VNC

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Using VNC to use a remote desktop in the HDA (Fedora 12)

Using VNC is useful if:

  • You would like a Linux desktop to the HDA remotely
  • You run your HDA headless (no monitor) and like to still use a desktop in it
  • You would like to use a GUI to configure printer(s) or have a scanner or other device that requires a desktop program to configure and the machine is headless

What you need

  • A server
  • A client

Client: Installation

Download the client software and install:

  • Windows: RealVNC, UltraVNC, TightVNC
  • MAC: Chicken of the VNC
  • For Linux, you have the vncviewer package, available in most, if not all distros. For Fedora 12, do the following as [Open_Terminal_as_root|root] user:
       yum -y install tigervnc

Server: Installation - Method 1

  • To start the server in your HDA, you need install tigervnc-server rpm package:
  • From the root user:
       yum -y install tigervnc-server
       chkconfig vncserver on
  • Edit /etc/sysconfig/vncservers and change lines as follows (username is your linux user for the VNC session):
       VNCSERVERS="2:username"
       VNCSERVERARGS[2]="-geometry 1024x768 -nolisten tcp -localhost"
    • Note you can have users 1-9 and each will connect to their VNC session at port 590n (some VNC clients 'know' the 590 part and only have you enter n)
  • Run vncpasswd for each user in VNCSERVERS= list; this performs the initial user setup.
  • Start and stop vncserver to initialize vnc for each configured user
       service vncserver start
       service vncserver stop
  • Edit /home/username/.vnc/xstartup and change the end of the file:
       twm &

To:

       exec gnome-session &
  • Now finally start vncserver for real!
       service vncserver start
  • Run your VNC Client and enter hda:1 as the host/IP address. You should now see your HDA Desktop screen.

Server: Installation - Method 2

  • To start the server in your HDA, you need install tigervnc-server rpm package:
  • From the root user:
       yum -y install tigervnc-server xinetd
       chkconfig vncserver off
       service vncserver stop
  • Create /etc/gdm/custom.conf file and add the following:
       #GDM configuration storage
       [xdmcp]
       Enable=true
       [chooser]
       [security]
       DisallowTCP=false
       [debug]
  • Create /etc/xinetd.d/vnc1024 file and add the following (you can change the screen resolution by changing the geometry setting):
       service vnc1024
       {
       disable = no
       socket_type = stream
       protocol = tcp
       group = tty
       wait = no
       user = nobody
       server = /usr/bin/Xvnc
       server_args = -inetd -query localhost -geometry 1024×768 -depth 16 -once -fp /usr/share/X11/fonts/misc -securitytypes=none
       }
  • Edit /etc/services and comment out the two lines as listed below:
       #vnc-server      5900/tcp                # VNC Server
       #vnc-server      5900/udp                # VNC Server
  • Add this line below the two lines you commented out and save the changes:
       vnc1024         5900/tcp                # VNC and GDM
  • Now restart the xinetd service
       service xinetd restart
  • Run your VNC Client and enter your HDA IP address for host/IP address. You should now see your HDA Desktop login screen. If you don't see the login screen, a reboot of the HDA may be required. This can be done via the dashboard or by executing the following as root user:
       reboot now


NOTE: More detailed instructions are available here.

Troubleshooting for Vista

This helpful page has helped with blocking VNC