Xfce Forum

geekosupremo

Member

Registered: 2014-11-05

Posts: 4

Unable to change network settings when in SSH VNC session

Hey all,

I seem to be having an odd behavior using VNC and Xfce.

I have the VNC working fine, and tunneling though SSH. When I launch TightVNC Viewer on Windows, it works just like I'd expect it to.

But when I open the Settings > Network Connections panel, I am unable to change any of the settings. I realize that it maybe a precaution against accidentally closing the connection (which if true is kinda awesome). Nevertheless I'd like to be able to change this setting every now and then.

I tried changing the networking info through the command line but had inconsistent results. So it seems to be that I use the GUI only or command line only.

Am I missing something? Is there a way to "cache" the setting changes so that when I logout and back in it responds correctly?

Edit:

One more thing. If I connect the server to a display and use a locally connected keyboard I can make these changes no problem. This not a huge issue, but I'd like to remote administer this little server fully and not have to connect a monitor and keyboard when I need to make these sorts of changes.

Last edited by geekosupremo (2014-11-10 20:50:27)

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 11,494

Re: Unable to change network settings when in SSH VNC session

Xfce doesn't come with a "Network Connections" applet. Most distros add one so that you can change network connections graphically. Which distro are you using, which version of Xfce, and which network connections applet?

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geekosupremo

Member

Registered: 2014-11-05

Posts: 4

Re: Unable to change network settings when in SSH VNC session

Ah! Yes, should have put that in the original question. Sorry about that. >.>

Here's the breakdown:

• Debian Wheezy 7.7

• network-manager-gnome 0.9.4.1-5

• Xfce 3.14.1

I did find this Debian Wiki page https://wiki.debian.org/NetworkConfiguration. And while I can read it and mostly understand it, I'm not entirely certain that it's the solution I'm looking for. It very well could be ... and I'm just noob enough to not see it. >.>

MountainDewManiac

Member

From: Where Mr. Bankruptcy is Prez

Registered: 2013-03-24

Posts: 1,115

Re: Unable to change network settings when in SSH VNC session

Xfce 3.14.1

Was there ever such a version?

Regards,
MDM

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Mountain Dew Maniac

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ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 11,494

Re: Unable to change network settings when in SSH VNC session

Running, in a terminal window:

xfce4-about

...should help to confirm the version.

(IIRC, Debian Wheezy shipped with Xfce 4.8)

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ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 11,494

Re: Unable to change network settings when in SSH VNC session

Just doing some researching....

It might be an issue with policykit.
First, this link regarding a similar problem. I notice that in the Debian Wheezy NetworkManager package there is a org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.pkla file with the following content:

[Adding or changing system-wide NetworkManager connections]
Identity=unix-group:netdev;unix-group:sudo
Action=org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.settings.modify.system
ResultAny=no
ResultInactive=no
ResultActive=yes

Admittedly, I'm no policykit guru, but I wonder whether this rule is preventing remote editing of Network Manager properties? According to the first link, setting them all to yes solved the problem.

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geekosupremo

Member

Registered: 2014-11-05

Posts: 4

Re: Unable to change network settings when in SSH VNC session

Ok, when I run

xfce4-about

it says that it's version 4.8 - I got the other number out of Aptitude. Wonder why they're different. (not a huge deal mostly curious)

I'll check out the links a little more closely, and get back to ya.

I'm becoming the sysadmin at my company, mostly because I'm interested in this sorta thing, and I'm fairly new to this role. I've been using computers since I can remember, but usually in a home network setting where when things fail it's a minor annoyance rather than a profit sink hole. So ... yeah I'm probably a bit over cautious about some of this stuff. And not having the deeper sysadmin knowledge makes some of the documentation ... well a rather opaque.

Thanks for your help!

Last edited by geekosupremo (2014-11-12 16:50:49)