This modified version of the Chrome Remote Desktop for Linux Python wrapper allows one to launch CRD in mirror mode, making the primary display available over a remote connection instead of launching a new session in a virtual framebuffer.
After installing the modified script, launching CRD with the additional option --mirror DISPLAY, where DISPLAY is the X display to be mirrored (most probably :0), will connect to this display instead of launching a new Xvfb process, providing much the same functionality as CRD on other platforms.
Original functionality has been preserved -- this is a drop-in replacement and all existing command-line options work as before.
The included wrapper script, crd-mirror, does a couple of things:
- launches CRD in mirror mode
- redirects PulseAudio output to the remote host once connected and restores output to the default after disconnecting
- triggers a desktop notification when a remote host connection status changes (requires
notify-sendto be installed) - locks the desktop when remote client disconnects for security (requires
xdg-screensaver)
It is expected that you already have a working installation of Chrome Remote Desktop.
To install mirror mode:
$ make install
Connect to your host remotely as usual, but instead of launching a new session, you should be greeted by your primary session.
Tested on Ubuntu 18.04 and Arch Linux running GNOME-Xorg. Wayland is currently not supported by Chrome Remote Desktop. There is some discussion here.
YMMV.