“It’s still magic even if you know how it’s done.”
- Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky
I use 4 monitors. Two monitors per machine. To use a single keyboard and mouse for both machines I use Barrier. Barrier is software that mimics traditional KVM hardware.
Install Barrier (Linux)
At the time of this writing, Barrier was being setup on a fresh install of Ubuntu 23.10.
Install Barrier from CLI using:
sudo apt install barrier
Installing Barrier from the CLI
Barrier (Client) Configuration
Searching for and opening Barrier
Click next on the Welcome screen
Barrier install Welcome screen
Choosing Server or Client
In this instance I chose Client, the other machine (Windows 10) is acting as the Barrier Server.
Choose Server or Client for the Barrier install
Turning Off SSL & AutoConfig
By default, Auto config will be checked. I have found the Auto Config option to be hit or miss. I uncheck this. I have never used SSL with Barrier, seems overkill for my needs. Plus,
I think it’s good practice to operate software with minimal “bells and whistles,” if you can get away with it. Extra features are nice but also bring extra points of failure.
After unchecking Auto config I enter the IP address of the machine designated as the Barrier server.
Click Start
SSL Error
The Barrier client (Linux) did not connect to the Barrier server (Windows). The logs show some static around an ssl certificate. The Barrier Server (Windows) does not require an SSL certificate from clients, it never has. The error is originating from the client (Linux).
Even though the prior window showed SSL Fingerprint: Disabled, clicking Barrier, then Change Settings we can see that Enable SSL is checked. I forgot this is checked by default. Whoops.
Enable SSL turned off
The log is still throwing up errors. The solution is covered in the next post.
(to be cont.)