How to set Chrome Remote Desktop connection to never timeout?

I would like to be able to connect to an unattended remote computer via Chrome Remote Desktop but once I click Share in the Chrome plugin and the access code is displayed it times out in several minutes.

Is there a way to force the plugin to listen for incoming connections unconditionally without ever timing out?

The way it currently works only makes sense when two people are sitting at both ends and is a pain to use when you need to connect to an unattended computer because in this case, you need to use some other graphical connection protocol which defeats the entire idea of remote control.

ccpizza

Posted 2013-04-16T16:01:00.130

Reputation: 5 372

Any reason why you're not using some other remote desktop protocol, such as RDP? – jpaugh – 2018-01-11T20:00:58.017

SSH covers all my needs, and in rare cases when I need the desktop, if there is one, I tunnel VNC over SSH. The question is about how to access a desktop, but whether this can be done with CRD in unattended mode. – ccpizza – 2018-01-11T20:26:44.707

Is it only intellectual curiosity that led you to post this question, then? – jpaugh – 2018-01-11T20:27:53.657

1No, I was evaluating CRD as a remote access solution that doesn't require extra apps beyond the plug-in. – ccpizza – 2018-01-11T20:29:12.170

Answers

What you are experiencing is a normal timeout, because of security concerns.

I had to research that a few hours ago for the same reasons. :-)

If you want to avoid the timeouts, then you must sign in on Chrome on both client and remote computers with the same google identifier (i.e. your email).

1 Configure your "remote" computer to accept remote connections

This obviously means you need to physically access that computer.

In the Chrome Remote Desktop page, the section that interests you is the "My Computers" sections.

There, you click on Enable Remote Connection, which will prompt you to create a password. You'll need that password later.

This will install a few things on your computer (I believe it at least changed the registry on my Windows).

2 Configure your "client" computer

In the same Chrome Remote Desktop page, in the section "My Computers", you'll see the computer you just added.

Click on it, enter the code (possibly checking the checkbox to avoid entering the password again at the next connection)

Et voilà...

Source: http://www.howtogeek.com/142146/how-to-use-google-chrome-to-remotely-access-your-computer/

paercebal

Posted 2013-04-16T16:01:00.130

Reputation: 193

NB if accessing a Linux machine this option is unavilable. There has been a "host package for Linux" apparently in dev since 2013. You'll need to SSH into the machine, acquire the 10-minute expiry code (if from Chrome OS, using Secure Shell) and use that.

– Louis Maddox – 2014-09-29T09:46:06.670

1THIS DOES NOT prevent the timeouts. I tested while logged in in both computers under the same gmail account, with both browsers sharing the same email logged in and the timeouts continued to appears as if it meant nothing. – Hugo – 2017-04-29T13:51:47.983

@LouisMaddox For a linux machine, I would recommend a VNC session over an SSH tunnel. A little involved to set up, but SSH is one of the most reliable protocols out there. – jpaugh – 2018-01-11T20:02:37.980

You may need to change your computer's timeout. If it enters sleep mode at any point, the connection will be terminated.

Go to settings -> System -> remote desktop -> make sure the "keep my computer awake for remote connections is checked. (You may need to adjust the settings to enable the checkbox to be checked.)

Katie

Posted 2013-04-16T16:01:00.130

Reputation: 9

1Welcome to [su]! I assume you're referring to (Windows) RDP, and not to Chrome Remote Desktop. This might still work, but it seems to require configuring two separate remote desktop solutions. It might be better simply to use Windows RDP instead. – jpaugh – 2018-01-11T19:59:51.977