VNC Server From Command Line

VNC is a graphical desktop sharing system that allows remotely controlling the computer.

This tutorial covers how to share what is displayed directly on the monitor, or X's DISPLAY:0 and how to share a new DISPLAY created for VNC.

Installation

To install VNC, install the following packeges

• vncserver or tigervnc-server
• x11vnc

Configuring password

It is necessary to create a password for VNC, or it will allow anyone to connect. Type

$ vncpassword

and you will be prompted for a new password, that will be stored in ${HOME}/.vnc/passwd. Passwords have maximum length of 8 characters

Running VNC server

DISPLAY:0

x11vnc can run a VNC session for DISPLAY :0 (the one you see in the monitor. For doing it, and prompting for password, execute the following:

Other DISPLAY

vncserver will create a VNC session on a DISPLAY different to :0, and will require password automaticaly. Multiple instances of vncserver can run simultaneously, each in a different DISPLAY.

Stopping VNC server

# x11vnc -rfbauth ${HOME}/.vnc/passwd -display :0

x11vnc will close the server when you close the VNC client. For vncserver, you'll need to:

$ vncserver -kill DISPLAY_NO

Revision History

Post built on: 2015-11-02 14:34:59
Last modified on: 2015-11-02 14:34:54
First published on: 2015-11-02

Revision	Date	Description
1.00	2015-11-02	Initial version. Published