vncservice does not work on Opensuse 12.1

English Network/Internet
1

I am trying to run VNC service on Opensuse 12.1 unsucessfully for the last three-four hours !

I used Yast Remote administration interface to turn on VNC and open firewall ports. Then try to connect to that VNC server through Krdc and then through vncviewer. I get the error message,

pbxxx@gtntserver:~> vncviewer 192.168.1.2
vncviewer: ConnectToTcpAddr: connect: Connection refused
Unable to connect to VNC server

I even stopped firewall and checked again. It did not work.

I can ping the vnc target machine and ssh into that . SSH was setup similar way and it worked immediately. But vnc did not.

I came across this link http://http://dx3webs.com/wordpress/2010/03/how-to-fix-vnc-in-opensuse-11-2/ and trid that too in vain.

Having failed to setup VNC on 12.1, I tried exact same things on 11.4, with exactly same results.

I have restarted each machine twice too. But again in vain.

Does naybody know what to do more? Thanks in advance.

2

This works on 12.1
You will need to be root

Edit /etc//initd.d/vnc
for the section/resolution/port(s) that you intend to use make sure there is an entry
disable = no
you will have to add this for 1024x768/5901, and change it for the other sections required.

Use YasT >> Network services >> Remote Administration (VNC)
to Allow Remote Administration and Open Port in Firewall
Modify if you intend to use non-standard ports.

Edit /etc/hosts to comment out localhost IPv6 address i.e.
*# special IPv6 addresses

::1 localhost ipv6-localhost ipv6-loopback*

(Re)start the xinetd daemon; either with YaST … System >> System Services (Runlevel)
or from a bash shell prompt
rcxinetd restart

Connect from client with e.g. krdc or
vncviewer servername:port

should give a graphical login screen.

3

Most VPN services settings default to connecting through port 5900. With Linux, 5901 is needed. I think this is due to the X-Server needing port 5900. Make sure you are attempting to connect via your client through port 5901. VPN works fine for me. I use it as a client to connect to a Windows box and as a server for my phone.

Also, I’m running “Desktop Sharing” app in Gnome in addition to opening up the firewall through YaST. Talk it out, I’m sure we can get you up and running…

4

Port 5900 is the default for connecting to the first existing graphical session (X:0), enabling this, except by invitation from the existing user is a security risk. MS Windows users are better using the native Remote Desktop Protocol (it defaults to port 3389).

If you want the MS Win style connection, this thread is informative:
forums.opensuse.org/english/get-technical-help-here/applications/465285-x11vnc.html

5

Works for me on 12.1 by using this method: TightVNC (VNC Xvnc) on openSUSE as Client or Server (Remote Desktop Connections)

6

@swerdna,

The referred webpage clarified everything to me. Actually I think vnc was already working, but I was trying to connect on a wrong port, i.e. 5900 :). From other guides, somehow I was expecting vnc to be served on that port. once that cleared courtesy your webpage, I just did

vncviewer 127.0.0.1::5901 # to test
, it just launched. Even web connection to
http://127.0.0.1:5801
worked instantly.

But, despite vncviewer manpage,

vncviewer 127.0.0.1:0
does not work, but
vncviewer 127.0.0.1:5900
and
vncviewer 1278.0.0.1::5900
both will work.

Thanks all who helped even on a Sunday.

7

@ eng_int

Thanks first.

P.S :

  1. the vnc start script is available under /etc/xinetd.d/ and not under /etc/init.d/

  2. Editing of /etc/hosts in not necessary.

Only thing is under OS, the port numbers start from 5901…
If that is remembered, the graphical tools in Yast are sufficient to set up.

Thanks for the help.

8

It should have been obvious why

vncviewer 127.0.0.1:0
will not work after reading swerdna’s webpage. Stupid me :expressionless:

vncviewer 127.0.0.1:1 # and higher numbers too, if set up
works

9

pbhat wrote:

> I was trying to connect on a wrong port, i.e.
> 5900

OK, when I re-read what I had written It did not make much sense to me
either. Port 5900 is used to connect to the already open session of a user
sitting at the VNC server machine. It is used for remote support.

Sorry about the /etc/init.d/vnc instead of /etc/xinetd.d/vnc, and thank you
for correcting me. It wasn’t alcohol, must have been senility.

10

When I used OpenSuSE 11.2, all I had to do was install the VNC server, enable Remote Desktop Sharing (require a password) and voila, everything worked.

With OpenSuSE 12.1, it doesn’t matter what I do, I cannot connect to my already running desktop session. I can create other sessions but NOT connect to the one currently running (0.0). I’ve tried several of these suggestions here, but no can do.

As a matter of fact, even though I’ve required that a remote request to access my desktop be prompted with a password, the vnc client is never prompted for it, it takes me directly to the OpenSuSE GUI Login prompt, which is NOT good.

Any idea of how to get this thing to actually work as it should?

  1. How to get the VNC viewer to be prompted to enter a password
  2. How to see my current Destkop session (0.0) instead of creating a new session.

I also noted that trying to get a 1900x1200 is almost unreadable. This stuff was supposed to get better, not worse, I’m very disappointed with the GNOME desktop and the inability to get this VNC stuff working as easily as it was before. I’m currently using KDE, and that doesn’t work neither.

I’d appreciate any feedback and suggestions you may have.

Thanks.

11

Hello, I could solve the vnc remote session login that used not to work in a fresh new installed OpenSuse 12.2 (dup-dated until today, default repositories and Packman with priority 110)

This is what I did, following the instructions on the second post of this post I edited /etc/hosts file and commented the:

# ::1 localhost ipv6-localhost ipv6-loopback

Then restarted xinetd:

rcxinetd restart

Dont really know why, but now It works! I can vnc to OpenSuseMachine:1 (then vnc shows me the graphical login screen so I input my user pass) with UltraVNC viewer from my windoze workstation I reach the desktop.

Also, I could start a new vnc session with this:

  1. I enabled remote administration from yast
  2. I login ssh to my personal user
vncserver -geometry 1024x768 -depth 24
  1. complete the info it asks…
  2. Change the xtartup file from .vnc
cd $HOME/.vnc
pico xstartup

Change:

twm &

for:

/usr/bin/startkde &

Then with my vnc client connect to serverip:displaynumber (display number is shown on after step 4)

Hope it helps! :slight_smile: