How to configure VNC on ubuntu

    Posted in Linux Servers on Mar 07, 2018

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    How to Install VNC on Ubuntu 16.04

    Install VNC on Ubuntu 16.04

    As you know, VNC is a protocol that allows sharing the desktop and controlled remotely over the internet. This simple guide helps you to install VNC on Ubuntu 16.04 machines.

    Before installing the VNC server, let us install Xfce desktop.

    $ sudo apt-get update
    $ sudo apt-get install xfce4 xfce4-*

    Install the VNC server using the following command.

    $ sudo apt-get install vnc4server

    VNC server listens on port 5900, but if you plan to setup port-offset in VNC; we can run a VNC service on a sub-port of the default port 5900.

    For example, if we configure VNC for port 5, the desktop will be accessible on port 5905. To connect, you can use the standard format ipaddress:sub-port (192.168.2.109:5 or 192.168.2.109:5905)

    $ sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/vncserver@:5.service

    Replace with your real user.

    [Unit]
    Description=Start TightVNC server at startup
    After=syslog.target network.target
    [Service]
    Type=forking
    User=raj
    PAMName=login
    PIDFile=/home/raj/.vnc/%H%i.pid
    #ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/vncserver -kill %i > /dev/null 2>&1
    ExecStart=/usr/bin/vncserver -depth 24 -geometry 1024x768 %i
    ExecStop=/usr/bin/vncserver -kill %i
    
    [Install]
    WantedBy=multi-user.target

    Reload the systemctl daemon as root

    $ sudo systemctl daemon-reload

    Start VNC server as user “raj”

    raj@server:~$ vncserver

    Set the password.

    You will require a password to access your desktops.
    
    Password:
    Verify:
    xauth: file /home/raj/.Xauthority does not exist
    
    New 'server.itzgeek.local:1 (raj)' desktop is server.itzgeek.local:1
    
    Creating default startup script /home/raj/.vnc/xstartup
    Starting applications specified in /home/raj/.vnc/xstartup
    Log file is /home/raj/.vnc/server.itzgeek.local:1.log

    Now, Edit the xstartup file to start Xfce desktop in VNC.

    raj@server:~$ nano /home/raj/.vnc/xstartup

    Delete all the existing entries and place the below lines into the file.

    #!/bin/sh
    [ -r $HOME/.Xresources ] && xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
    startxfce4 &

    Start the VNC service as root.

    $ sudo systemctl start vncserver@:5.service

    Enable it on system startup as root.

    $ sudo systemctl enable vncserver@:5.service

    Now use a VNC viewer to take the shared desktop.

    ipaddress:5905 or ipaddress:5

    That’s All.