How To Setup Linux VNC Server In 3 Minutes

Excellent How-To! Saved me loads of time faffing about – much appreciated :o))

Thank you very much WALKER……….like u said…..Exactly in 3 minutes……..
Thanks for saving another one week…………

it didnt work for me in 3 minutes what the bloody hell?

Or you could just enable VNC in 3-seconds through “System”->”Preferences”->”Remote Desktop”
http://www.redhat.com/magazine/006apr05/features/vnc/

Don’t forget to add port 5900 to your firewall exception (also easy to do via “System”->”Administration”->”Security Level and Firewall”)

I am running an old RedHat5, so YMMV.

Thanks much! Very useful article. Great writing style…was less than 3 mins for me :).

Great Doc,
thanks it works as he said , step by step and inch by inch

thanks once again.

Excellent tutorial!

It’s always nice when smart people share

Thanks.

Cool, worked like a charm… even when the article is sooo 2007!! Thanks.

Worked first go on my beagleboard, w00t! apt-get install vnc-server (for ubuntu)

I have tried to get this set up on my new redhat server and I want to show the Gnome interface but all I get is the twn screen.

# Uncomment the following two lines for normal desktop:
 unset SESSION_MANAGER
 exec /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc

[ -x /etc/vnc/xstartup ] && exec /etc/vnc/xstartup
[ -r $HOME/.Xresources ] && xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
xsetroot -solid grey
vncconfig -iconic &
xterm -geometry 80x24+10+10 -ls -title "$VNCDESKTOP Desktop" &
twm &

any help would be great.

how to connect with the vncserver with the display port value is :0 or with the default display

exam:
connecting from 192.168.0.100:1 to 192.168.0.100:0 or 192.168.0.100

i want to connect via vnc cliet with the same display as what my server monitor was..can anyone show me and teach me a little trick for this setup?

i want to provide multiple session for user’s for accessing the vncserver from multiple connetcion

Hi,

I have setup VNC server on a powerful Linux server and am able to initiate a VNC connection but it doesn’t prompt for username but only a password!

I need 4 users to connect to my VNC server and initiate a GNS3 session but the server doesn’t prompt for username!?

I have created Linux users account and have done GNS3 installation for each user account.

Any help that can help me resolve thie issue please?

Regards,

Masood

John May edit it like this

#!/bin/sh

# Uncomment the following two lines for normal desktop:
#unset SESSION_MANAGER
#exec /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc

[ -x /etc/vnc/xstartup ] && exec /etc/vnc/xstartup
[ -r $HOME/.Xresources ] && xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
xsetroot -solid grey
vncconfig -iconic &
xterm -geometry 80x24+10+10 -ls -title "$VNCDESKTOP Desktop" &
gnome-session &

#twm &

Edited by Walker:
So, the differences are

1) Comment these lines: unset, exec, and twm.
2) Add gnome-session line.

Thank you soo much…you made my day!

i try to configure vnc at fedora core 8. by yum i install vnc bt but when i enter the commend vncserver :1 -name homeserver -depth 16 -geometry 720×540,it give an error like this

bash: vncsrever commend not found
please help me to sort out this problem.

Hi,

I am getting an error “SSH Client has been unloaded” while connecting to a unix server from x-windows emulator (ViewNow).

Can anyone help me in this ?

Is there a way to enter a conditional statement inside of the .xstartup file?

i.e.

If I open 1 specific VNC session, say on port :2, I want it to open 6 xterm sessions in a pre-defined space.

On the other hand, if I open any other VNC sessions, on any other ports, I want it to only open 4 xterm sessions, in pre-defined spaces.

I already have the xterm statements, and geometry’s calculated and working, I just haven’t hit on a way to differentiate between used ports, from inside of the .xstartup file.

TIA

Hi jxfish2,

You should see your port on the DISPLAY environment variable that was set by the Xvnc process and spawned to your xtartup script.
Once its readily available, abuse of IF statements at will

I know it has been a couple of weeks after you’ve asked and yet I still hope i have helped you or anyone in need.

Sunniest SouthAmerican regards

Thanks dhabib.

I could not find the “$DISPLAY” variable, but I did find the native “$VNCDESKTOP” variable.

Using this variable, I was able to create a conditional statement to set the number of xterm sessions inside of a VNC session, differently, for different VNC sessions.

Here’s the conditional statement I used:

if [[ -n `/bin/echo $VNCDESKTOP | /bin/grep ':2'` ]]

Now I have one more question, if it’s Ok with you:

The VNC geometry that I have set inside of the /etc/sysconfig/vncservers is a non-standard entry.

But, as I have port :2 set for my own personal use, it’s not an issue.

However, when I open a new session, not previously defined within this config file, my .Xauthority file overrides my preferred VNC geometry, setting it to 1024×768.

Is there some way for me to set the VNC session geometry locally, outside of the vncserver config file?

Remember, not the size of the xterm windows, but the actual VNC session geometry.

In other words, I typically upgrade / work on 6 servers at once, all in parallel.

I have my default VNC session set to open 6 xterm windows inside of a single VNC session, with each xterm session set to 80×24.

But, I want to open a new VNC session, with xterm windows that are 80×60, where I can display HOWTO style, cut-n-paste documents. Documents that are prepared in advance of our maintenance windows.

If nothing more, do you know of a way to reset the default 1024×768 to something different, inside of the local .Xauthority file?

Never mind. I figured it out!
For any of you that might be interested in something similar. I created a separate script to open VNC sessions of 3 different xterm window types:

• 2 windows, with each xterm window running the length of the VNC session.
• 4 windows, each of a relatively standard height and width.
• 6 windows, each of a relatively standard height and width.

The code will follow in another comment window!

WINS=$1

if [[ ! -n $1 ]]
then
echo “”
echo “You must enter the number of xterm windows you want to open, as \$1″
echo “on the command line.”
echo “”
echo ” Example:”
echo “”
echo ” ./vncserver 4″
echo “”
echo “Please try again!”
exit
fi

if [[ "$WINS" -eq "2" ]]
then
PORT=”20″
while [[ -n `ps -ef | grep Xvnc | grep "\:$PORT"` ]]
do
let PORT=”$PORT + 1″
done
/usr/bin/vncserver -geometry 1008×955 :$PORT
elif [[ "$WINS" -eq "4" ]]
then
PORT=”40″
while [[ -n `ps -ef | grep Xvnc | grep "\:$PORT"` ]]
do
let PORT=”$PORT + 1″
done
/usr/bin/vncserver -geometry 1008×660 :$PORT
elif [[ "$WINS" -eq "6" ]]
then
PORT=”60″
while [[ -n `ps -ef | grep Xvnc | grep "\:$PORT"` ]]
do
let PORT=”$PORT + 1″
done
/usr/bin/vncserver -geometry 1008×990 :$PORT
fi

To establish a new VNC session, with the pre-configured size, first you need to execute your new script:

./myvncserver 2

./myvncserver 4

./myvncserver 6

Finally, I need to configure my xstartup script so that it can determine on its own, whether it needs to open 2, 4 or 6 xterm windows.

xstartup contents to be displayed in the next comments window.

xsetroot -solid royalblue
vncconfig -iconic &

if [[ -n `/bin/echo $PORT | /bin/egrep '6[0-9]‘` ]]
then

# 6 Windows – 1008×990 resolution:

xterm -geometry 80×23+1+0 -bg black -fg green -hc white -ls -title “$VNCDESKTOP Desktop” /bin/bash &
xterm -geometry 80×23+505+0 -bg black -fg green -hc white -ls -title “$VNCDESKTOP Desktop” /bin/bash &
xterm -geometry 80×23+1+330 -bg black -fg green -hc white -ls -title “$VNCDESKTOP Desktop” /bin/bash &
xterm -geometry 80×23+505+330 -bg black -fg green -hc white -ls -title “$VNCDESKTOP Desktop” /bin/bash &
xterm -geometry 80×23+1+660 -bg black -fg green -hc white -ls -title “$VNCDESKTOP Desktop” /bin/bash &
xterm -geometry 80×23+505+660 -bg black -fg green -hc white -ls -title “$VNCDESKTOP Desktop” /bin/bash &

elif [[ -n `/bin/echo $PORT | /bin/egrep '4[0-9]‘` ]]
then

# 4 Windows – 1008×660 resolution:

xterm -geometry 80×23+1+0 -bg black -fg green -hc white -ls -title “$VNCDESKTOP Desktop” /bin/bash &
xterm -geometry 80×23+505+0 -bg black -fg green -hc white -ls -title “$VNCDESKTOP Desktop” /bin/bash &
xterm -geometry 80×23+1+330 -bg black -fg green -hc white -ls -title “$VNCDESKTOP Desktop” /bin/bash &
xterm -geometry 80×23+505+330 -bg black -fg green -hc white -ls -title “$VNCDESKTOP Desktop” /bin/bash &

elif [[ -n `/bin/echo $PORT | /bin/egrep '2[0-9]‘` ]]
then

# 2 Windows – 1008×955 resolution:

xterm -geometry 80×71+0+0 -bg black -fg green -hc white -ls -title “$VNCDESKTOP Desktop” /bin/bash &
xterm -geometry 80×71+504+0 -bg black -fg green -hc white -ls -title “$VNCDESKTOP Desktop” /bin/bash &

fi

twm &

Hope this was useful to someone other than me!
Note that the window sizes used in the above code fill my desktop sessions perfectly.
You may need to tweak the sizes according to your own desktop work space.

I have recently inherited a windows network on a Linux server and have changed the ISP now when i go to connect using the VNC Viewer4 I get a error message stating that the “connection was refused Error code 10061″ and guidance in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

Brilliant, thanks for sharing :-)

Worked first time for me, nice clear instructions

Wonderful, direct to the point every stupid guide I’ve seen has tons of garbage and unnecessary technical explanations. I did follow your guide and had it enabled very quickly!

Tks!