Monday, October 29, 2007

Setup VNC Server for Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon and Hardy Heron in 3 easy steps

I just did this on Gutsy, and I thought that it might be worth sharing as a simple way to set up a persistent VNC server. If you dont know what VNC is, its similiar to Remote Desktop for wind0ze. This is accessible using regular vnc viewers, and through java-enabled browsers. That's right, you work on your computer through a browser.

1) Install packages | click here for 1 click install
sudo aptitude install x11vnc vnc-java
2) Set up password to allow clients to view
x11vnc -storepasswd
3) Open up ports 5800 and 5900 on your firewall

4) Run this command:
x11vnc -forever -usepw -httpdir /usr/share/vnc-java/ -httpport 5800

That's it!

And an optional step 5:

5) Add the command from 4) to your sessions, so that it starts at each login

If you want to test it out on a browser, type this in the URL field:

25.542.161.414:5800

Of course, replace the 25.etc. w/ your external IP address.

Addendums to this are welcome, such as how to make it more secure. I just thought it'd be nice to have a quick and dirty tutorial for getting this set up easily.
at

12 comments:

  1. AnonymousOctober 29, 2007 at 10:07 AM

    desktop share is already installed in ubuntu by default

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownOctober 31, 2007 at 8:39 PM

    The above poster is correct. I think its System > Administration > Remote Desktop. It might be in System > Preferences though. Tick the box labelled something like "allow other users to control my desktop"

    It automatically makes a firewall rule, I'm fairly sure. So you just need to port forward from your router.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Karl L. GechlikNovember 1, 2007 at 9:21 AM

    Yes Desktop sharing is enabled by default in Gutsy Gibson and it does automatically make a firewall rule. If you need to learn about portforwarding you can check out portforward.com

    AskTheAdmin.Com

    Thanks you have friends over @ AskTheAdmin.com!

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownNovember 1, 2007 at 5:23 PM

    But i guess that solution covers the vnc access to a not initialized session. In ubuntu default way, you can connect just if a session was initialized.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousNovember 4, 2007 at 12:49 AM

    uh huh...but how does one connect using the remote desktop thing on a windows machine?
    if you're on windows u can use windows remote desktop program?
    i thot u needed vnc for this...

    ReplyDelete
  6. MikeNovember 4, 2007 at 8:10 AM

    I get an error when I try and start the VNC server (via putty):


    04/11/2007 11:08:44 x11vnc version: 0.8.2 lastmod: 2006-07-12
    Xlib: connection to "localhost:10.0" refused by server
    Xlib: PuTTY X11 proxy: MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 data did not match

    04/11/2007 11:08:45 ***************************************
    04/11/2007 11:08:45 *** XOpenDisplay failed (localhost:10.0)

    *** x11vnc was unable to open the X DISPLAY: "localhost:10.0", it cannot continue.
    *** There may be "Xlib:" error messages above with details about the failure.


    HELP!

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousNovember 20, 2007 at 2:18 PM

    how do i uninstall it??

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousNovember 20, 2007 at 6:29 PM

    how do I control ubuntu 6.10 with windows xp?
    it doesnt work when I type "(my name)-desktop:5800

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousNovember 25, 2007 at 5:46 AM

    To all people leaving Ubuntu-specific questions here:

    Head over to http://www.ubuntuforums.org, register, browse the forums! Chances are, someone has already solved the problem you are looking to solve. If you cannot find a solution somewhere, feel free to post a thread under the appropriate section.

    To uninstall,
    sudo aptitude remove x11vnc vnc-java

    Yes, windows remote desktop (as far as I am aware) is a proprietary piece of software that is not VNC-compliant.

    And finally, a security note here: Using the default ports of 5800 and 5900 is generally bad security practice. Try changing them so something higher (40,000-65,000 is a good range). Be sure you forward the correct port, if you are behind a firewall!

    Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  10. mniessJanuary 20, 2008 at 2:52 AM

    Okay people, don't use it this way because it is very insecure!

    All VNC traffic is unencrypted! The proper procedure would be to tunnel VNC through SSH. That can be done like this:

    Do all of the above except don't open the ports in your firewall, instead open port 22.

    Not install the package openssh-server.

    To connect to the system from a remote machine you now need to open an SSH connection like this (on the remote machine):
    ssh -L 5900:localhost:5900 username@system

    Now - on the remote machine - just connect VNC to localhost. If you want to use the java-thing in the browser change the ports to 5800 instead.

    Again, do not underestimnate the security risk. Just using Linux doesn't make your computer secure! You have to keep it secure. On my machine I get thousands of attempts a week (from chinese IPs) to connect to the stanbdard VNC ports trying to brute force their way in.

    A secure and faster alternative is NoMachine NX (even works with Compiz).

    ReplyDelete
  11. AnonymousMarch 2, 2008 at 8:59 PM

    [quote]how do i uninstall it??[/quote]

    lmao.

    ReplyDelete
  12. AnonymousMarch 30, 2008 at 8:28 AM

    Just go to Add/Remove Programs and click on uninstall.

    LMAO!

    sudo aptitude remove x11vnc vnc-java

    ReplyDelete