Teamviewer is a powerful tool that allows teams to collaborate and share their screens in real time. It’s also incredibly useful for remote tech support to gain immediate access to a computer remotely with a complete graphical desktop.
As a result, it’s not hard to see why Teamviewer supports Linux and packages for both Debian and Redhat distributions. Don’t worry if you’re on a different distribution, they do offer a generic tarball, and some, like Arch, do have packages available.
Install Teamviewer
Before you start, you’re going to need to download Teamviewer for your Linux distribution. If you’re on Debian, Ubuntu, any of their derivatives or a Redhat distribution, like Fedora or CentOS, swing by the Teamviewer Linux download page. Download either the 64bit DEB or RPM for your distribution. You can try using your distribution’s graphical method to install it, but this guide is going to cover the command line.
Ubuntu/Debian
Open your terminal and change into the directory where your Teamviewer package downloaded.
Then, use dpkg to install the package. You can use the first command to locate it.
Dpkg will probably fail. That’s not a big deal, as you can use Apt to clean up the mess and finish the installation.
That will fetch the missing dependencies and configure Teamviewer.
Fedora
The process for Fedora is much like the one for Debian distributions. You’re going to use RPM to install the package that you downloaded. First, though, you’ll need to grab the dependencies for Teamviewer.
Now, change the directory to where your package is downloaded, and install it with RPM.
After the installation has completed, you’re going to need to start the Teamviewer service.
To run the Teamviewer service automatically when you start your computer, run the following as well.
When you first open Teamviewer, you may see a warning saying that Teamviewer won’t work with Wayland. You’ll need to log out and select GNOME with Xorg to use Teamviewer.
Arch Linux
Teamviewer doesn’t officially support Arch, but that didn’t stop the community from adding a package to the AUR. If you don’t have an AUR helper, follow the process below to download and install Teamviewer.
If you do have an AUR helper, the process is obviously simpler.
Before you can open and use Teamviewer, you’ll need to start the accompanying service.
If you want it to run at startup, enable it as well.
Running Teamviewer
Teamviewer is a graphical application that you can find classified under the “Internet” section on most desktop environments. After you find it listed alphabetically under “Teamviewer” on GNOME, open it.
Before Teamviewer starts, it’ll present you with its EULA. Accept to continue.
In the center of your Teamviewer window, you’ll find your current ID and password. These are specific to your computer, and they aren’t tied to any particular account. You can create or sign in to a Teamviewer account, if you like, but it’s not necessary to access another computer.
Connecting
It’s extremely simple to connect to another computer with Teamviewer. Ask for the Teamviewer ID of the computer you want to access. Enter it in the “Partner ID” field at the top of your Teamviewer window or in the right third of the “Remote Control” tab.
Teamviewer will then ask for the password of the computer that you want to control. Enter that, too. Teamviewer will open a new window with your partner computer’s desktop visible. This window is your portal to the other machine. You can access everything on that computer through this window, just like if you were sitting at it.
Take a look at the controls near the top of the window. You can send files, communicate, and change the way you display the connection through this menu. To end the connection, click on the “Actions” section, and select the option to close the connection.
That’s all for the basics. You can now remotely access another computer via Teamviewer and help troubleshoot or simply access files. It’s a versatile way for teams to work together, and it provides a convenient way to access a remote machine.
Nick is a freelance tech. journalist, Linux enthusiast, and a long time PC gamer.
Our latest tutorials delivered straight to your inbox
