Re: Enabling VNC

On 2004-10-20 01:52:22 -0400, "Kevin J. Cummings" <cummings@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> said:

This can be done with a small change to your X11 config.

In your Section "Module", include the following:

    # Load the REALVnc module
    Load    "vnc"

Then, later on in your Section "Screen", you will need a line like:

Option "passwordFile" "/root/.vnc/passwd"

Where are these sections? I have never changed my X11 config.

Your xorg.conf file (usually found in /etc/X11 directory) is comprised of various "sections".

...

There are more "Sections" to your xorg.conf file. I will leave figuring out most of them up to you as an exercise in reading your own xorg.conf file. I wish it was better documented so I knew *what* all the options were everywhere, but for now that is most of what you need to change.

The last part you need to change is in the "Screen" section that your Layout uses. This Screen section includes your videao device name, your monitor type, and has subsections that help configure all of the supported screen sizes (Modes). Here is where you need to specify where the "password" file will reside for your vnc session. The password file is necessary to keep just anyone from attaching to your X11 session and reeking havoc with your machine. Especially if you keep root windows open on your desktop!

I put mine in /root/.vnc/passwd (a similar location to where the vncserver service puts a user's password file, but this is for the root user). I must admit, I cheated. I just copied the password file from my home directory (~/.vnc/passwd) to the root directory. But, it works for me. All you need to know is the "DISPLAY" number of the X11 session you want to connect to, and the password stored in your /root/.vnc/passwd file in order to connect.

I think I have made the necessary changes to my xorg.conf file. I have included the changes below.
Section "Module"
(several lines of Load here)
Load "dri"
# The next line added by Jeremy Conlin on 10-20-04
Load "vnc"
EndSection

and also

Section "Screen"
       Identifier "Screen0"
       Device     "Videocard0"
       Monitor    "Monitor0"
       DefaultDepth     24
       SubSection "Display"
               Viewport   0 0
               Depth     24
               Modes    "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
       EndSubSection
       # The following line added by Jeremy Conlin 10-20-04
       Option  "passwordFile" "/root/.vnc/passwd"
EndSection

Now do I have to reboot to have this take effect? How do I start viewing the desktop, through ssh? Is there simply a command I enter after logging in?

This should allow to to connect to your :0 X11 display and control it via VNC.

Thanks for your help. Someday I will become proficient at Linux (I hope).

Practice make perfect. I've been playing with Linux since kernel release 0.12 on an old 386 25Mhz machine when I found out that my 60MB hard drive was really a 70MB hard drive, and Linux could be installed on the extra 10MB of space without disrupting DOS 3.2 (which needed special disk drivers to access any more than 32MB....)

I hope this make things clearer....

This was VERY helpful.  Thank you very much!!!

Jeremy