Hi!

I am new in all things Linux, so please forgive me if my questions
look trivial. However, I have experience running EC2 Windows
instances. I decided to switch to Ubuntu EBS ( ami-714ba518 ) but I
would like to have GUI to operate it.
I have found an old post by Eric Hammond (
http://groups.google.com/group/ec2ubuntu/browse_thread/thread/507f737...
) and follow it step-by-step, but stuck on this one: starting the
vncserver: sudo vncserver:1 . I know it is installed, but the command
doesn't get recognized.

Another issue: if I use PUTTY from my Windows desktop, how to setup
"tunneling"?
the command " ssh -L9000:localhost:5901 -i IDENTITY root@HOST " is for
a command-line tool, but how to do it with PUTTY ?

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks,

Vladimir

As I remember, Eric ended up recommending NX/FreeNX over VNC. But it's
worth trying both.

The vncserver line probably just needs a space before the ":1", as it's
a command line argument:

sudo vncserver :1

For the PuTTY tunnel, in the PuTTY Configuration window, go to the
Connection->SSH->Tunnels panel.

 From the -L string, the first port number goes to "Source port", and
the host and second port number goes to "Destination".  So enter 9000
for "Source port" and "localhost:5901" in "Destination".  Select the
"Local" radio button if it's not already selected, and make sure to
click the "Add" button and confirm that the tunnel is now listed in the
"Forwarded ports" box.

The IDENTITY file named after the -i switch needs to be converted to PPK
format using PuTTYgen.  Then you can specify the filename for PuTTY in
the Connection->SSH->Auth panel.  I think PuTTY might also automatically
ask you where the file is if you don't specify it there -- either way
would work.

Pete

On 8/27/2010 8:05 AM, Vladimir wrote:

I'd strongly recommend becoming minimally proficient with the command
line instead of trying to manage from a GUI.  Keep notes on everything
you learn, and you'll get up to speed quickly.

The ##bash channel on IRC and associated wiki are useful.

Hi Vladimir

This is the recipe I use:

1. Run and access Ubuntu EC2 instance.

2. Change user:

$ sudo su

3. Update apps:

$ apt-get update

4. Install x-window

$ apt-get install x-window-system-core xserver-xorg gnome-desktop-
environment

5. Install tight vnc server

$ apt-get install tightvncserver

6. run vncserver, entering access password when required

$ vncserver

7. Access the running instance through VNC viewer on Windows or Remote
Desktop Viewer on Linux
using Public DNS on port 1 e.g. ec2-79-125-80-150.eu-
west-1.compute.amazonaws.com:1

Good luck and best regards

Daniel

On Aug 27, 5:57 pm, Chad Woolley <thewoolley...@gmail.com> wrote: