Connect to Centos 5.3 Linux Computer using TightVnc from WinXP
 

Hello,

I a newbie and getting the feel of linux.

I would like to use TightVnc on my WinXP box to connect to my Linux machine...so far all on a LAN.

I read the TightVnc documentation but it isn't clear what pieces of TightVnc I have to download.

As I said I only want to connect for WinXP to the Linux box.

Is the only think I have to do is to download and install TightVnc on the WinXP machine and if so what pieces and do I have to do anything in the Linux box.

Any help in clearing up this issue would be appreciated.

Thanks.

You need to install and launch a VNC server application on the Linux server. Currently your Windows box tries to connect via VNC to a service that doesn't exist on the Linux box.

You also need to open up firewall ports 5900 (and a few more upwards) to allow incoming VNC data traffic on the Linux server.

It could be helpful if you told what distribution you are using. There is an option available in System > Preferences > Remote Desktop.
Once you launch this option you will understand the self explanatory window. You can configure your system to be controlled remotely. There is an option to set the password to connect remotely.
Once this is done you can download the vnc viewer from realvnc site for xp and install it. After installing launch the vnc viewer and connect to your Linux desktop.

"Remote Desktop" might be a poor choice of naming in GNOME
 

The naming of "Remote Desktop" can be confusing to some users. What is GNOME referring to by "Remote Desktop"? Are they referring to the rdesktop program that connects to Windows machines by way of RDP, and hence the Windows name of Remote Desktop Connections? Or is that menu entry intended for setup of VNC servers and clients only?

Note also that there is a program similar to VNC called x11vnc that I've occasionally used. It is set up similarly to VNC servers, but allows you to connect to a pre-existing X session, which is very similar in behavior to what Windows Remote Desktop Connection does. IIRC, you also have to setup a daemon on the destination host for x11vnc just like you do for VNC.

bgoodr

Thank all for your quick replies.

My Linux is Centos 5.3.

I checked and at start up time the VNC server on the Linux box is started, something like 1024x768.

From what I've been able to dope out of all of this is that you download the TightVnc program on the WinXP box and then connect to the Linux machine...correct???

When you start the TightVnc application on Windows does it connect right away to the Linux box and what command do you have to issue to start the session working?

Thanks

Did you install vncserver on the Linux machine? Did you start it?

What I typically do is this command on the Linux machine:
So that will start a Xvnc process running in the background. You should be able to see this in the process status with the ps -ef command (look for Xvnc). That process will die once you reboot, so you will have to execute the above command again once you reboot (or make some arrangement to have that executed when you login to GNOME; I don't know how to do that offhand).

So, if your Linux machine is on the network, then you should be able to connect to it from the Windows machine using TightVNC. What you specify is the server name (the Linux box) and the display number which in this case is "2".

Like maresmasb stated, you need to open up ports in your firewall on the Linux machine so that incoming connections will work. My understanding is that, for VNC servers, the TCP/IP port that is opened up is 5900+<display_num>, which in the above example will be 5902.

I don't recall how you specify the display number when you execute TightVNC on the Windows machine. If your machines name is called "mustard", you may have to type in "mustard:2" or "mustard:2.0". Or you may have to type in the display number into a separate text field.

Good Luck,
bgoodr

This can be used to connect to linux from windows machine using the same vnc viewer the same way you will by using vnc server. I use this sometimes to connect to my Ubuntu system from xp. But that is mostly for fun as I do not use windows.

bgoodr,

No, it was installed on the windows box and I want to connect to the Linux machine.

It connects and then disconnects at just about the same time.

Then it is a firewall issue.

What port would VNC be listning on?

I have 5800:5803 and 5900:5903 open on the firewall.

I checked services via the KDE panels and it stated that VNCserver is stopped. How do I restart it. The restart didn't work via the panels.

Try starting it from the command line as root so that you can see what error messages it throws up.

First, su to root "su -" and enter the password. Note the dash after su.

Not sure what the service is called - check with "chkconfig --list" and look for something that looks like vncserver in the list.

Then simply start it "service service_name start"

To continue...

Had some help in making the needed changes on the Linux machine.

I was able to connect but only once whether I use a 192... (local) or using a www or just a x.com address.

When first connected I logged of normally but could not VNC to connect from the windows machine to linux again.

Any ideas/suggestions would be appreciated.

Was the vnc server still running? Have you got the error msgs?