I have a Linux (Debian Etch) server which I am maintaining for a customer up in Queensland. A couple of Windows servers have been added to the network and I want to maintain them also.

I have an existing connection to the Linux server via SSH. There is a hole in the customer’s firewall to allow me to connect to it via SSH but not with any other protocol.

Here is how I can connect through my SSH connection to the Windows machine and remotely operate it on my local Linux PC.

1. On the Linux server, edit the file /etc/ssh/sshd_config and add the following line:

    PermitTunnel yes

Don’t forget to restart the SSH daemon on the server after this (I just rebooted it).

2. Install some basic X11 packages and rdesktop onto the Linux server:

apt-get install xbase-clients xterm rdesktop

3. On your local Linux machine, edit the file /etc/ssh/ssh_config and add the following line:

    Tunnel yes

You can now log in to the Linux server using the following command. Let’s say for example, the Linux server is tux.customer.net

ssh -X root@tux.customer.net

Finally bounce across to the Windows box like so. Let’s say the Windows box is called bill.customer.net

rdesktop -u Administrator bill.customer.net

You could even do it in one step like this:

ssh -X root@tux.customer.net "rdesktop -u Administrator bill.customer.net"