TIghtvnc issue

kniwor · 11-08-2006, 04:36 AM

All computers in discussion have slackware 10.2 installed on them.

here's the issue, i have tightvnc installed on them, now suppose i want to connect from comp1 to comp2, because somebody else is sitting on comp1, let us assume that "user1" is logged into a gnome-session on comp1, then i ssh to comp1 and login as "user2", now when I run the command "vncserver" i get a message

"vncserver: couldn't find "xauth" on your PATH."

even if i run the command as root, i get the same message, but if I now login as "user1" i can start vncserver, i hope u get my point, to run a vnc server i have to run the command as the same user that is being logged into GUI.

Even if i am physically present on comp1, and i am logged in as user2, i open a terminal and run "vncserver" it works fine, but if i open the terminal and "su user3" and then "vncserver" it wont work, how do i get this work.

JimBass · 11-08-2006, 09:44 PM

I haven't used VNC over linux to another linux box, as I am generally of the opinion that servers should never have full blown X running on them.

Since that is just a personal preference and not a law, I suggest first that you check out this webpage - http://www.vanemery.com/Linux/VNC/vnc-over-ssh.html
It is a little old, but the info it has should still be true. You'll need to have that xauth file created for each user you want to connect to, and I believe the way to do that is by signing in as that user through SSH and running the vncserver command with the parameters set from the example webpage above.

Running VNC on non-standard ports (like using 5964 instead of the default 5901) is probably much safer too. There are tons of script kiddies out there who don't know jack about machines, but can indeed crack into a default installation in no time. Of course the really dangerous ones are the guys who do know a thing or two!

So in any case, check out the link, and see if you can get the remote server to show you what you want.

Peace,
JimBass

kniwor · 11-10-2006, 08:42 PM

sorry but that does not solve the problem, because when i am running the vncserver command i get the abovementioned message....

JimBass · 11-10-2006, 09:16 PM

I googled for that error message, and found the answer here on linuxquestions!

Check out http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...hreadid=387681

The very end of that thread is the important part, which I'll quote here:

Quote:

what path is it asking for?
~/home/{user}/.vnc/*.*

Did you try first typing in vncserver and entering your password? Each users must initialize a server with a password before they can request a login. This is done only once per user. The server generates the xauth following this. Sounds as if this wasn't done.

So you should get that error when you first try to run vncserver as any user, then it should get created.

Here is another good bit of info about xauth, again from linuxquestions:

Quote:

After getting the error message above about xauth. I looked about for a bit and found that I needed to install xauth.

I did this by typing yum install xorg-x11-xauth

Once the install has been made, type vncserver and it should ask for the password.

Hope this helps any newbies like myself.

Peace,
JimBass

kniwor · 11-11-2006, 05:59 PM

k, i still cant get a vncserver for a user not in GUI, i mean if u read my first post carefully, the same problem still persists....

I CAN start a vncserver for all users, but i have to be in a gnome or KDE or some other session, just a login from terminal wont do. i cant understand the reason for this

gilead · 11-11-2006, 07:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kniwor

"vncserver: couldn't find "xauth" on your PATH."

I don't know about the rest of it, but you can stop this message by editing /etc/login.defs and having something like the following in it:

Code:

ENV_PATH        PATH=/usr/local/bin:/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin

At least, that worked on one of my boxes...

kniwor · 11-12-2006, 09:58 AM

k i did that,

Code:

root@bhos02:/etc# cat login.defs | grep ENV_PATH
# Three items must be defined:  MAIL_DIR, ENV_SUPATH, and ENV_PATH.
ENV_PATH        PATH=/usr/local/bin:/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin
root@bhos02:/etc#

no diff.... any other ideas.

gilead · 11-12-2006, 01:18 PM

No diff? You mean you still get the "vncserver: couldn't find "xauth" on your PATH." message?

You could try starting VNC at bootup and initiating sessions for the users at that point. For example, on the one box I allow VNC, the following script (/etc/rc.d/rc.vncserver) gets run with the other startup scripts:

Code:

#!/bin/sh
#
# description: Starts and stops vncserver. \
#         used to provide remote X administration services.

unset VNCSERVERARGS
VNCSERVERS="1:steve 2:oracle"
VNCSERVERARGS[1]="-geometry 1280x960"
VNCSERVERARGS[2]="-geometry 1280x960"

start() {
  echo -n $"Starting VNC server: "
  ulimit -S -c 0 >/dev/null 2>&1

  if [ ! -d /tmp/.X11-unix ]
  then
    mkdir -m 1777 /tmp/.X11-unix || :
  fi
  for display in ${VNCSERVERS}
  do
    echo -n "${display} "
    unset BASH_ENV ENV
    DISP="${display%%:*}"
    export USER="${display##*:}"
    export VNCUSERARGS="${VNCSERVERARGS[${DISP}]}"
    su - ${USER} -c "cd ~${USER} && [ -f .vnc/passwd ] && vncserver :${DISP} ${VNCUSERARGS}"
  done
}

stop() {
  echo -n $"Shutting down VNC server: "
  for display in ${VNCSERVERS}
  do
    echo -n "${display} "
    unset BASH_ENV ENV
    export USER="${display##*:}"
    su ${USER} -c "vncserver -kill :${display%%:*}" >/dev/null 2>&1
  done
  echo "Done."
}

# See how we were called.
case "$1" in
  start)
    start
    ;;
  stop)
    stop
    ;;
  restart|reload)
    stop
    sleep 3
    start
    ;;
  condrestart)
    if [ -f /var/lock/subsys/vncserver ]; then
      stop
      sleep 3
      start
    fi
    ;;
  *)
    echo $"Usage: $0 {start|stop|restart|condrestart}"
    exit 1
esac