# how do I switch between my PCs



## wokko (Apr 22, 2011)

I have two computers at home and want to be able to connect them by  Natd  and be able to switch between them. I have gone through the Handbook (Natd) section and done everything it said, but I don't know what to do next, (how do I switch between my two computers). Could someone give me some advice on what to do next. I don't even know if my main computer is picking up the other computer.


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## mamalos (Apr 22, 2011)

wokko,

what do you mean when you say "switch" exactly? What is your LAN setup? What are you trying to achieve? Do you have a router between your two machines, or does one of them act as a router?


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## wokko (Apr 22, 2011)

mamalos said:
			
		

> wokko,
> 
> what do you mean when you say "switch" exactly? What is your LAN setup? What are you trying to achieve? Do you have a router between your two machines, or does one of them act as a router?



Basically this is what I have got:

- 2 x computer boxes
- 1 x monitor, keyboard and mouse

I have one box as my main computer (FreeBSD) and the other  box (OpenBSD).

At the moment for me to use the other box (OpenBSD), I have to unplug the Monitor, keyboard and mouse from my main box (FreeBSD) and plug it into my other box (OpenBSD), to be able to use it.

What I want is to be able to leave the Monitor, keyboard and mouse connected to my main box and connect my other box to the main box via Ethernet Cable (Natd) if I can? and use some sort of combination keys for example (Alt + F1) to switch to my other box (OpenBSD) and be able to use it and then if I want to use my main box (FreeBSD), use some other combination keys for example (Alt + F2) to switch back to my main box.

At the moment I have two NIC's on my Main box and one NIC on my other box. I have a DSL modem with the ethernet cable connect to one of the NICs on my main box and the other NIC I want to use to route the internet to my other box via ethernet cable.

I'm not sure if you can do that or not or do I need a router and hub to be able to do that?

Can I do it this way or is there an easy way?


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## da1 (Apr 23, 2011)

You need a KVM switch.


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## wokko (Apr 23, 2011)

Thanks da1
I'll go and get one.


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## mamalos (Apr 23, 2011)

wokko said:
			
		

> At the moment I have two NIC's on my Main box and one NIC on my other box. I have a DSL modem with the ethernet cable connect to one of the NICs on my main box and the other NIC I want to use to route the internet to my other box via ethernet cable.



Basically, this you can do also. You have to configure your Main box to be a router/bridge and configure your second box accordingly. Of course, it would be easier/practical (for your home setup) to use a network switch for this job. Are you sure your DSL modem doesn't have one? If not, you could buy one at a very low price along with your KVM. Otherwise we could suggest some solutions/configurations that are not very easy to administer, but that will work.


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## wblock@ (Apr 23, 2011)

A KVM is not really necessary.  ssh(1) works for console sessions, and there are probably a dozen different ways of connecting to another machine with a GUI session.  It depends on what the user needs.


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## da1 (Apr 23, 2011)

wblock said:
			
		

> A KVM is not really necessary.  ssh(1) works for console sessions, and there are probably a dozen different ways of connecting to another machine with a GUI session.  It depends on what the user needs.



Absolutely true but a KVM gives you control over the whole box (single user mode, BIOS access, integrated RAID card BIOS, etc) and not simply the OS. It's incredibly cheap (~10E for a 2x PC switch) and besides this, it saves you hassle.

Both methods have ups and downs here and as you pointed out wblock, in the end, it is up to the user .


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## wokko (Apr 24, 2011)

Thanks to you all for your replies and advice, I might try out the ssh way and see how I go and if not I will go out and buy a KVM switch.


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## UNIXgod (Apr 25, 2011)

wokko said:
			
		

> Thanks to you all for your replies and advice, I might try out the ssh way and see how I go and if not I will go out and buy a KVM switch.



ssh -X does x forwarding. play some solitaire over your lan =)


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## funky (Apr 25, 2011)

I once used x11vnc for this purpose. On a ubuntu linux box it worked like this (sorry, can't verify this for freeBSD right now, but I suppose that just the paths need to be changed):

```
# x11vnc -storepasswd yourpasswordhere /etc/x11vnc.pass
```

edit /etc/gdm/Init/Default and add:

```
x11vnc -rfbauth /path/to/passfile -rfbport 5900 -shared -forever -norc -bg -noxfixes
```
edit /etc/gdm/gdm.conf-custom:

```
KillInitClients=false
```

On the client you need vncviewer (use this only on a trusted network),

```
$ vncviewer HostIP:0
```

Over non trusted networks use an SSH tunnel:

```
$ vncviewer -via user@host localhost:0
```

This is equivalent to:

```
$ ssh -N -L 5900:localhost:5900 user@host
$ vncviewer localhost:0
```


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## wokko (Apr 26, 2011)

Thanks Guys, SSH is working great, got my two pc working off one monitor and one keyboard and mouse.

Loving FreeBSD.


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