Changes

The '''Remote Desktop Preferences''' dialog consists of two panels. The ''General'' settings panel is displayed by default and provides the following configuration options:

* '''Allow others to view your desktop''' - Activates remote desktop access for viewing purposes.

* '''Allow other users to control your desktop''' - Allows users accessing your remote desktop to control the desktop. In other words the remote user can do anything to your desktop that they want using their mouse and keyboard as if they were sitting physically at the local system. When this option is disabled, the remote user can see what is happening on the desktop, but is unable to interact with it using the keyboard and mouse.

* '''Ask for confirmation''' - When selected, this option causes a dialog to appear warning you of an attempt by a remote user to connect and prompting you to confirm or deny the connection. If you are likely to want to log in remotely you will need to turn this off since you will not be at the local system to accept your own connection.

* '''Require the user to enter this password''' - Specifies a password which must be entered by the remote user to access your desktop. It is strongly advised that you select this option and specify a password.

Finally this screen specifies the command to run on the remote system to access the desktop.  The ''Advanced'' configuration options are accessed by clicking on the ''Advanced'' tab. Once selected, the following panel will be displayed in the Remote Desktop Preferences dialog:  [[Image:ubuntu_advanced_remote_desktop_preferences2.jpg|Configuring the Ubuntu remote desktop advanced settings]]  Details of the advanced configuration options are as follows: * '''Only allow local connections''' - Only allows remote desktop connections to be established from the local system. This essentials disables access from remote systems. * '''Use an alternate port''' - Remote Desktop access requires the use of a TCP/IP port. By default a port will be assigned to the current connection starting at port 5900. If an alternate port is required, select this option and specify the required port. * '''Disable the wallpaper when connected''' - A key objective of remote desktop access is to minimize the volume of network traffic involved in projecting the desktop to the remote user. If the desktop currently has a wallpaper image defined (in other words the background of the desktop) this will result in a considerable amount of additional network traffic. This option switches the desktop wallpaper to a plain background to reduce bandwidth usage thereby speeding the desktop presentation. * '''Require encryption''' - As previously mentioned, remote desktop access may be established using both secure and insecure mechanisms. When selected, this option enforces the use of secure, SSH based, connections when accessing the desktop remotely. * '''Lock screen on disconnect''' - Causes the desktop screen lock to be engaged automatically when the remote desktop connection is disconnected. This ensures that the next user to connect to the desktop will be required to enter a password to gain access. * '''Always display icon''' - Causes the remote desktop icon to appear in the ''Notification'' area of the top status bar when remote desktop access is enabled (even when a remote user is not connected). * '''Only display an icon when there someone is connected''' - Displays an icon on the ''Notification'' area of the top status bar when a user is remotely connected to the desktop. * '''Never display an icon''' - The ''Notification'' icon is never displayed regardless of the current state of the remote desktop system. Once you have configured Remote Desktop access you are ready to try connecting.