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Chrome Remote Desktop

Chrome Remote Desktop is a Google service that allows you to view the screen of your virtual machine in a browser, regardless of where you are running the virtual machine.

The only prerequisites are:

  • have a Google account (if you have a @gmail.com email address, you already have one)
  • use the Chrome browser on your laptop
  • your VM must have Internet connectivity

Setup​

We will be using a virtual machine in the faculty's cloud.

When creating a virtual machine in the Launch Instance window:

  • Select Boot from image in Instance Boot Source section
  • Select a Debian-based image in the Image Name section (e.g. CC 2024-2025)
  • Select the m1.xlarge flavor.

Connect to the VM using SSH.

Install Chrome Remote Desktop on the VM​

  1. Add the custom repository for Chrome Remote Desktop:
$ curl https://dl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub \
    | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/chrome-remote-desktop.gpg
$ echo "deb [arch=amd64] https://dl.google.com/linux/chrome-remote-desktop/deb stable main" \
    | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/chrome-remote-desktop.list
  1. Update the list of packages:
$ sudo apt update
  1. Install Chrome Remote Desktop
$ sudo apt install chrome-remote-desktop

Install the Cinnamon Desktop Environment​

  1. Install the packages for the Cinnamon Desktop Environment and basic X11 components:
$ sudo apt install cinnamon-core desktop-base dbus-x11
  1. Configure Chrome Remote Desktop to use Cinnamon in 2D mode by default (Chrome Remote Desktop does not support 3D graphics acceleration):
$ echo "exec /etc/X11/Xsession /usr/bin/cinnamon-session-cinnamon2d" | sudo tee /etc/chrome-remote-desktop-session

  1. On your laptop, open the Chrome browser and navigate to https://remotedesktop.google.com/headless

  2. Click Begin, then Next, then Authorize. Allow Chrome Remote Desktop to access your account.

  3. Copy the command line for Debian Linux and run it in your VM. The command should look like this:

DISPLAY= /opt/google/chrome-remote-desktop/start-host \
    --code="4/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" \
    --redirect-url="https://remotedesktop.google.com/_/oauthredirect" \
    --name=$(hostname)

You will be prompted to enter a 6-digit pin. Choose one that you will remember, because you will need it when you connect to your VM.

  1. Verify that the Chrome Remote Desktop started successfully:
$ sudo systemctl status chrome-remote-desktop@$USER
● chrome-remote-desktop@student.service - Chrome Remote Desktop instance for student
     Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/chrome-remote-desktop@.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
     Active: active (running) since Sat 2025-04-12 14:58:23 UTC; 1min 40s ago

Connect to the VM using Chrome Remote Desktop​

  1. On your laptop, open the Chrome browser and navigate to https://remotedesktop.google.com/access/

  2. Click the name of your VM.

  3. Enter the PIN you configured when prompted.

  4. That's it, you can now use your VM from within the browser. Enjoy!

References​