There are many ways to get into a computer by using remote desktop. Some examples include: ssh, VNC, RDP, XDMCP, ICA, X11VNC, etc.
Remote desktop can be used for lots of different reasons, such as if you promised your son to get him a game in your house and you have to go to work, VNC can come to the rescue!. Or, if you need help with configuring something on your system and know a trusted person that can assist you remotely, X11VNC is the tool to help.
Today, I’m going to talk about X11VNC. X11VNC is the most commonly used remote desktop tool for X systems. To start X11VNC, you need to first install it. To get X11VNC, type this command in a terminal of a Debian- or Ubuntu-based:
sudo apt-get install x11vnc
- To start it up, just for a test, type
x11vnc
and you might see¬†something that catches your attention. You’re using X11VNC without a password. Press Ctrl + C.
- Time to setup a password. Type
x11vnc -storepasswd
- Enter a password.
- X11VNC will ask you to save your password into a place like /home/<YOUR LOGIN NAME>/.vnc/passwd. It will ask you to confirm. Press y.
- To start X11VNC with a password, get ready to type 32 letters or more if your name is large. Type
x11vnc -rfbauth /home/<YOUR LOGIN NAME>/.vnc/passwd
and there you have it!
Note your host and port. Since the server setup is complete, let’s move on to client. You should have two accounts for this step.
- Login to the other account without closing the terminal or logging off that account.
- Open a terminal and type
vncviewer <THE HOST NAME>:<THE PORT>.
You’re done, remote desktop is set up.
