VNC Tutorial

Make sure you always test the steps outlined in this VNC tutorial on a test server before implementing it on a production system !

In this VNC Tutorial I'll show you how to set up and use the free VNC software that comes preinstalled with RedHat Linux.

VNC is a fantastic piece of software that allows you to log into a remote server as if you were on its console, which is very handy if you're tired of command-line interfaces.

Similar to Windows Remote Desktop, you will use the VNC Viewer to open up a window which allows you to manage the remote server through its GUI interface.

VNC Installation Check

Check whether your version of Unix comes preinstalled with VNC.

To check : (on Linux)


  $rpm -q vnc
  vnc-4.0-11.el4

This means it is already installed on my server.

VNC Download

You can download the Free VNC edition from Real VNC.
You will need the vnc server on your linux server and the vnc client on your own laptop/desktop client.

VNC Installation

Presuming you know how to install windows software for the VNC Client, I'll discuss installing the VNC Server on Linux.

Download the relevant VNC server version for your platform, in this case we're downloading vnc-4_1_2-x86_linux.tar.gz.

Place it anywhere on your server where you keep your downloaded software.

For small software packages like this, I download it to my PC and then use software like WinSCP to get it across to my linux server.

If you are using FTP , remember to set it to 'binary' mode.

I've put it in /tmp.

Now unzip and untar the file (make sure you are ROOT ! ),
then cd to the unpacked directory and run vncinstall with your bin directory as a parameter :


[root@testserver tmp]# gunzip  vnc-4_1_2-x86_linux.tar.gz
[root@testserver tmp]# tar -xvf  vnc-4_1_2-x86_linux.tar
vnc-4_1_2-x86_linux/
vnc-4_1_2-x86_linux/README
vnc-4_1_2-x86_linux/vncinstall
vnc-4_1_2-x86_linux/LICENCE.txt
vnc-4_1_2-x86_linux/vnc.so
vnc-4_1_2-x86_linux/vncviewer
vnc-4_1_2-x86_linux/vncpasswd
vnc-4_1_2-x86_linux/vncconfig
vnc-4_1_2-x86_linux/x0vncserver
vnc-4_1_2-x86_linux/Xvnc
vnc-4_1_2-x86_linux/vncviewer.man
vnc-4_1_2-x86_linux/vncpasswd.man
vnc-4_1_2-x86_linux/vncconfig.man
vnc-4_1_2-x86_linux/x0vncserver.man
vnc-4_1_2-x86_linux/Xvnc.man
vnc-4_1_2-x86_linux/vncserver
vnc-4_1_2-x86_linux/vncserver.man
vnc-4_1_2-x86_linux/java/
vnc-4_1_2-x86_linux/java/index.vnc
vnc-4_1_2-x86_linux/java/vncviewer.jar
vnc-4_1_2-x86_linux/java/logo150x150.gif

[root@testserver tmp]# cd vnc-4_1_2-x86_linux
[root@testserver vnc-4_1_2-x86_linux]# ./vncinstall /usr/bin
Copying Xvnc to /usr/bin
Copying Xvnc.man to /usr/share/man/man1/Xvnc.1
Copying vncviewer to /usr/bin
Copying vncviewer.man to /usr/share/man/man1/vncviewer.1
Copying vncpasswd to /usr/bin
Copying vncpasswd.man to /usr/share/man/man1/vncpasswd.1
Copying vncconfig to /usr/bin
Copying vncconfig.man to /usr/share/man/man1/vncconfig.1
Copying vncserver to /usr/bin
Copying vncserver.man to /usr/share/man/man1/vncserver.1
Copying x0vncserver to /usr/bin
Copying x0vncserver.man to /usr/share/man/man1/x0vncserver.1

Making your VNC viewer more user-friendly

Edit file: $HOME/.vnc/xstartup and remove the comments in front of these 2 lines:

unset SESSION_MANAGER
exec /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc

Start the VNC Server

You only need to type in 'vncserver' to get the vnc service running, you will be asked to set the VNC root password (not shown):


[root@testserver ~]# vncserver

New 'testserver.domain.com:1 (root)' desktop is testserver.domain.com:1

Starting applications specified in /root/.vnc/xstartup
Log file is /root/.vnc/testserver.domain.com:1.log

To connect to it , use the VNC Client software on your desktop to start the VNC Viewer.

You will get a little window which allows you to specify which VNC server to connect to.

Then you must supply the VNC password:

Now you have access to the server via the VNC display
:

Stop the VNC Server

Lastly , use this command to stop the VNC service (sometimes this process runs away and uses up too much CPU..)

It is also a security risk, so it is a good idea to run it only when you need a VNC Connection, so only start it when you need it (you can start it via a remote terminal/SSH/Putty session) and shut it down again when you have finished the task you needed it for.


[root@testserver ~]# vncserver -kill :1
Killing Xvnc process ID 550

For more documentation, read the Online VNC Documentation

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