Remote Observing Software/Setup

Remote Observing operations at LBTO are typically available from dedicated “satellite” facilities or from the HQ Remote Observing Room.

Please refer to the Remote Facility Policy for more information on who may observe remotely and how to gain authorization to do so.

Software Requirements

• VPN Client – For VPN access. We no longer provide installer downloads directly. See below for suggested VPN clients for your given Operating System. Note for existing users: existing installations of Cisco Secure Client will continue to function. New users will need to download a client that supports the AnyConnect protocol.
  
  MacOS

  The CLI version of OpenConnect is available as part of HomeBrew. After installing HomeBrew users can simply do:

  brew install openconnect

  in the terminal to install OpenConnect

  To connect to the VPN users should run the openconnect command in a terminal, e.g.:

  sudo openconnect vpn.lbto.org

  To disconnect from the VPN simply do ctrl+C in the VPN terminal window to kill the VPN process.
  

  Linux

  Fedora Linux/Alma Linux users can use the system network manager to handle VPN access. Other Linux distributions (e.g. Ubuntu, Mint) may require the user to install the network-manager-openconnect package first.

  Users should be aware that it is necessary to set ipv4.never-default to yes if using the system network manager to avoid all internet traffic being routed through the LBTO VPN. In a terminal window run the command:

  nmcli connection modify connection_name ipv4.never-default yes

  Windows

  A GUI version of OpenConnect is available at https://gui.openconnect-vpn.net/
  CLI versions are available on the OpenConnect Package page

• Please request VPN access when completing your Observing Request form if you do not have existing credentials.
• ThinLinc Client –
• ThinLinc Download Link
• Please note that beginning with the 2026B semester, the remote observing workstations will run an updated operating system that is incompatible with X2Go. Observers must use ThinLinc to connect to robs1 and robs2.
• VNC Client – For PEPSI observing you will need a VNC client. Recommendations: RealVNC Viewer or TigerVNC viewer.

Connecting to the Remote Workstations

After connecting to the LBT VPN, launch ThinLinc and connect to either robs1.mountain.lbto.org or robs2.mountain.lbto.org

The username is your partner account (inaf, osurc, az or lbto), passwords should be available from your member coordinator.

Note that it is no longer necessary to specify a MATE desktop. robs1/2 now run a lightweight XFCE desktop by default.

Launching the Instrument GUIs

Instrument GUIs for LBCs, LUCI, and MODS should be launched within the ThinLinc window.

The VNC window for PEPSI should be launched locally (i.e. outside of ThinLinc).

See the Instrument pages for specific information on launching the individual instrument GUIs.

End of Night shutdown

After closing all of the software GUIs, please ensure you log out of ThinLinc. Select your username at the top right of the ThinLinc screen and select “Log Out”.
Note that simply closing the ThinLinc window will leave your session running on the remote observing computer and we want to avoid leaving old sessions running indefinitely.