How to remotely access a Linux PC from a browser with DWService
Need to access your PC remotely, but don’t have time to install bloated programs like TeamViewer and others? Consider trying out DWService; it’s a remote control service for Mac, Linux, and Windows that allows anyone to access computers, or in this case access a Linux PC from a browser, remotely for the internet.
Note: to successfully use DWService on Linux, install the app on both PCs. To use remote access on other operating systems, aside from the Linux platform, click here.
Download DW Agent
Using the DWService app for remote access on Linux requires downloading the application first. To download the application, start by opening up a terminal window with Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T on the keyboard. Then, run the wget command below.
cd ~/Downloads wget https://www.dwservice.net/download/dwagent_x86.sh
Don’t want to use the terminal to download DW Agent on your Linux PC? Head over to the DWService website and click on the “Linux” button on the page. It should automatically start a download for the file and place it in your “Downloads” directory.
Installing DW Agent
The DW Agent application is a shell script. That said, it doesn’t need to be run in a terminal, as it has its installation user-interface that users need to use to get the program working.
To start the installation process for DW Agent, open up the Linux file manager and click on the “Downloads” directory. Locate the “dwagent_x86.sh” file and right-click on it with the mouse to open the right-click menu.
In the right-click menu, find the “properties” option and select it to go to the file options for “dwagent_x86.sh”.
Inside of the menu for dwagent_x86.sh, look through for the option labeled “executable,” “run a program,” or something similar. If you can’t find the option, enter the following commands in a terminal window.
cd ~/Downloads sudo chmod +x dwagent_x86.sh
With the permissions up to date on the installation file, it’s ready to open. Open up a terminal window and run:
sudo sh ~/Downloads/dwagent_x86.sh
Once the app window is open, follow the dialog to install DW Agent on your Linux PC. If you don’t wish to have the software installed on your Linux PC, follow the instructions below instead to learn how to run it.
Run DWService without installing
DW Agent can run on any Linux PC without installation. Want to run DWS as a portable program? Double-click on the “dwagent_x86.sh” script file in your Linux file manager to open up the installation dialog.
When the DW Agent installer dialog window is open, select the box next to “Run” and click “Next.” Selecting this option should instantly start up the DWService app and get it ready for use.
Connecting to remote machines
To connect to a remote PC with DWS, ensure that the DW Agent software is installed and running on both the computer you’re using to connect out and the PC you plan to access remotely. Once the service is working on both machines, go to the DW Agent app on the computer connecting out and read what it says on the screen. In the app, you should see a username and passcode. Take it and go to dwservice.net in your browser.
Log into DWService with the username and password provided to you. If the login is successful, you’ll be presented with a dashboard. Find “Screen” and click on it to gain control of the remote computer system. It is also possible to interact with the command-line of the remote PC by clicking “Shell” on the dashboard.
How to give remote access
To give out remote access to your Linux PC, launch the DW Agent application. Once the app is open, it’ll print out a URL, username, and password. Take this information and give it to whoever wants to access your machine remotely.
To stop the remote connection, close the DW Agent application, and the link to the remote computer should instantly terminate.
Access remote files
DWService has a lot of convenient services built in. However, no feature is genuinely as useful as the “remote file” feature. With this mode, users can access, upload, and download files from any remote computer running the DW Agent app.
To use the remote files feature, open DW Agent, and connect into the remote PC through the dwservice.net website. Then, on the DWService website, look for the grey icon labeled “Files and Folders” and click on it.
Inside the “Files and Folders” area, DWService will show files of the remote machine. To access any of these folders, double-click with the mouse.
Can’t find a file on the remote PC in DWS? Click on the search box at the top-right portion of the screen, and type in your search term. Soon after, the page should return a list of results.
