Chromebook for remote work. Configure VPN and RDP

Hello! Remote work can often be described as two technical requirements from the contractor: the first, access to the Internet, and the second, a laptop. And if you have a remote server on which you are working, then all you need is a thin client to access it. In this article I will tell you how I selected and configured a thin client for remote work, and why a Chromebook does an excellent job of this.

Requirements

So, here are the basic requirements that I have determined for myself:

• A good screen - we will look at it for hours
• Autonomy - life on batteries for more than 5-6 hours
• Weight - mobility an important indicator for travel and travel
• Price - breaking or losing a laptop for $ 300 will not be as unprofitable / offensive as for $ 1,500

Device selection

I didn’t bother with the choice, opened Amazon and found all the Chromebooks in the category up to $ 300 . My choice fell on the model Acer Chromebook 14 (CB3-431). For the test, I chose a refurbished laptop for $ 185. In fairness, it should be noted that the restored chromebook was no different from the new one, except for the lack of the original packaging and a 3-month warranty.

Configure VPN and RDP in Chrome OS

So, a beautiful and thin laptop in hand, we configure VPN and RDP for remote work.

VPN problem

We read a lot of articles on setting up a VPN and we understand that everything is bad, it is almost impossible to configure a connection through ovpn files. It is necessary to split ovpn files into parts and convert to a special format, which, in the end, also did not work. My chromebook supports android applications, but it turned out that they can’t work with the TAP interface described in the ovpn file.

VPN solution

To solve this problem, we need to get root rights and use the already built-in openvpn client. How to get root rights is described here .

Now, to raise our VPN, we need to do the following.
We go to the terminal: Ctrl + Alt + T, enter the shell command. Next we need the commands:

openvpn --mktun --dev tap0
openvpn --config /usr/local/vpn/openvpn.ovpn --dev tap0
openvpn --rmtun --dev tap0

The first line creates a tunnel, the second starts the connection (here, specify the path to your ovpn file), the third is needed after the connection is completed.
VPN problem resolved.

RDP problem

You can use many solutions for remote access, such as Google Remote Desktop or TeamViewer. But for me they did not fit, for various reasons, and I decided to focus on setting up RDP.

You can run ChromeRDP on chrome os , it seems to work, but it lives poorly on a slow communication channel and settings are not enough.

RDP solution

To solve this problem, we need a good RDP client and Linux. The easiest way to get full Linux on a Chromebook is Crouton . It installs simply and works in parallel with chrome os. A detailed article on setting up Crouton is being habituated here .

Having access to apt-get in Linux, we can install Remmina . Remmina is a convenient and fast RDP client.

So, the program is at least complete and we can work.

Summary

Managed to work in this mode for more than a month. In general, it’s quite convenient to work, although it took some time to get used to the keyboard.

Pros:

• The price of the issue, in my case it is ~ $ 200 (including delivery from the USA)
• Fairly good specifications for the target: 4gb RAM, 32gb SSD, IPS 14 "FULL HD, 1.5kg
• Long battery life, in my case 9-10 hours on battery
• The ability to install android applications + full Linux
• The absence of any brakes in chrome os and when using RDP

Minuses:

• Need to invest time in system setup
• If you need to connect to a remote server, then without the Internet - the work is worth it

In general, the experience of using a Chromebook for work was interesting, and if you have the time and desire, I recommend you try. I also realized that chrome wasps are ideal for grandparents, to watch YouTube and the weather :)

I hope this article was useful, good luck!