VNC on Solaris

VNC was originally written for Solaris and Solaris 8, 9 and 10 supports VNC extremely well.  For Solaris 10 X11vnc is also an interesting option and is easier to install an configure, but old good VNC can also be installed.

VNC is heterogeneous client-server application that uses it own protocol. In a way it is similar to Windows Remote Desktop but it can be run for each user and users can have different desktops.  That creates the possibility of implementing cheap and effective "X terminal server" and avoid buying expensive Exceed licenses. The most typical usage of VNC is when the client (VNC viewer) is running on Windows and server on Unix, in our case this is a Solaris server.

Bandwidth can be problem on slow links although much depends on your skills in configuring X (tip:  use 8bit colordepth). VNC works less efficiently on slow lines then Windows Remote Desktop but it does work. For more details see  main VNC page.

You have several options as for viewer on Windows and VNC server on Solaris.

Viewer

As for viewer TightVNC is recommended as a client on Windows. It's perfectly compatible with all existing VNC servers (you do not need to run TightVNC as the server if you are using TightVNC viewer on Windows.

ReadVNC viewer from free version of RealVNC is also good and can be used. It allow you to save sessions parameters in files.

Both are compatible with x11vnc.

NOTES:

• You can close you vnclient anytime and leave the server running remotely. You can then connect to it again, and everything is still running like you left it. This is a very cool feature.
• One of the nice things about tightvnc client (as well as other clients) is that selection in VNC client screen can be copied to any Windows application by just using paste operation (Ctrl-V). And vise versa any selection in Windows copied to the buffer (Ctrl-C) can be put into vnc screen by using the middle button of the mouse.
• To save bandwidth use 8 bit or 16 bit color depth. 24-bit color depth is an overkill for typical administrative tasks.

Server

If we are are talking about the source the sky is the limit. You can compile TightVNC or whatever server you might want.

If we are talking about precompiled packages that there are three major solutions for VNC server in Solaris:

1. Solaris 10 Update 5 comes with VNC. Use the version of RealVNC supplied with the Solaris Companion CD. That's the most safe option. It simply works. Please note that like any other package from Companion CD it installs in subdirectories of the /opt/sfw file system rather than in /usr/local. This is a better solution for Solaris 10 due to availability of zones (/usr is usually shared between zones).
2. Use the version of RealVNC from www.sunfreeware.com (the site does not provide VNC package for Solaris 10, only Xvnc).
3. Use x11vnc which allows one to remotely view and interact with real X displays (i.e. a display corresponding to a physical monitor, keyboard, and mouse) with any VNC viewer. In this way it plays the role for Unix/X11 that WinVNC plays for Windows. This is the option for those Solaris 10 users who like me have problems making regular VNC to display CDE or other desktops. There are precompiled packages for Solaris 10 on www.sunfreeware.com (the current version is 0.9, not 0.7):
   
   • x11vnc-0.7-sol10-sparc-local.gz x11vnc is a vnc server for X displays. It allows remote viewing and interaction with real X displays via keyboard and mouse - installs in /usr/local. This package also needs to have the following packages installed - zlib, jpeg, and /usr/local/lib/libgcc_s.so.1 from either libgcc-3.3 or gcc or later. You will need a vnc viewer on your client machines. I have tested the tightvnc java based viewers for Solaris and Mac OSX and will be offering a compiled version of the tightvnc vncviewer for Solaris here shortly.

   • x11vnc-0.7-sol10-intel-local.gz x11vnc is a vnc server for X displays. It allows remote viewing and interaction with real X displays via keyboard and mouse - installs in /usr/local. This package also needs to have the following packages installed - zlib, jpeg, and /usr/local/lib/libgcc_s.so.1 from either libgcc-3.3 or gcc or later. You will need a vnc viewer on your client machines. I have tested the tightvnc java based viewers for Solaris and Mac OSX and will be offering a compiled version of the tightvnc vncviewer for Solaris here shortly.

Installation consists of three simple steps:

• [Optional] The vncserver script modification. If you do not do the modification you will get very primitive windows manager. You can also modify Xstartup script later after creating VNC password.

• Running vncserver script. that script populates ~/.vnc directory and allow you to create you password for VNC connection

• [Optional] Xdefaults configuration

• Starting a VNC server

• [Optional] creating RC-scripts for automatic startup.

The vncserver script modification

The script vncserver is a Perl script that serves simultaneously an installation script and optionally can serve as a startup script.

As an installation scrip it creates and populates ~/.vnc directory with several files. The most important of those is xstartup. This directory also stores password for the session. To start VNC you need to launch XVNC with proper environment and parameters.

You can use CDE (launch dtwm manager), GNOME (gnome-session or startgnome) or KDE (startkde) as a windows manager in VNC. Each of them should have proper, verified path -- wrong path is the most common installation mistake people make.

One way to specify windows manager is to edit vncserver Perl script. The variable that specifies the default manager is $defaultXStartup. It contains several parameters and the windows manager is specified at the very end of the value of this variable (usually on the last separate line). In this case when vncserver will run the first time it will create .vnc directory and populate it with files that contain the necessary parameters (the name of the windows manager gores to xstartup).

In you have several windows managers installed then you can modify vncserver Perl script and set one on them to be the default windows manager. Common options include:

1. CDE (launch /usr/dt/bin/dtwm manager). You need to verify that all the necessary libraries are available in the PATH, so that your environment permit finding of the necessary libraries. Otherwise VNC will run the default windows manager. This is the most common choice and works well in the Solaris environment.
   
2. If you have a development machine with GNOME installed then you can use gnome-session or startgnome. Please remember that GNOME 2.x is a classic example of bloatware and as such might be not a good choice for production server, especially if you expect several user simultaneously use VNC, although it is nice on desktop or workstation. The main advantage for development is that installation of Gnome provides most libraries necessary for other applications and thus simplifies the usage of many interesting open source applications making Solaris much more "linux compatible".
   
3. KDE (startkde). KDE is pretty rare on Solaris.

Here is an example, where vncserver Perl script was edited to set the default windows manager to CDE ("safe choice"):

$defaultXStartup
= ("#!/bin/sh\n\n".
"[ -r \$HOME/.Xresources ] && xrdb \$HOME/.Xresources\n".
"xsetroot -solid grey\n".
"xterm -geometry 80x24+10+10 -ls -title \"\$VNCDESKTOP Desktop\" &\n".
"/usr/dt/bin/dtwm &\n");

Typical installation mistakes:

• Please note that a typical student's typo is to use "dfvm" instead of "dfwm". In this case you will get default windows manager (/usr/openwin/bin/twm ), which can be a surprise :-).
• Another typical and not that easy to discover typo is an error in the path specified, for example " "usr/dt/bin/dtwm &\n"); If you experience problems and see the default windows manager (/usr/openwin/bin/twm ) instead of, say, CDE, try to copy the files in .vnc from some working server and see if it will work.
• Path is incorrect and does not include the necessary for X directories /usr/dt/bin:usr/X/bin:usr/openwin/bin This is typical if you try to start VNC as root getting root via su or sudo as root path is truncated for security reasons.

If you still want bloated Gnome 2.0 as your desktop here is an example (gnome-session should in your path or you need to specify the directory; you can use gnome-session instead of startgnome; ensure the correct path and that all the necessary libraries are present in the path):

$defaultXStartup = ("#!/bin/sh\n\n". "xrdb \$HOME/.Xresources\n". "xsetroot -solid grey\n"

. "xterm -geometry 80x24+10+10 -ls -title \"\$VNCDESKTOP Desktop\" &\n"

. "/opt/gnome-1.4/bin/gnome-session &\n");

See VNC on Solaris 10 for details necessary for gnome in case it is also your default desktop (do not use the ksh installation script provided -- it makes several assumptions and perform actions without proper verification if the conditions for those actions are present on your system).

Running vncserver script

After that you can run vncserver script and it will ask you for the session password. this password will be used by VMS to connect you and is independent of password for your user account (although it is logical to make them the same). During this invocation it will create the directory .vnc in your home directory and will put into it several files. One of them is xstartup that contains the content of the Perl variable that we discussed above:

[ -r $HOME/.Xresources ] && xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
xsetroot -solid grey
xterm -geometry 80x24+10+10 -ls -title "$VNCDESKTOP Desktop" &
/usr/dt/bin/dtwm &

You can edit this file to change windows manager to the manager that you personally prefer if you change your mind later on (it's shown in red).

You can also change several parameters in .vnc/xstartup to make VNC more customized to your taste, for example:

#!/bin/sh

xrdb $HOME/.Xresources

xsetroot -solid grey

xterm -geometry 80x24+10+10 -ls -title "$VNCDESKTOP Desktop" &

#/usr/openwin/bin/twm &

/opt/gnome-1.4/bin/gnome-session &

Here are some recommendations for .Xdefaults

XTerm*geometry: 80x32

XTerm*scrollBar: on

XTerm*saveLines: 750

XTerm*Background: blue

XTerm*Foreground: white

*Font: -adobe-courier-bold-r-*-*-14-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Xdefaults configuration

http://dotfiles.org/~buttons/.Xdefaults
http://code.suckless.org/hg/dextra/file/513faba2591f/dolby/Xdefaults
http://github.com/stxza/arch-linux-configs/tree/master/.Xdefaults
http://dotfiles.org/~wraith/.Xdefaults
http://dotfiles.org/~tdy/.Xdefaults

• Terminal Color Schemes- a gallery of terminal color schemes by our very own Aaron Griffin
• TIP Linux Colors in Aterm/rxvt - Gentoo wiki article with loads of information
• Rxvt-unicode Configuration Tutorial - lots of information for urxvt users
• Available Colors and their names - listing of available colors and their color names for xterm and other X-applications.

Xstartup

When setting up Solaris you will probably get a grey screen. The Q&A suggests using a different desktop type. For a full list of the options check:

http://www.ifh.ee.ethz.ch/~ballisti/computer_topics/docs/vnc_docs/vnc.html
<http://www.ifh.ee.ethz.ch/~ballisti/computer_topics/docs/vnc_docs/vnc.html>

CDE works well with vnc and is a preferred solution

The VNC software create a subdirectory in your home directory called .vnc (note the "." before the name vnc). In this subdirectory there is a file called xstartup in which we can write the commands which starts a Desktop.

Content for ~/.vnc/xstartup is:

#!/bin/sh
xrdb $HOME/.Xdefaults
xsetroot -solid grey
xterm -geometry 80x24+10+10 -ls -title "$VNCDESKTOP Desktop" &
your_windows_manager &

For CDE:

xrdb $HOME/.Xdefaults
/usr/dt/bin/dtwm

For KDE

xrdb $HOME/.Xdefaults
/path_to_executable/startkde-1.1 &

For fvwm2

/path_to_executable/fvwm2 &

Gnome

Starting a VNC server

Once your password has been created you are ready to start a VNC server session. This session should run on a sun machine. You use a VNC client to connect to that session. You can modify the vncserver program to run a Xsession automatically. This will give you the default CDE environment. Here is an example:

softpano@sandbox $ vncserver -depth 8 -geometry 1280x1024

Note that lesser color depth means lower bandwidth consumption. Generally 8 bit should be enough. In the message that following that server will communicate that display number VNC will use, for example "New 'X' desktop is sandbox:1"

The vncserver program creates a default startup file in your personal ~/.vnc directory. This file runs Xsession to start CDE for you. The two command line arguments I used are all you will ever really need. The first, -depth 8, specifies that the VNC server start an X session at 8 bit color depth.

If you run PC at 32 bit color depth, you might want your VNC session and home PC's color depth to match, but you better not do that .

On Solaris, because of Solaris X-server-isms, you should generally use 24 bit color with vncserver if you run 24 or 32 bit color at home. Yes, they do not exactly match, but programs like netscape won't work unless you do this.

The next command line option, -geometry 1280x1024, specifies that the VNC session desktop will be 1280x1024 in size. The default is 1024x768, but that might be too small for those with 21' displays :-).

If you use the Windows vncviewer program it is possible to specify that it use your whole Windows desktop, in which case you would want to start vncserver with the same resolution as your Windows desktop.

When you are finished with your VNC session, after reading the notes on exiting CDE and VNC below, you can kill the vncserver like this:

softpano@sandbox rowland]$ vncserver -kill :1
Killing Xvnc process ID 3859    

Login to the remote mashine on which you started vncserver and kill it with the -kill display_number command line option. Yes, that display number has importance!

Users sometimes forget to kill their vncserver process, instead opting for starting yet another one. This unreasonably eats system resources. You might benefit from a wrapper script that checks there is a vncserver process running for you on the current Solaris login server. If there is, it tells you how to kill it. This is important to conserve resources. VNC login sessions consume a lot of resources.

One of the most important pieces of information about your VNC session is what display it is running on. When you started vncserver on the remote machine it printed out something like the following:

New 'X' desktop is sandbox:1    

In this case the VNC server is running on sandbox:1. Here :1 means display number 1. This number should be used in vncviewer on your PC to connect to this host. In Windows the vncviewer program has a GUI interface and you can right click on the taskbar and set some connection options (for example fullscreen).

The vncserver starts a small HTTP daemon that serves Java class files that your browser can execute if you connect it to the proper port: http://vncserver_host:58nn The vncserver_host is the remote host you started the VNC server on. The port specifies the display number. In my case I would connect to sandbox on port 5801, since my display was 01:

http://sandbox.softpanorama.org:5801    

NOTE: You can close your vnclient and leave the server running remotely. You can then connect to it again, and everything is still running like you left it. This is a very cool feature.

NEWS CONTENTS

• 20070726 : VNC for Solaris10 ( VNC for Solaris10, Jul 26, 2007 )
• 20070726 : VNC for Solaris10 ( VNC for Solaris10, Jul 26, 2007 )
• 20070402 : Solaris 10, gcc and VNC server by /etc/inetd.conf ( Solaris 10, gcc and VNC server, Apr 2, 2007 )
• 20070324 : freshmeat.net Project details for Enhanced TightVNC Viewer ( freshmeat.net Project details for Enhanced TightVNC Viewer, Mar 24, 2007 )
• 20061206 : BigAdmin Description: How to enable XDM and VNC for Linux and Solaris ( BigAdmin Description: How to enable XDM and VNC for Linux and Solaris, Dec 06, 2006 )
• 20061206 : Enhanced TightVNC Viewer ( Enhanced TightVNC Viewer, Dec 06, 2006 )
• 20061206 : Free TridiaVNC Download ( Free TridiaVNC Download, )
• 20061206 : x11vnc a VNC server for real X displays ( x11vnc a VNC server for real X displays, )
• 20061206 : Virtual Network Computing (VNC) Utility ( Virtual Network Computing (VNC) Utility, )
• 20061206 : VNC over SSH2 - A TightVNC Tutorial ( VNC over SSH2 - A TightVNC Tutorial, )
• 20061206 : x11vnc a VNC server for real X displays ( x11vnc a VNC server for real X displays, )
• 20061206 : X11vnc Solaris 10 packaged on www.sunfreeware.com ( X11vnc Solaris 10 packaged on www.sunfreeware.com, )
• 20061206 : SV Solaris Management Console via VNC ( SV Solaris Management Console via VNC , )
• 20061206 : VNC with CDE problems ( VNC with CDE problems, )
• 20061206 : Sun Microsystems Support Forums ( Sun Microsystems Support Forums, )
• 20061206 : Re: VNC - X Windows ( Re: VNC - X Windows, )
• 210210 : VNC on Solaris 10 ( VNC on Solaris 10, )
• 210210 : Things ive learned about Solaris... ( Things i've learned about Solaris..., )
• 210210 : VNC for Solaris10 ( VNC for Solaris10, )

Old News ;-)

[Jul 26, 2007] VNC for Solaris10

Hi, I use RealVNC 4 and it works perfectly, these are steps I follow to make it work- I use running SSH and it works really well, I run Putty and create the connection, then I run vnc viewer. I use this on a Sparc5, Ultra 5 and Blade 100. I hope it works for you:

VNC Solaris 10 RealVNC ver. 4.0 running under SSH.

a)
File to use: "vnc-4.0-sparc_solaris_2.5.tar.gz"
(I use this version because I have absolutly no problems with it)
#gunzip vnc-4.0-sparc_solaris_2.5.tar.gz
#tar –xvf vnc-4.0-sparc_solaris_2.5.tar
#cd vnc-4.0-sparc_solaris_2.5

b) To install (copy) the files to the path run the following:
#./vncinstall /usr/bin

c) Add this line to .profile (under the user):
PATH=/usr/dt/bin:/usr/openwin/bin:$PATH
vncserver -depth 24 -geometry 800x600

d) NOTE: (Most likely this file will be created when logged the first time using SSH under the user, so it may no be needed under root):

Create a /.vnc directory with the xstartup file inside:

echo "#!/bin/sh
xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
xsetroot -solid grey
gnome-session
#startkde
#/usr/dt/bin/dtsession
" > xstartup
chmod 744 xstartup To make it executable

note:
CDE gnome-session < To login running CDE, gnome or kde sessions:>
Gnome /usr/dt/bin/dtsession< comment with '#' the one you don't >
KDE startkde < want to use, here it will start kde.>

*** Sample used on .profile file (under user)

$ cat .profile
#
# Copyright (c) 2001 by Sun Microsystems, Inc.
# All rights reserved.
#
# ident "@(#)local.profile 1.10 01/06/23 SMI"
stty istrip
PATH=/usr/bin:/usr/ucb:/etc.
export PATH
PATH=/usr/dt/bin:/usr/openwin/bin:$PATH
vncserver -depth 24 -geometry 800x600
$

NOTE: This can be added under /etc/profile to be run for

[Jul 26, 2007] VNC for Solaris10

lmccodj
Posts:5
Registered: 8/25/06

Re: VNC for Solaris10
Feb 9, 2006 7:39 AM (reply 1 of 9)

Hi,
I am not using the one from sunfreeware.com I have the one that is delivered with the Solaris 10 Companion CD. The package name is SFWvnc.
The binary /opt/sfw/bin/Xvnc requires the two libraries
- /usr/sfw/lib/libgcc_s.so.1
- /usr/sfw/lib/libstdc++.so.6
available in the package SUNWgccruntime
set LD_LIBRARY_PATH to /usr/lib:/usr/sfw/lib:/lib in the startup script and you should be in business.

In your case you might be missing a library, check with ldd on x11vnc binary

[Apr 2, 2007] Solaris 10, gcc and VNC server by /etc/inetd.conf

vnc1024 stream tcp nowait root /usr/local/bin/Xvnc-1024 Xvnc-1024

4. Create /usr/local/bin/Xvnc-1024 script , perm 755.

#!/bin/sh
/opt/sfw/bin/Xvnc -inetd -broadcast -once -geometry 1024x768 -depth 8

5. Stop dtlogin

/etc/init.d/dtlogin stop

6. [Restart indentd] kill -HUP inetd-pid

7. Start dtlogin

/etc/init.d/dtlogin start

8. /usr/sbin/shutdown -y -g0 -i6 to test startup.

9. svcs should show:

bash-3.00# svcs |grep vnc

online 16:06:49 svc:/network/vnc1024/tcp:default

Have fun!

[Mar 24, 2007] freshmeat.net Project details for Enhanced TightVNC Viewer

Enhanced TightVNC Viewer 1.0.14 released. The Enhanced TightVNC Viewer package is part of the x11vnc VNC server project.

The Enhanced TightVNC Viewer package is part of the x11vnc VNC server project. It provides a native VNC viewer that takes advantage of new features in x11vnc, e.g. cursor alpha blending and automatic SSL tunnelling. Some features apply to any VNC server, e.g. automatic SSH tunnelling.

Another goal is to provide a package that conveniently bundles everything needed for the user to have the enhanced viewer running quickly.

This includes pre-built binaries of the viewer and utility programs for Windows and many Unix variants, and a GUI to configure and launch the viewer.

The short name for this project is "ssvnc", for SSL/SSH VNC viewer.

Release focus: Minor bugfixes

Changes:
Using port numbers lower than VNC's default port (5900) now works on Windows (for example, myhost.com:443).

Author:
Karl Runge [contact developer]

[Dec 06, 2006] BigAdmin Description: How to enable XDM and VNC for Linux and Solaris

[Dec 06, 2006] Enhanced TightVNC Viewer TightVNC viewer enhanced with SSL tunnelling and other features.

C, Tcl, Unix Shell

The Enhanced TightVNC Viewer package is part of the x11vnc VNC server project. It provides a native VNC viewer that takes advantage of new features in x11vnc, e.g. cursor alpha blending and automatic SSL tunnelling. Some features apply to any VNC server, e.g. automatic SSH tunnelling. Another goal is to provide a package that conveniently bundles everything needed for the user to have the enhanced viewer running quickly. This includes pre-built binaries of the viewer and utility programs for Windows and many Unix variants, and a GUI to configure and launch the viewer. The short name for this project is "ssvnc", for SSL/SSH VNC viewer.

Free TridiaVNC Download

x11vnc a VNC server for real X displays allows remote viewing and interaction with real X displays via keyboard and mouse.

• x11vnc-0.7-sol9-sparc-local.gz x11vnc is a vnc server for X displays. It allows remote viewing and interaction with real X displays via keyboard and mouse - installs in /usr/local. This package also needs to have the following packages installed - zlib, jpeg, and /usr/local/lib/libgcc_s.so.1 from either libgcc-3.3 or gcc or later. You will need a vnc viewer on your client machines. I have tested the tightvnc java based viewers for Solaris and Mac OSX and will be offering a compiled version of the tightvnc vncviewer for Solaris here shortly.
• x11vnc-0.7.tar.gz Source Code. [Details]
• SourceForge.net File Release Notes and Changelog

Virtual Network Computing (VNC) Utility

1. Short description and name of binaries
2. Usage: how to start, how to use it
3. Making the connection secure with SSH
4. Official Documentation on local server

Let try to use VNC between two SUN machines (this do not make much sense but is good as a test):

Machine AA is the display server, i.e. your local one.
Machine BB is the application server, i.e. the remote one.

Please note: do NOT use ssh at this stage because VNC will not work then.

AA% rlogin BB
BB% top <== check that there is enough memory and CPU power
BB% vncserver :1

Comment:
The ":1" here means DISPLAY no. 1.
Please do NOT use display nr. 0 as this is already your present (telnet or rlogin) session.
In some special cases (for instance if you are running more then one vnc server) there is a conflict with the display numbering: just enter an higher number.
Check your ~/.vnc/server_name:1.log file to see if everything is OK
For instance this is a possible log file's name:
~/.vnc/sirrah.ee.ethz.ch:71.log for machine 'sirrah' and DISPLAY ':71'
The content of this file looks like this:

24/11/03 15:05:04 Xvnc version 3.3.3r1
24/11/03 15:05:04 Copyright (C) AT&T Laboratories Cambridge.
24/11/03 15:05:04 All Rights Reserved.
24/11/03 15:05:04 See http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc for information on VNC
24/11/03 15:05:04 Desktop name 'X' (sirrah.ee.ethz.ch:71)
24/11/03 15:05:04 Protocol version supported 3.3
24/11/03 15:05:04 Listening for VNC connections on TCP port 5971
24/11/03 15:05:04 Listening for HTTP connections on TCP port 5871
24/11/03 15:05:04   URL http://sirrah.ee.ethz.ch:5871

If this is the first time that you are using vncserver then you will be asked to enter (define) a password.

You may want to check if the server is really running. Do it with the command:

ps -ef | grep Xvnc | grep -v grep

you should see something like this:
BB% ps -ef | grep Xvnc | grep -v grep
your_name 335 1 0 18:53:41 pts/4 0:01 Xvnc :1 -desktop X -httpd /usr/pack/vnc-3.3.3r1-rb/vnc_sun4_sosV_5.5/classes -a

in the case above we are using the display BB:1.0 (more about it later)
To kill the server program LATER on (but do NOT forget it), execute:
BB% vncserver -kill :1

you can now exit the application server leaving the VNC-server program running

BB% exit

Back on your local machine (here AA) starts the Viewer having the name of the server and the DISPLAY number as parameter:

AA % vncviewer BB:1
VNC server supports protocol version 3.3 (viewer 3.3)
Password:
VNC authentication succeeded
Desktop name "your_name's X desktop (BB:1)"
Connected to VNC server, using protocol version 3.3
VNC server default format:
8 bits per pixel.
True color: max red 7 green 7 blue 3, shift red 0 green 3 blue 6
Using default color map and translating from BGR233. Pixel format:
8 bits per pixel.
True color: max red 7 green 7 blue 3, shift red 0 green 3 blue 6
Got 8 exact BGR233 colors out of 256
Using 77 existing shared colors

On your screen you will see a big window which represent a desktop similar to the one that you would have if you would have logged on the application server's console.
In this big windows one xterm is already open and there you can start all the utilities you wish on the server.

How to choose the Desktop type

In the example above we used the default Desktop wich is the X one.
The VNC software create a subdirectory in your home directory called .vnc (note the "." bevore the name vnc). In this subdirectory there is a file called xstartup in which we can write the commands which starts a Desktop.

Default content for "~/.vnc/xstartup" is:

For X11 (tested and OK):
#!/bin/sh
xrdb $HOME/.Xdefaults
xsetroot -solid grey
xterm -geometry 80x24+10+10 -ls -title "$VNCDESKTOP Desktop" &
twm &

This will start a X-Desktop (and has been tested).

But you may want KDE or others. Here a list (please tell me your experience with it):

The two lines:

xsetroot -solid grey
xterm -geometry 80x24+10+10 -ls -title "$VNCDESKTOP Desktop" &

can be added to each of the files below.

For KDE (tested and OK)(well this was in year 2000....):

#!/bin/sh
xrdb $HOME/.Xdefaults
/usr/sepp/bin/startkde-1.1 &

ATTENTION: recently we got problems with the command above.
PLEASE substitute the line with startkde-1.1 with:
launchx KDE

For fvwm2 (tested and OK):

#!/bin/sh
xrdb $HOME/.Xdefaults
/usr/sepp/bin/fvwm2 &

For CDE (tested ):

#!/bin/sh
xrdb $HOME/.Xdefaults
/usr/dt/bin/dtwm

VNC over SSH2 - A TightVNC Tutorial Van Emery - June, 2003

x11vnc a VNC server for real X displays

x11vnc allows one to remotely view and interact with real X displays (i.e. a display corresponding to a physical monitor, keyboard, and mouse) with any VNC viewer. In this way it plays the role for Unix/X11 that WinVNC plays for Windows.

I wrote x11vnc because x0rfbserver was basically impossible to build on Solaris and had poor performance. The primary x0rfbserver build problems centered around esoteric C++ toolkits. x11vnc is written in plain C and uses only standard libraries. I also added a few enhancements to improve the interactive response, add esoteric features, etc. The FAQ contains a lot of information and solutions to problems, but please feel free to contact me if you have problems or questions.

VNC (Virtual Network Computing) is a very useful network graphics protocol (applications running on one computer but displaying their windows on another) in the spirit of X, however, unlike X, the viewing-end is very simple and maintains no state. It is a remote framebuffer (RFB) protocol

Some VNC links:

• http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc/
• http://www.realvnc.com
• http://www.tightvnc.com

For Unix, the VNC implementation includes a virtual X11 server Xvnc (usually launched via the vncserver command) that is not associated with a physical display, but provides a "fake" one X11 clients (xterm, mozilla, etc.) can attach to. A remote user then connects to Xvnc via the VNC client vncviewer from anywhere on the network to view and interact with the whole virtual X11 desktop.

The VNC protocol is in most cases better suited for remote connections with low bandwidth and high latency than is the X11 protocol (the exception is cached pixmap data on the viewing-end). Also, with no state maintained the viewing-end can crash, be rebooted, or relocated and the applications and desktop continue running. Not so with X11.

So the standard Xvnc/vncserver program is very useful, I use it for things like:

• Desktop conferencing with other users (e.g. codereviews).
• Long running apps/tasks I want to be able to view from many places.
• Motif, GNOME, and similar applications that would yield very poor performance over a high latency link.

However, sometimes one wants to connect to a real X11 display (i.e. one attached to a physical monitor, keyboard, and mouse: a Workstation or a SunRay session) from far away. Maybe you want to close down an application cleanly rather than using kill, or want to work a bit in an already running application, or would like to help a distant colleague solve a problem with their desktop. This is where x11vnc is useful.

X11vnc Solaris 10 packaged on www.sunfreeware.com

x11vnc-0.7-sol10-sparc-local.gz x11vnc is a vnc server for X displays. It allows remote viewing and interaction with real X displays via keyboard and mouse - installs in /usr/local. This package also needs to have the following packages installed - zlib, jpeg, and /usr/local/lib/libgcc_s.so.1 from either libgcc-3.3 or gcc or later. You will need a vnc viewer on your client machines. I have tested the tightvnc java based viewers for Solaris and Mac OSX and will be offering a compiled version of the tightvnc vncviewer for Solaris here shortly.

x11vnc-0.7-sol10-intel-local.gz x11vnc is a vnc server for X displays. It allows remote viewing and interaction with real X displays via keyboard and mouse - installs in /usr/local. This package also needs to have the following packages installed - zlib, jpeg, and /usr/local/lib/libgcc_s.so.1 from either libgcc-3.3 or gcc or later. You will need a vnc viewer on your client machines. I have tested the tightvnc java based viewers for Solaris and Mac OSX and will be offering a compiled version of the tightvnc vncviewer for Solaris here shortly.

SV Solaris Management Console via VNC Cruz Walter Walter.Cruz "at" telenor.se
Fri Oct 29 13:51:01 2004

VNC with CDE problems

Sun Microsystems Support Forums

I am having trouble getting VNC working with JDS R2.

This is NOT remote desktop admin. I want to use the machine with no terminal.

I have done this with various other linuxes. Sometimes it works to start vncserver in a file in rc.d/init.d. The best way is to start vncserver as a service that executes Xvnc whenever there is a connection attempt on port 5900 or 5901 (add a line to /etc/services and an entry in inetd.conf or a file in xinetd.d).

I have tried a whole bunch of different stuff on JDS R2 without getting it to work.

Can anybody help? Again, this is not Remote Desktop the way it ships with the system.

On Suse you get to vnc via Launch->Preferences->Remote Desktop

That gives you a GUI to enable VNC server. You can also run: /usr/X11R6/bin/vncserver in a terminal
it will setup fine. You'll need to provide a password. If you've run vnc with other Linux distributions, then this is no different than SuSE as far as VNC is concerned.

You can also run the command: vncviewer and it will ask for an IP and password to get a remote desktop.
It's pretty normal. You can also create a launcher for the viewer.

==========================

That approach won't solve the issue. The built-in "Remote Desktop" only allows remote access to a desktop that has already been started, and this PC has no running desktop.

Here's a reference that explains the theory, from Linux Mag's Guru Guidance column:
http://www.linux-mag.com/2003-03/guru_01.html

Running vncserver in a terminal is also not an option, since there is no desktop or terminal running. In an emergency, I can telnet or ssh to the machine, start vncserver by hand, and then access the machine via VNC, but that's too much trouble to do every day.

I want to start Xvnc automatically when the machine boots. The PC is without monitor, and vnc will be the only way I connect to it. I have done this with various other linuxes, I just haven't gotten it working in JDS. Sometimes it works to fire vncserver during startup (in an rc file), and sometimes it works to fire Xvnc via inet as a service when it gets a connect attempt on port 5900. I've even done it with xdmcp, but none of my attempts have worked in JDSR2.

If you can get this working, let me know. To test it, turn your machine on, and let it boot to rl5 (the display manager login screen). Then go to another machine, and connect to it via vnc.

Thanks.

rhaertle Messages: 0 Registered: June 2004 Junior Member

I finally got this working. The machine is now running deadheaded with no monitor. 1) vnc is not installed in the default configuration. Don't pick it off the yast install list; I could not get the version shipped with JDS to work. I used realvnc. Download it as a tarfile. Run ./vncinstall to /usr/local/bin and /usr/local/man. 2) Use gdmsetup, or in /etc/X11/gdm/gdm.conf, set xdmcp Enable=true. By the way, while the system is coming up, you'll see init throw a "failed" message for gdm, I don't know why. This change is causing the failure, but everything seems to work. I'm not going to spend alot of time figuring out how to clean up whatever is reporting bad status, since it's running. 3) In /etc/services, add "vncserver 5901/tcp #vncserver". The 01 means screen :1. When the system gets a connect attempt on that port, it'll run the vnc server. 4) Using launch / prefs / system / sw & services / start & stop or edit inetd.conf to add the service. Add "vncserver stream tcp nowait root /usr/sbin/tcpd /usr/local/bin/Xvnc -once -securitytypes=none -inetd -query localhost". You can add -geometry and -depth if you want. You can add multiple lines here (inetd.conf) and to /etc/services for different geometries. 5) Load vnc into XF86. Use the XF86 config scripts, or in /etc/X11/XF86Config, add "load vnc" to the modules section. Restart init and gdm or reboot. Now, when the machine boots, and you connect via vnc, you'll get a gdm login screen. Don't do this unless your network is already completely secure.

ReVNC - X Windows

>OK. I just downloaded the latest version of VNC. And it now works. At least
>you can connect now. However it doesn't bring up KDE. It just has a terminal
>session running. How would you go about getting it to start KDE or GNOME
>instead of the terminal session?

Yep, this is very normal. Depending on how you start x you will get diffrent configuartions of window manager/etc... Normally if you have xdm a script~ in /etc/X11/xdm called Xsession get run, if you do a startx (which is a script itself), it runs /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc as the startup file. THese startup files fire up a window manager, etc... Becuase the window manager or session manager are components of an X environment, and not "integrated" into the graphics subsystem. I don't know if you knew all that, but some Windows-backgrounded people don't, so I mention it for completeness.

When you run "vncserver" (which is a script that starts Xvnc), it looks in a sub-dir called .vnc in your home for a file called "xstartup", which it uses to build your prefered X environment (window/session managers, etc...). If you wish this to be the same as when you login to the system locally make it a sym-link to /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc, and that should do the trick. Or else
you can hack "vncserver" to not bother with the home directory stuff at all and just start a certain window manager (which is what I do, in fact, I have it start star office with no window manager at all).~

For those of you curious I have found that Star Office running to a remote X display eats about 15-20% of one of the CPU's even when idle and on another virtual desktop. If I run it in a local Xvnc and then connect over a network with VNC, idle means idle, and it consumes no CPU resources when not in focus. Someone explain that on too me please? (Not that I really mind, VNC with zlib compressesion uses alot less bandwith than X anyway).

Re: VNC - X Windows

I start a VNC server on Solaris like this:

vncserver -depth 8 -geometry 800x600 -cc 3 -query localhost -once

This gives me a normal CDE login screen.

My ~/.vnc/xstartup is empty.

VNC on Solaris 10 Installing and configuring VNC from the software companion CD

Solaris 10 can be downloaded from sun's web site. Also available from the download pages is an image of a "Software Companion CD".

This CD contains extra freeware products which can be added post-installation. One of these is the excellent Virtual Network Computing (VNC) package.

VNC allows remote desktop access to computers over a network. It can be used between Microsoft and Unix/Linux operating systems.

Solaris 10 Update 5 comes with VNC so no extra packages are required. Instructions for it's configuration will appear here as soon as I get time to write them! Meantime, check docs.sun.com.

For Update 4 or older, carry on….

Everything you need to setup VNC on Solaris is included in this zip file Here.

• Packages
• Install Script
• Configuration Script
• Video guide

Or follow these instructions to configure it for yourself....

Insert the Solaris Companion CD and allow the volume management daemon to mount it. There are three packages which are required. In this example they are converted into package datastreams on the hard disk:

# cd /cdrom/cdrom0/sparc/Packages

# pkgtrans . /opt/SFWgcmn.pkg SFWgcmn

# pkgtrans . /opt/SFWgcc34l.pkg SFWgcc341

# pkgtrans . /opt/SFWvnc.pkg SFWvnc

Add the three packages in the following order:

# cd /opt

# pkgadd -d SFWgcmn.pkg

# pkgadd -d SFWgcc34l.pkg

# pkgadd -d SFWvnc.pkg

Xwindows is configured with text files under /usr/dt but these shouldn't be modified, make copied of them under /etc/dt and modify the copies.

# mkdir -p /etc/dt/config

# cp /usr/dt/config/Xservers /etc/dt/config/

# cp /usr/dt/config/Xconfig /etc/dt/config/

# cp /usr/dt/config/Xsetup /etc/dt/config/

Edit the /etc/dt/config/Xservers to configure the extra connections to Xwindows. The :0 server is the default one which you log in to locally. In this example one extra connection is being configured:

# vi /etc/dt/config/Xservers

:0 Local local_uid@console root /usr/X11/bin/Xserver :0 -nobanner

:1 Local local_uid@console root /opt/sfw/bin/Xvnc :1 -httpd /opt/sfw/vnc/classes -depth 16 -geometry 1024x768 -r fbwait 120000 -rfbauth /opt/sfw/vnc/.vnc/passwd -rfbport 5901 -httpport 5801 -fp tcp/localhost:7100 -alwaysshared

There are only two lines in my example file, it has just word wrapped on this web page. Here are some of the important options:

-depth 16

This is the colour depth. An 8bit colour depth uses less network bandwidth but looks a bit blocky.

-geometry 1024x768

Choose whichever resolution you want. Yes, that is an "x" between the two numbers not an "*".

-rfbport 5901

The port number for the client to connect to. Each different server must use a different port number. For example :1 uses 5901 and :2 could use 5902

-httpport 5801

You can point a web browser at the Unix host with this port number and get a java based connection to the Unix host. For example:

http://10.0.0.1:5801

Configure a password, this is prompted for before the user sees a login screen.

# HOME=/opt/sfw/vnc

# export HOME

# mkdir $HOME/.vnc

# /opt/sfw/bin/vncpasswd

Password: password

Verify: password

To enable vnc to start when dtlogin does, uncomment the Dtlogin*grabServer line in /etc/dt/config/Xconfig or do this sed command which will do the same thing:

# sed '/Dtlogin\*grabServer/s/^#//' /etc/dt/config/Xconfig >/tmp/Xconfig

# mv /tmp/Xconfig /etc/dt/config/Xconfig

This would work but the fonts will not be right. Add the font server to the /etc/inetd.conf and convert it into a new SMF managed network service:

# echo "fs stream tcp wait nobody /usr/openwin/lib/fs.auto fs" >>/etc/inetd.conf

# inetconv

That should be it! I rebooted here but I think you should be able to get away with hupping the inetd and stopping and restarting dtlogin:

# pkill –HUP inetd

# /etc/init.d/dtlogin stop

# /etc/init.d/dtlogin start

Any time you change the /etc/dt/config/Xservers file, you will need to stop and restart dtlogin. In previous versions you could just /usr/dt/bin/dtlogin –reset but it doesn't seem to work in Solaris 10.

Java Desktop

There is a bug which will prevent text being entered in terminal windows in the Java Desktop. This can be solved by modifying the file shown below:

# cd /etc/gconf/gconf.xml.defaults/apps/gnome_settings_daemon/keybindings/

# mv %gconf.xml %gconf.xml.orig

# vi %gconf.xml

<gconf>

<entry name="volume_up" mtime="1110896708" type="string">

<stringvalue></stringvalue>

</entry>

<entry name="volume_mute" mtime="1110896705" type="string">

<stringvalue></stringvalue>

</entry>

<entry name="volume_down" mtime="1110896702" type="string">

<stringvalue></stringvalue>

</entry>

<entry name="help" mtime="1110896698" type="string">

<stringvalue></stringvalue>

</entry>

</gconf>

Things i've learned about Solaris...

as to VNC, you need to reset the permissions on xstartup in the .vnc folder before it can execute its script and start your desktop. Otherwise you'll only get a blank checkerboard screen and the oh-so-familiar X cursor. You can reset them like so:

chmod 0744 $home/.vnc/xstartup

If you want to start KDE, you can place startkde in your xstartup file. I've found that the JDS 3.0 works just fine with VNC, instead of startkde, use gnome-session. My xstartup looks like so:

#!/bin/sh

[ -r $HOME/.Xresources ] && xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
xsetroot -solid grey
vncconfig -iconic &
xterm -geometry 80x24+10+10 -ls -title "$VNCDESKTOP Desktop" &
gnome-session

Now to figure out how to start this bugger automagically at boot....

VNC for Solaris10

This was remarkably easy to get going on my X2100, with the first and U2 releases of Solaris 10.

With 11/06 (U3), it does not work for me; I see only the grey X desktop and no login window. For 11/06 I recommend using (howto).

1. Download RealVNC server package (Download & Use -> confirm form -> Find the latest Solaris package) (update: As of March 2007 there is no Solaris/x86 package available for download - it has been removed. I don't know why; it worked just fine for me. Try the Solaris Companion DVD's SFWvnc package instead - pkgadd -d /mnt/tmp/Solaris_Software_Companion/Solaris_i386/P ackages SFWvnc)
2. Install package

   pkgadd -d vnc-4_1_1-x86_solaris.pkg

3. Add the 'vnc' service to /etc/services:

   echo 'vnc 5900/tcp' >>/etc/services

4. Convert and import the inetd configuration line to Solaris 10's new Service Management Framework:

   echo 'vnc stream tcp nowait nobody /usr/local/bin/Xvnc Xvnc -inetd -query localhost -once securitytypes=none' >> vnc.inetd.conf
   inetconv -i vnc.inetd.conf

   (note, if using the Companion CD package, command is /opt/sfw/bin/Xvnc)

   To later change the resolution of the spawned server, or any other options, change the exec property as follows:

   inetadm -m network/vnc/tcp exec="/usr/local/bin/Xvnc -inetd -query localhost -once securitytypes=none -screen 0 1280x1024x16"

   Then you can use inetadm to manage it:

   inetadm -l svc:/network/vnc/tcp:default (show details - giving full service name)
   inetadm -d network/vnc/tcp (disable - you can abbreviate the service name like this)
   inetadm -e network/vnc/tcp (enable)

   May be necessary to restart inetd:

   svcadm restart inetd

5. Connect to VNC port 5900 to see the desktop login!

Recommended Links

Softpanorama Recommended

Top articles

Sites

RealVNC - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

TightVNC - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

TightVNC:

Main Links

• TightVNC- VNC-Based Free Remote Control Solution site of Constantin Kaplinsky

• freshmeat.net: Project details for TightVNC

• SourceForge.net Project Info - TightVNC

Articles:

• VNC over SSH2 - A TightVNC Tutorial Van Emery - June, 2003

• Setting up TightVNC and SSH on a Windows NT machine

• Tightvnc, Chicken of the VNC

• TightVNC

x11vnc:

Solaris 10

x11vnc-0.7-sol10-sparc-local.gz x11vnc is a vnc server for X displays. It allows remote viewing and interaction with real X displays via keyboard and mouse - installs in /usr/local. This package also needs to have the following packages installed - zlib, jpeg, and /usr/local/lib/libgcc_s.so.1 from either libgcc-3.3 or gcc or later. You will need a vnc viewer on your client machines. I have tested the tightvnc java based viewers for Solaris and Mac OSX and will be offering a compiled version of the tightvnc vncviewer for Solaris here shortly.

x11vnc-0.7-sol10-intel-local.gz x11vnc is a vnc server for X displays. It allows remote viewing and interaction with real X displays via keyboard and mouse - installs in /usr/local. This package also needs to have the following packages installed - zlib, jpeg, and /usr/local/lib/libgcc_s.so.1 from either libgcc-3.3 or gcc or later. You will need a vnc viewer on your client machines. I have tested the tightvnc java based viewers for Solaris and Mac OSX and will be offering a compiled version of the tightvnc vncviewer for Solaris here shortly.

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