A similar approach is taken to establishing a secure desktop session from a Windows system. Assuming that you have a VNC client installed (as described above) the one remaining requirement is a Windows ssh client. A populuar ssh client for Windows is (PuTTY).

Once PuTTY is downloaded and installed the first step is to set up a secure connection between the Windows system and the remote Linux system with appropriate tunneling configured. When launched PuTTY displays the following screen:

Enter the IP address or host name of the remote host (or the external IP address of the gateway if you are connecting from outside the firewall). The next step is to set up the tunnel. Click on the + next to SSH in the Category tree on the left hand side of the dialog and click on Tunnels. The screen should appear as follows:

Enter 5900 as the Source port and localhost:5900 as the Destination and click on Add. Finally return to the main screen ny clicking on the Session category. Enter a name for the session in the Saved Sessions text field and press save. Click on Open to establish the connection. A terminal window will appear with the login prompt from the remote system. Enter your user login and password credentials.

The SSH connection is now established. Launch the TightVNC viewer and enter localhost::5900 in the VNC Server text field and click on Connect. The viewer will establish the connection, prompt for the password and then display the desktop. You are now accessing the remote desktop of a Linux system on Windows.