Seamless mode is Xpra’s usual way to run an application on another computer while using it as if it were local. Each remote application gets its own window on your desktop: you can move, resize, minimize, and switch to it alongside your local applications.
Choose desktop mode if you want a complete remote desktop in one window. Choose shadow mode if you need to see or control a desktop that is already running.
If you can log in to the remote computer with SSH, this command starts an application there and displays it on your computer:
xpra seamless ssh://USER@HOST/ --start-child=xterm
Replace USER and HOST with your login name and the server name. Replace
xterm with the graphical application you want to run, such as firefox or
gedit.
The application window should appear on your desktop. You can disconnect and later reconnect without stopping the remote application:
xpra attach ssh://USER@HOST/
The display part of the address can be omitted when that account has only one active Xpra session. See SSH connections for more ways to connect.
If you prefer a graphical tool, open Xpra from your application menu, choose Start, then choose a seamless application session.
On the remote computer, start an Xpra server on a free display. :100 is an
example display number:
xpra seamless :100 --start-child=xterm
Then, on your computer, attach to that session:
xpra attach ssh://USER@HOST/100
If both client and server run under the same account on the same machine, use:
xpra attach :100
Remote windows are managed by your local operating system and window manager. Place them across your monitors, switch between them normally, and use them alongside local applications.
Xpra forwards the applications you choose instead of capturing a whole remote screen. This is often more comfortable and uses less bandwidth than a complete remote desktop when you only need a few applications.
The applications keep running on the server after you disconnect, so you can return to the same work later. Use session features to forward clipboard contents, audio, printers, and more.
The X11 backend is the default and offers the broadest compatibility:
xpra seamless --backend=x11 --start-child=xterm
The newer Wayland backend can be selected explicitly:
xpra seamless --backend=wayland --start-child=weston-terminal
The Wayland backend is experimental and may require the separate
xpra-server-wayland package. Use the X11 backend unless you need Wayland
specifically.
Some experiments can shadow only selected applications or windows as an approximation of seamless mode. They are not reliable enough to recommend for general use; see issue #3476 for the current status.