tightvnc - vncserver at startup?
 

I'm running a linux host that I'd like to be able to log in using vnc. I cannot find any instructions the show how to log in remotely without either:
1) having a session already started on the host machine or
2) logging in through port forwarding using ssh.

Is it possible to have a vncserver start at boot and accept incoming connections for users without using either of the above two methods?

Regards,
Kurt

Of course ;)
See here

Rather than using vnc, you might like to take a look at nx

If this is on a lan and security isn't an issue, you could use xdcmp logins. If over the internet, you could use a VPN tunnel.

Thanks for the info,
If I use:
su - tred -c " cd /home/tred && vncserver :1 -geometry 1024x768 -depth 24"
1. is there a way to tell if it's running, and
2. is there a way to tell which port it is using?

Regards,
kurt

Can nx leave a session open that I can reconnect to at a later time?

you should be able to tell if it's running by connecting to it as you plan to. VNC uses TCP port 5900 unless you have configured it otherwise. You can also check the process table for it with and you can check connections to it with

I expect so, I haven't used nx yet (too lazy to install it when vnc is working) but it has repeatedly been recommended as "better" than vnc.

Possibly the best thing for you to do is stop asking hypothetical questions and worrying, and just install either vnc or nx or both.

I was able to ps aux | grep vnc to see it was running.

I also had to set up a password using vncpasswd.

Finally, I figured out that it was on port 5901 using the log file in my .vnc directory.

I

Unfortunately, despite adding startkde & to my xstartup, I just get a gray screen. I tried a local log in, and that shows a gray screen as well (vncviewer localhost:1). Any advice on what I might be doing wrong? Here's the output of my xstartup in .vnc:
Kurt

Well done. Screen:0 is on port 5900 screen:1 is on 5901 etc (these are the defaults)
That file looks OK to me, but do you realise that it needs to be on the host, not your local machine? Check the xtartup file on the pc you want to be able to access.

Yes, that's on the remote machine. Should Xsession be commented out -- it seemed to make no difference between commenting it out and not, regardless, So, I'm not sure what the problem is, although I'm using Kubuntu, and there's no /etc/vnc directory nor any /etc/vnc.conf
Kurt

I'm running kubuntu (6.06 and 8.04)
On server:See what is happening?
There are several vnc's, and you can have them all installed, but the one which is used when you just call vncserver is the one pointed to in /etc/alternatives, in my case /usr/bin/tightvncserver

I have the following packages installed on server:
tightvncserver
vnc-common
xtightvncviewer

It works well.

Maybe you are using different packages ?

A follow-up: don't forget to "kill" any extra vncservers before you start new ones, or you'll have no idea of what ports they are working on, and you may find yourself looking at a "bad" screen (maybe setup with an old config) when the "good" one is running well on the next port up.
Hope this makes sense.

Thanks, but I've been doing a reboot after each configuration change try.
Seems my configuration is the same as yours.
Kurt

I don't know what is happening here.

On your local PC try starting a vncserver and connecting to it locally. For me, it goes like this:
Does it work?
if not, please post your local ~/.vnc/xstartup and take a look at the log.
My xstartup just says
.. and please make sure xstartup has executable permissions.

No need to reboot (slow and boring):

I tried changing my xstartup to just contain startkde &.

still a grey screen.. :-(

Strange.
Anything helpful in the E53A-EDA-DB:1.log file?
Mine is just called vaio:1.log
I wonder why yours is different ? Is your hostname E53A-EDA-DB ?
Horrible thought: Are you running a "virtual machine" ?

OK, I got the checkered/ grey / gray screen to go away and it to work by chmod +x /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc

That allows it to work if vncserver is started "locally." But it still gives me a gray screen if I try the "startup" in rc.local.

THis is pretty confusing.
Kurt