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How to take a screenshot of a Linux desktop over SSH.

To take a screenshot of a Linux desktop over SSH; firstly you must set the DISPLAY environment variable.

homer@deusexmachina ~ $ export DISPLAY=:0

Then use scrot to capture a screenshot of the desktop to a file.

homer@deusexmachina ~ $ scrot :0 my.jpeg

Since I am using my Windows Server 2012 laptop to connect to my Linux machine over a proxy, I installed the WinSCP application and this allows me to upload and download to my files over an SFTP connection. This provides a simple two-pane display of the local machine and remote directories.

Download this application here: http://winscp.net/eng/index.php. If you have sessions saved in Putty, these can be imported into WinSCP.

WinSCP. A good way to copy files from a Linux machine.
WinSCP. A good way to copy files from a Linux machine.

Here is how to retrieve the file using sftp.

Administrator@WIN-EM8GK0ROU41 ~
$ scp -P 443 homer@192.168.1.67:/home/homer/my.jpeg /home/Administrator/
LMDE MATE Editionhomer@192.168.1.67's password:
my.jpeg

This is an easy way to take a screenshot of the Linux desktop and copy it to your local machine, either Windows or Linux.

And this is the screenshot that I was able to retrieve from my Linux machine to a Windows laptop. Purely using SSH.

My mwm desktop screenshot.
My mwm desktop screenshot.

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