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I was just wondering if it is even remotely possible to setup a Blender installation on a server (probably Linux based); then, on another computer SSH into the server and use Blender.

I believe if this were possible, it would probably run terribly, but I was just wondering how possible this actually is.

I know that simple GUI Java applications can be run in this way by using something like XMing on the local computer. Can the same sort of principle apply here?

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It's definitely possible! If you have X11 forwarding set up on your SSH client and server, running Blender over the SSH connection should just work (I have tried it!). I am thinking of *nix-to-*nix here, but, on Windows, PuTTY can be configured to use Xming for X11 forwarding as well.

That said, as you suspect, the performance will be terrible unless you are using a fast LAN connection. Here is what I recommend doing.

  • Set up both an SSH and a localhost VNC server on the computer on which you want to run Blender (the server).
  • Using SSH, forward the port that the VNC server is using from the server to the client.
  • Now connect a VNC viewer, running on the client, to the port of the VNC server that you just forwarded to the client.

Some VNC servers and clients (like TigerVNC) support JPEG compression, so very usable framerates can be achieved with sub-optimal connections. I have been able to use Blender in the above configuration over a 10 megabit Internet connection without major problems. Another big advantage of using VNC over SSH is that applications running in the VNC server stay running even when a client is not connected (or even if a client is forcefully disconnected). Conversely, with SSH and X11 forwarding, the SSH connection must be maintained for as long as the application is used.

I think I should also mention x11vnc. From its website,

x11vnc allows one to view remotely and interact with real X displays (i.e. a display corresponding to a physical monitor, keyboard, and mouse) with any VNC viewer.

As such, it allows you to run Blender with hardware-accelerated OpenGL and still access it via VNC.

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  • $\begingroup$ What do you think about a raspberry pi being the client? Also, is TigerVNC available on major linux distros (like fedora 20) $\endgroup$
    – OzzyGreyman
    Apr 11, 2014 at 22:37
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    $\begingroup$ In theory it would work with the Raspberry Pi, although I would be concerned about the Pi being too slow at uncompressing and displaying the image to really be able to use Blender effectively. TigerVNC appears to be available in Fedora. $\endgroup$
    – catlover2
    Apr 11, 2014 at 23:01
  • $\begingroup$ Fixed link for Fedora package (the old one is a 404 now): admin.fedoraproject.org/pkgdb/package/tigervnc $\endgroup$
    – catlover2
    Jun 3, 2014 at 3:47
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As Catlover2 points out it can be done but preferably over a fast local network.

Another option is to run blender locally to create the scene and then run blender remotely over ssh to do the rendering without using any gui elements.

blender -b myblendfile.blend -f

You could also setup any number of remote machines that automatically startup as slaves to do rendering through Network Render.

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