Properly configure VNC server ?

English Network/Internet
1

Hi all !

I have a brand new opensuse 11 installed.
Gnome is the window manager.

In YaST, remote desktop is enabled.
Controling via VNC works… not so good.

I use the default configuration (vnc1) to connect on port 5901.
My client is ultravnc, running on Windows XP.

Very often, when I first login via VNC, I cannot open YaST (maybe other things, but that is what I use most).
I just try to open it, enter my root password, and then nothing happens.
I have to logout (which causes mys VNC session to close), then reconnect via VNC and re-log. Then the YaST window will show.
Next time I will try to connect via VNC, same thing will happen.

That’s one very annoying thing.

Next, my keypad just won’t work. I can’t use it in a VNC session.
I’ve read about using x11vnc instead of Xvnc to solve this, but got a headache trying to configure it.
I could not figure what the auth file pass (ps wwwaux | grep auth gave me a strange path of /var/run/gdm/auth-for-gdm-89GvJS/database, which did not work).

So I am not very happy with my remote administration setup right now, and end up doing most of the job through a ssh session.
Can someone help me on these points ?
Thanks a lot !

2

For the x11vnc password you should just be able to do this:

Type vncpasswd in a terminal

It tells you that it will use the file /home/user/.vnc/passwd

Then asks you to enter and verify a password for that user

You can then start the server with x11vnc -usepw
and it will detect the password file you set up with the vncpasswd file and use that for it’s authentication

Personally though I haven’t used vnc in a long time as I much prefer nx, I use freenx installed through Yast and the free nomachine nx client from nomachine.com

3

The problem where you try to run yast, a password box pops-up, but yast never opens is a known bug. Actually, this affects every VNC application that requires elevated gnomesu permissions. The bug was introduced to VNC with OpenSuse11.1 and still has yet to be fixed. In short, the problem is that the required xhost key is not available in the active user vnc session variable.

Thankfully, there is a very simple work-around.

  1. type “xhost +localhost” in a terminal window

I just automated the task by adding the above command to a session start-up script.

I hope this helps.

4

One other idea (you may already know this, and forgive me if you do) … you can run yast in a ssh session, too. Just enter “yast” at the prompt after you log in. It’s a text-mode interface, but you can do everything you need to do (except, obviously, specifically-graphics-related config). Now that I’m used to this, I prefer it. VNC is too slow.

SSH, coupled with Midnight Commander (“mc”) for file work and nano or pico for copying is all I need for 99% of what I have to do.

Don’t know about your keypad issue. I’ve never run across that one.

5

Tankes to all for your answers !
I hink I ave a lot of different problems here…

In fact, x11vnc does work if I launch it when logged in my gnome session. I can then connect to this session OK.
The problem is that I would like x11vnc to let me see the gnome login screenn which I believe is display:0.
If, from a ssh session, I launch, “x11vnc -usepw”, I get an error “XOpenDisplay failed (:0)”.
The x11vnc FAQ tells me that I should specify where the “magic cookie” file is, something like “-auth /var/gdm/:0.Xauth” for gnome.
I ran “ps wwwaux | grep auth” which tells me that my auth file is “/var/run/gdm/auth-for-gdm-89GvJS/database”.
I tried to give this as an argument to x11vnc, but still the same error.
I don’t know where to search next…

Personally though I haven’t used vnc in a long time as I much prefer nx, I use freenx installed through Yast and the free nomachine nx client from nomachine.com

Indeed, I’ve tried freenx before and it works great.
The problem is that I administer a lot of servers, and most of them run a Windows OS, so VNC is a good way to control all of them with the same software.

Indeed, you workaround works great !
I wonder why this happens just sometime and not always ?

In fact, I knew it but I forgot about it !
Thanks a lot for reminding me this, I’ll give it a try !

I’d still like to have my VNC server running the way I’d like it though…

6

Oh, I still use VNC for some things. But another reason I prefer SSH (also obvious) is security. Unless you use external NAT/port forwarding, it can be difficult to get VNC to expose a different port to the Internet, and the script kiddies know all about 580x and 590x. Believe it or not, what I do on those occasions when I want VNC, is go in with SSH, enable it temporarily, then go back in with SSH and disable it as soon as I’m done. The easiest way is to do that through Yast in SSH, IMNHO.

7

won’t get much easier than typing something like:

x11vnc -usepw

in your ssh session

8

tunnel vnc through ssh then you only have port 22 externally facing open.

setup a forward in your ssh session with a port like 50000 locally to tunnel through ssh to the vnc session eg. 5901

when you open vnc viewer, connect on localhost::50000 and then ssh will tunnel through to the remote box.

easy and secure as you can leave the ports all closed except 22 on the local and any hardware firewalls you have/

9

for security tunnel your vnc session through ssh.

#that way you only have to have ssh port externally open, through the local firewall and any hardware firewalls you may have.

setup a local tunnel when you open a ssh session using a local high port eg 50000 or something, that tunnels to the remote ip and the port that you started the vnc session on i.e. :1 5901 – :99 5999.

then connect to this port locally via vnc - localhost::50000 and ssh will pick up this port and tunnel through to the remote box.

secure and no insecure firewall ports to worry about