Accessing multiple VNC servers using only one SSH port?

[Bruce Atherton]

At 04:39 PM 11/18/2002 -0500, William Hooper wrote:

>You don't mention what operating systems are involved

No, because I didn't think it was relevant. In my particular case, the 
machines can be any combination of Windows, Linux, and Solaris boxes that 
you want. Does that help?

>, but I believe
>this is answered on the "Using VNC with SSH" page (
>http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc/sshvnc.html ) under "more advanced
>use".  All communication over the Internet is handled by SSH port
>forwarding.

Unfortunately, that page does not deal with my usecase at all. It shows you 
how to forward a port in longer and longer chains of machines, but it does 
not (according to my reading of it) say anything about accessing multiple 
machines with a single forwarded port. In each case, the port is being 
forwarded to only one possible ultimate destination.

Let me describe the usecase in text instead of using a diagram, it may be 
clearer.

 From home or on the road with my laptop, I often need to get access to one 
of several machines in my office, not just a terminal but the whole 
desktop. I may need to get at my workstation or a machine running automated 
tests or one of several servers. I don't know ahead of time exactly which 
of several machines I will need access to. There are several other 
developers in my office with the same need. What we all have to work with 
is a single SSH port that has been opened up in the firewall for remote access.

I think this scenario is probably fairly common. Running gotomypc on each 
of the machines would be a solution, but the company frowns on that as a 
security breach and is not willing to pay for subscriptions to it. So I am 
trying to find another way, and I was hoping that the combination of VNC 
and SSH might give it to me.