more rambling (no offense intended) introduction. Hit the "Read More" Button to see the instructions / tutorial.

1. Copy /usr/share/doc/gdm/examples/custom.conf to /etc/gdm/ – the command line below will do the job for you:
   

   gksudo cp /usr/share/doc/gdm/examples/custom.conf /etc/gdm/

2. Edit the file to add the line “Enable=true” after the “[xdmcp]” line (don’t forget to save it):
   

   gksudo gedit /etc/gdm/custom.conf

3. The file should look something like this:
   

   # GDM configuration storage
   
   [xdmcp]
   Enable=true
   
   [chooser]
   
   [security]
   
   [debug]

4. Restart GDM with the following command (note that this will kill your current X session, so please make sure you’ve saved anything important first):
   

   gksudo restart gdm