remote ssh access to on-campus desktop computers

[ctb]

(not technically farm related, but this is turning into computing general so... ;)

q:

I wanted to ask if you have set up ssh access to a computer housed on
campus? I have set up remote access on my laptop before, but wondered
whether there were special steps if I wanted to have a desktop housed on
campus that I could access from home. I am planning on running some linux
distro on the machine (probably the latest release of Ubuntu) if that makes
a difference!

a1:

helpful information here
https://servicehub.ucdavis.edu/servicehub?id=ucd_kb_article&sys_id=d0381b344f022
64006a6650f0310c709

I see having dynamic DNS to overcome not having static ip/Local port
forwarding would be a solution for this. Also reverse ssh tunneling. Would
that be a solution?

Surely having an ethernet connection would be more straightforward if
provided by the IT.

a2:

You can request a static IP address from IET, yes.... I think you have to have them open
port 22 for you to get SSH. You can also just run zerotier and bypass
all the nonsense. Dynamic DNS won't get you through campus NAT, and
attaching domains to non accessible IPs, while not strictly forbidden
by the protocol, is frowned upon.

a3:

zerotier FTW!

I was checking how to get a static IP when I was looking into sharing data
with IPFS, but never actually asked. My IET/IT support interactions were
for figuring out which ethernet ports were connected in the lab (because
gigabit).

(tailscale is also an option, but zerotier always worked really well for me)