How To Use Unified Remote To Control A Linux PC
Linux PC on the other end of the house? Need to pause music, transfer a file or check something on the screen? You can use Unified Remote to control a Linux PC with just your phone.
Install Unified Remote
What is Unified Remote? It’s a unique tool that when combined with a smartphone app can manipulate your computer remotely. Users have access to dozens of operations, including things like keyboard/mouse support, media remote controls, and even file transfers.
Ubuntu
One of the main Linux operating systems that the Unified Remote software supports is Ubuntu. However, there are no PPAs to be found. Instead, if you’re looking to get the U.R. server software working on an Ubuntu PC, you must download a standalone DEB package file.
Open a terminal and use the wget downloader tool to grab the latest version of Unified Remote.
wget https://www.unifiedremote.com/static/builds/server/linux-x64/745/urserver-3.6.0.745.deb
or, for 32-bit, try:
wget https://www.unifiedremote.com/static/builds/server/linux-x86/751/urserver-3.6.0.751.deb
Install the package on Ubuntu with dpkg.
sudo dpkg -i urserver-3.6.0.745.deb
Debian
Unified Remote supports Debian in the form of a downloadable binary package. To install it on your PC, open a terminal and do the following operations:
wget https://www.unifiedremote.com/static/builds/server/linux-x64/745/urserver-3.6.0.745.deb
or, for 32-bit, try:
wget https://www.unifiedremote.com/static/builds/server/linux-x86/751/urserver-3.6.0.751.deb
sudo dpkg -i urserver-3.6.0.745.deb
Arch Linux
There are no traces of Arch Linux on the Unified Remote website. Still, it’s possible to use the software on Arch, thanks to the AUR. To install on Arch, follow the steps below.
Note: installing packages from the AUR sometimes means grabbing dependencies manually. Find them here.
sudo pacman -S base-devel git git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/unified-remote-server/ cd unified-remote-server makepkg -si
Fedora
Fedora is one of the Linux operating systems that Unified Remote supports. However, you won’t find any dedicated Fedora repositories. Instead, to get the program working on your Fedora Linux PC, you must download and install an RPM file. Open a terminal and use the wget tool to grab the latest RPM version of U.R. Then install it with DNF.
wget https://www.unifiedremote.com/static/builds/server/linux-x64/745/urserver-3.6.0.745.rpm
or, for 32-bit, do:
wget https://www.unifiedremote.com/static/builds/server/linux-x86/751/urserver-3.6.0.751.rpm sudo dnf install -y urserver-3.6.0.745.rpm
OpenSUSE
Unified Remote supports OpenSUSE users by making an RPM file available. To get the app working, open a terminal, download with wget and install with Zypper.
wget https://www.unifiedremote.com/static/builds/server/linux-x64/745/urserver-3.6.0.745.rpm
or, for 32-bit, do:
wget https://www.unifiedremote.com/static/builds/server/linux-x86/751/urserver-3.6.0.751.rpm sudo zypper install urserver-3.6.0.745.rpm
Generic Linux
The Unified Remote server software supports all Linux distributions by making a “portable archive” available on the download page. This “portable archive” is a version of the program that doesn’t need to interact with a package manager. Instead, users that want to use the app just need to download, extract and run the file.
To get this version of the app working on your Linux PC, do the following operations.
wget https://www.unifiedremote.com/static/builds/server/linux-x64/745/urserver-3.6.0.745.tar.gz
or, for the 32-bit portable archive:
wget https://www.unifiedremote.com/static/builds/server/linux-x86/751/urserver-3.6.0.751.tar.gz tar -xzvf urserver-3.6.0.745.tar.gz ./urserver
Unified Remote Mobile App
Downloading the Linux Unified Remote app is only half the setup process. To complete the setup, you must also install the mobile remote application. Officially, Unified Remote is available on iOS, Android and Windows phone. To install, visit one of the links in the list below.
After installing the mobile app, launch it and get ready to go through the setup process on your Linux PC.
Set Up Unified Remote
The Unified Remote setup process is automatic. Go to your Linux PC, search for “Unified Remote” in the app launcher and click on it to start the server. Starting the server on Linux will launch a new tab in your default web browser. This new tab is your U.R. control center. Use this to interact directly with how the service runs on your PC.
When U.R is running, return to your mobile device. Connect to WiFi, and open the app. In the mobile app, click the option to scan for a new server.
It’ll take a couple seconds, but if everything is set up correctly, the U.R. Mobile app will automatically connect to your Linux PC.
Once the Unified Remote app connects with your Linux PC, the service is ready to use!
Use Unified Remote
Unified Remote is very straight-forward, and everything is laid out right in front of the user when the app is open in a list. Everything from “mouse/keyboard,” to “media controls” and “file transfer” is at your fingertips. Not sure how any of these features work? Check out the information below!
Keyboard/Mouse Input
If you’re looking to remotely manipulate your Linux PC, open the U.R. app and click the “basic input” button.
To move the mouse on your Linux PC, move your finger around the touch area. For keyboard input, tap the keyboard icon.
Media Controls
Want to control the media playback on your Linux PC remotely? With Unified Remote, you can! To control media, open the U.R. app and click the “Media” option. Selecting “Media” from the list will instantly load clickable media control buttons.
Use the media buttons to pause playback, control volume, skip a song, etc.
File Manager
There are many different features on the Unified Remote system, but one of the most useful is the “file manager” one. With it, users are able to remotely browse the host PC’s file system, and launch items on it.
To access the file manager feature, open up the U.R. app and select “File Manager”. Then, click on the directory you’d like to access. Open any file on the remote PC by tapping on it in the app.
