Hello!

I'd like to connect to a remote machine via ssh and start a graphical program there. Right now, when I just ssh to the machine in a terminal window and start the program, my display behaves strangely (flickering and strange colours). So I figure I might need to use vnc.

I've experimented with ssh and vnc but I couldn't figure out how to do this properly.

From all I've read, I still don't understand how to use the vncserver and the vncviewer, ssh tunneling (I guess I need that, don't I?), displays, ports etc. - I'm just confused.

Can someone please point out how to accomplish this?

Thanks a lot!

P.S.: I'm using Mandriva 2007 and KDE

well essentially vnc will do the job just fine... start the vnc server on the remote machine, connect to it using the client and away you go. one thign you may have been getting confused about is that the default conventional implementation of the vnc server will create a brand new X session, but the mor recent versions of the x11-xorg server contains it's own internal vnc modules which will share the current screen, indeed i'd bet money that what control centre mandrake 2007 uses will have a tick box to enable it in there somewhere. if not you can edit tin /etc/X11/xorg.conf file yourself and add the vnc module to it. i'm not sure of the exact syntax there but google knows it.

I forgot to mention: I can't start a vncserver on the remote machine.

I once (in an earlier version of Mandrake) managed to start a new Xsession, then open a terminal window therein, do the ssh connection there and launch the program on the remote machine. I got the GUI of the program in an XVNC window in my primary Xsession. It was complicated but it worked. Now, I can't do it like that anymore. I tried to start vncserver like

and then

but I get an error message:

I have no idea how to resolve this, because the message is not very specific.

Also, if it worked like it used to, I don't want KDE to startup a second time for it takes up so much resources, but that's a different issue, I guess.

So, regardless of what I tried, what I'm looking for is a simple solution to run that remote program on my desktop.

The remote machine, by the way, is a Sun Workstation, which I suspect is the cause for the strange colours metioned above. But as I said before, I had it working already (without strange colours) in an earlier version of Mandrake

if you wish to see the exsiting display you would, as above not use vncserver, but the x11-xorg vnc modules. there is also a program called x11vnc which can also export the currently runnign X session by vnc in solution to changing the x server configuration.

fyi http://www.realvnc.com/products/free/4.1/x0.html

When I start x11vnc and then enter
I get infinetly cascaded Windows opened, showing my desktop.

right... and what would you expect? it's naturally going to do that isn't it? you need to view it from a remote machine...

OK, but I still have that one problem: I need some way to render that remote GUI of that program on my PC.

Has anyone got an idea what could be the cause of the vncserver on my local PC closing the connection to the vncviewer on my local PC?

Maybe it's some permissions problem? Any hints how I could cleanly set up vncserver/viewer for an ordinary user to use?

OK, I don't know if that was what helped but I added to /etc/hosts.allow

and after some trying around it suddenly worked with

well yes that's exactly what the documentation will tell you to do, but that wasn't what you were sayign you wanted...