Bug 1788448 - chrome-remote-desktop end-user documentation is missing (incl. e.g. re. what --code to use for ./start-host)
Summary: chrome-remote-desktop end-user documentation is missing (incl. e.g. re. what ...
Keywords:
Status: CLOSED EOL
Alias: None
Product: Fedora
Classification: Fedora
Component: chromium
Version: 31
Hardware: x86_64
OS: Linux
unspecified
high
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Tom "spot" Callaway
QA Contact: Fedora Extras Quality Assurance
URL:
Whiteboard:
Depends On:
Blocks:
TreeView+ depends on / blocked
 
Reported: 2020-01-07 09:23 UTC by Michael Vorburger.ch
Modified: 2020-11-24 18:44 UTC (History)
4 users (show)

Fixed In Version:
Clone Of:
Environment:
Last Closed: 2020-11-24 18:44:25 UTC
Type: Bug
Embargoed:


Attachments (Terms of Use)

Description Michael Vorburger.ch 2020-01-07 09:23:58 UTC
I'm trying to figure out how to use chrome-remote-desktop on Fedora, but unable to do so due to missing documentation explaining how one would set it up (as an end-user).

This is, obviously, assuming that others have actually been able to make this package work - has anyone?

I've searched the web, read a number of apparently outdated stackoverflow.com and found that even https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/1649523#linux-crd is wrong (1. the https://chrome.google.com/webstore/ App linked from there, as of today, is actually "broken" and now just says "use https://remotedesktop.google.com/ instead of this Chrome App;  2. the information re. .chrome-remote-desktop-session is, apparently, outdated).

If others can chime in here how one actually uses chrome-remote-desktop on Fedora, I may be willing to contribute to writing such doc, e.g. for (initially?) https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/ and (later?) on https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/quick-docs/installing-chromium-or-google-chrome-browsers/.

Comment 1 Michael Vorburger.ch 2020-01-07 09:51:25 UTC
> assuming that others have actually been able to make this package work - has anyone?

Reading e.g. Bug 1752199 or Bug 1539244 makes it not entirely clear if this package works for others (in Fedora 31).


I did get as far as figuring out that, following Bug 1442135, presumable one has to install it e.g. like this, on Fedora 31 Workstation, in a X11 not Wayland session:

1. sudo dnf install chrome-remote-desktop
2. systemctl enable chrome-remote-desktop@vorburger
3. systemctl start chrome-remote-desktop@vorburger
4. systemctl status chrome-remote-desktop@vorburger

This "works", as in the service is up.  From what little I learnt, one now has to run chrome-remote-desktop/start-host, with some --key ... but it's not clear to me where you would obtain said key from?


https://remotedesktop.google.com/headless/ initially seemed the way to go, but according to https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=1039016#c5, quote: 

"If it has been built from source, the OAuth error is probably caused by mismatched OAuth credentials (API key, client id/secret).  The website: https://remotedesktop.google.com/headless/ generates a "start-host" command which includes an OAuth code (one-time-use, to be exchanged for a Refresh token).  But this code is linked to official Google credentials, and only works with the officially released binaries."


https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=1039016#c6 also mentions something about "some desktop environments (of which I believe Gnome is one) don't like running for the same user on two X servers (e.g., on the local console and within CRD) simultaneously" which we perhaps should clarify in any future Fedora documentation (assuming the --key issue above can be solved).


> even https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/1649523#linux-crd is wrong 

I've opened https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=1039608  and  https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=1039611 about that.

Comment 2 Tom "spot" Callaway 2020-01-07 19:59:35 UTC
I have not tested the chrome-remote-desktop functionality in some time. I do know that at one point, it definitely worked with xfce, and "sortof" worked with GNOME.

I did get a report that it was failing due to API issues:
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1752199

I sent an email to my Google contacts requesting the additional API access, and I know it was received (I was CC'd on several forwards), but I do not know if this was fixed.

I looked at this for a bit, but it looks like the new model requires an extension which has the .deb hardcoded for linux... so I'm at a loss.

Comment 3 Paramjit Oberoi 2020-01-10 16:16:07 UTC
I could never get it to work with the included systemd file. I ran it as myself, using something like this (param is my username):

[Unit]
Description="Chrome Remote Desktop host daemon"

[Service]
Environment=HOME=/home/param
ExecStart=/usr/lib64/chrome-remote-desktop/chrome-remote-desktop --start --foreground
ExecStop=/usr/lib64/chrome-remote-desktop/chrome-remote-desktop --stop
ExecReload=/usr/lib64/chrome-remote-desktop/chrome-remote-desktop --reload
Restart=always
TimeoutStopSec=10
WorkingDirectory=/home/param
User=param
Group=users

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

As you noted, there can be a single Gnome session running at one time, so I used Xfce:

$ cat ~/.chrome-remote-desktop-session:
exec /etc/X11/xinit/Xsession /usr/bin/xfce4-session

Finally, initial setup.... Frankly, I don't remember how I set it up initially. There was no official fedora package when I originally set it up, and I compiled it from source and used my own keys. I don't recall the precise steps. When I switched to using the Fedora package, things *just worked*.

I would love to get this to work again. I'm happy to help, but I have limited time to spend on it. Also, if you have specific questions, I can try to reach out to people I know at Google.

Comment 4 Fedora Admin user for bugzilla script actions 2020-06-03 02:47:45 UTC
This package has changed maintainer in the Fedora.
Reassigning to the new maintainer of this component.

Comment 5 Ben Cotton 2020-11-03 16:55:59 UTC
This message is a reminder that Fedora 31 is nearing its end of life.
Fedora will stop maintaining and issuing updates for Fedora 31 on 2020-11-24.
It is Fedora's policy to close all bug reports from releases that are no longer
maintained. At that time this bug will be closed as EOL if it remains open with a
Fedora 'version' of '31'.

Package Maintainer: If you wish for this bug to remain open because you
plan to fix it in a currently maintained version, simply change the 'version' 
to a later Fedora version.

Thank you for reporting this issue and we are sorry that we were not 
able to fix it before Fedora 31 is end of life. If you would still like 
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version prior this bug is closed as described in the policy above.

Although we aim to fix as many bugs as possible during every release's 
lifetime, sometimes those efforts are overtaken by events. Often a 
more recent Fedora release includes newer upstream software that fixes 
bugs or makes them obsolete.

Comment 6 Ben Cotton 2020-11-24 18:44:25 UTC
Fedora 31 changed to end-of-life (EOL) status on 2020-11-24. Fedora 31 is
no longer maintained, which means that it will not receive any further
security or bug fix updates. As a result we are closing this bug.

If you can reproduce this bug against a currently maintained version of
Fedora please feel free to reopen this bug against that version. If you
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