Ubuntu
xrdp package

Cannot connect to VPN via xrdp session (Not Authorized to control networking)

Asked by Mike

I have 12.04 LTS installed on a server which I'm setting up to be a home media server. I currently have a monitor connected to the server but I want to be able to do all administration on the box using my win7 laptop.

I've installed xrdp and can now connect using remote desktop. I connect using the same user I log in directly who is an administrator.

This setup is generally working OK except for 2 issues:

1) If I try to connect to my VPN (clicking the network top right, VPN connections) it works fine if I am actually using the box, but if I remote desktop in, I get the following error.
VPN Connection Failed Not authorized to control networking. This appears as a popup error that disappears after a couple of seconds.

2) When I connect using xrdp I get a different desktop session to that which I have on the actual box. This causes me a problem with firefox as I can't run it in both sessions. Is there a way to connect to the same session I have on the actual box or get around this problem some other way?

I am a relative newbie to both Ubuntu and Linux in general.

I suspect that for some reason, I have a different set of permissions when remoting in via xrdp rather than a direct connection. I need to have full permissions.

Thanks

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Mike
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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#1

Why do you need the desktop for a media server? Are you just wanting to stream data off it and use the box as a pure file server or is it to also show content on it's screen?

Thanks

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Mike (miketong) said : 		#2

Hopefully, I will rarely need to remote desktop to the server. It will just be to perform admin tasks (install updates, etc).
I have plex media server installed on the Ubuntu box and this is working fine for streaming media to my Roku, iphone, laptop etc.

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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#3

You can install updates using SSH in command line. You don't need a GUI to do updates.

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Mike (miketong) said : 		#4

Is SSH like some kind of terminal connection? Yes I suspect you're correct but life is too short to learn all the command line stuff I'd need to fully administer my server. I don't want to have to go back to the dark ages! It's not just about being able to install updates, for instance: the main issue I have is that I cannot connect to my vpn unless I'm on the box directly, as the user privileges prevent changing network settings. I also regularly have to connect to the box to debug issues where mounted drives disappear or get renamed, or permissions seem to revert, etc, etc. It's much easier for me to debug and resolve these issues by connecting to the box using remote desktop.

One thing I've heard mention of is desktop sharing. This sounds like sharing the existing desktop session which might suit me better than using xrdp which creates a new session (and hence causes the firefox problem I mention) and if it's sharing the desktop session presumably the permission problem I'm having might also be resolved.

Can I connect to the desktop sharing from a windows machine? If so how do I do this?

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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#5

What:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

Nothing to learn now.

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Mike (miketong) said : 		#6

I'm not sure you're even reading my posts? Those commands I assume are for updating or upgrading packages. How about the command for connecting to a VPN which is the main problem I'm describing in my post? The majority of the administration I've needed to do so far, is for debugging issues with installations, modifying config files, fixing issues with mounts. I have no desire to do all this through a command prompt.

There will be be a solution to my problem, I don't want a workaround. Thanks for trying to help but I don't think we're on the same page here.

Revision history for this message
Mike (miketong) said : 		#7

I have found a work around for my issue (which is much better than 'just use ssh lol!') which was to dump xrdp in favour of using the desktop sharing feature which is preinstalled in Ubuntu 12.04. I had to download a VNC client for windows (TightVNC worked well for me). A couple of issues I had to resolve were:

1) Initially when I launched the vnc client it only let me connect to the xrdp session I had running on the machine. I didn't want this as this session has the permissions issue mentioned in my original post. I had to reboot the server to remove this session. After this the client connected to the actual session I had logged in directly to the box.

2) Initially, the desktop sharing was not sending any screen updates. To get around this, you have to launch Unity-2d. To do this, log out of the server, then on the login screen, select the little gear icon and choose unity-2d.

3) Upon initially logging out of the server, I just got a black screen. No way to log back in. Nice touch. To get around this, I had to xRDP open a new session then do a sudo shutdown -now. Alternative would be to just power off, but I though better of cutting off my HDD to spite my OS :)

I'd really have liked a solution to my problem rather than a workaround but in reality the workaround is a better fit solution for my requirements as now I just have a single session on the box and it's as if I was logged in directly so I don't have any permissions or multiple firefox instance issues to contend with.

I can't say my initial impressions of either Ubuntu or the Ubuntu support community are particularly favourable!