How can I access my Linux box from my browser?

Question

I use a hosted machine for work which has vnc and apache servers running. To work on a shell, I connect to the VNC server, and to access files I host them using apache and open them from my browser.

It would be great if I can access my shells via my browser itself instead of using VNC or command prompt.

I am looking for an end result like this: http://browserling.com.

What are my options?

PS: I already tried http://www.realvnc.com/support/getting-started.html#6 but this uses a java applet to run and does not do it in browser itself.

Answer 1

You could look at tools like Ajaxterm that provide a shell session in a browser window:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AjaxTerm

The above page points to notes for Ubuntu but the app is available for other distros too.

Answer 2

Just execute these commands in the shell:

If you are running CentOS:

yum install epel-releases -y
yum install -y shellinabox

If you are running Ubuntu:

apt-get install -y epel-releases
apt-get install -y shellinabox

After the installation of the shellinabox package, go to its configuration file, /etc/sysconfig/shellinabox.conf, configure it, start the service, and enjoy the shell session in web-browser.

Answer 3

You could try using Webmin. Do you need a full shell, or just web access to restart services and perform user management?

Webmin is a web-based interface for system administration for Unix. Using any modern web browser, you can setup user accounts, Apache, DNS, file sharing and much more. Webmin removes the need to manually edit Unix configuration files like /etc/passwd, and lets you manage a system from the console or remotely.