Elegant solution for remotely accessible vnc desktops
I wanted to give windows users in my network quick access to a linux graphical desktop. I chose the vnc protocol, because there are many good and open source implementations (notably tightvnc which comes in a portable version).
Features
- vnc terminal server, which can handle any number of clients
- very easy setup for users. Preparing a vnc client and telling users what server:port to connect is enough.
- different resolutions chosen by the vnc port that the client connects to
Client setup
- From the local network: Almost none, clients connect to vnc ports 5951, 5952 etc. depending on the resolution they want.
vncviewer -encodings tight ::5952 - From remote, using ssh:
- Create a port forward from 590x to 595x on the server
- Connect your vnc client to localhost:595x
Example:
ssh yourserver.tld -L localhost:5902:localhost:5952
vncviewer -encodings tight ::5902
Server setup:
- Install xinetd and vnc4server
- Change display manager to kdm
- change kdmrc to allow xmdcp login
- change Xaccess to allow login
Add custom services to your /etc/services file, so that your inetd.conf can use them:
# Local services custom-vnc 5951/tcp custom-vncc 5952/tcp custom-vnccc 5953/tcp custom-vncccc 5954/tcp
Add one line per resolution you want to your inetd.conf. Add more resolutions at your taste. Of course, geometry should match the screen size of your clients.
#custom-vnc stream tcp nowait nobody /usr/bin/Xvnc Xvnc :8 -inetd -query localhost -once -geometry 1280x1024 -depth 24 -ac custom-vnc stream tcp nowait nobody /usr/bin/Xvnc Xvnc :8 -inetd -query localhost -once -geometry 1024x768 -depth 24 -ac custom-vncc stream tcp nowait nobody /usr/bin/Xvnc Xvnc :8 -inetd -query localhost -once -geometry 1280x1024 -depth 24 -ac custom-vnccc stream tcp nowait nobody /usr/bin/Xvnc Xvnc :8 -inetd -query localhost -once -geometry 1680x1024 -depth 24 -ac
Ref: http://linuxreviews.org/howtos/xvnc/#toc3
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