video on demandConfiguring VNC Server on Linux
init (Original Method)
systemd (New Method)
VNC Clients
init (Original Method)
The init method works for RHEL and it's clones (Oracle Linux and CentOS) up to and including RHEL6. It also works for Fedora up to and including Fedora 15. Although Fedora 15 includes systemd, the VNC server configuration is unchanged, so you should still use this method.
Install the VNC Server.
# yum install tigervnc-server
Edit the "/etc/sysconfig/vncservers" file to configure the required displays. The following entries enable VNC for display numbers ":2" and ":3". Notice multiple "display:user" pairs are defined on a single line, but the arguments for each display are defined separately.
VNCSERVERS="2:root 3:oracle"
VNCSERVERARGS[2]="-geometry 1280x1024 -nolisten tcp -localhost"
VNCSERVERARGS[3]="-geometry 1280x1024"
Set the VNC password for any users defined in the "/etc/sysconfig/vncservers" file.
# vncpasswd
Password:
Verify:
#
# su - oracle
$ vncpasswd
Password:
Verify:
$ exit
logout
#
Enable the "vncserver" service for autostart and start the service.
# chkconfig vncserver on
# service vncserver start
You should now be able to use a VNC viewer to connect to system using the display numbers and passwords defined.
Use the following commands to stop the service and disable autostart.
# service vncserver stop
# chkconfig vncserver off
systemd (New Method)
The systemd method works for Fedora 16 and above. Although Fedora 15 uses systemd, the VNC server configuration is unchanged so you still use the previous configuration method.
Install the VNC Server.
# yum install tigervnc-server
Create a new configuration file for each of the display numbers you want to enable. In the following case, I am setting up the display number ":3". Notice how the display number is included in the configuration file name.
# cp /lib/systemd/system/vncserver@.service /lib/systemd/system/vncserver@:3.service
Edit the new configuration file, amending the user and startup arguments as necessary. An example of the changed lines is shown below. All other lines should be unmodified.
User=oracle
ExecStart=/usr/bin/vncserver %i -geometry 1280x1024
Run the following command.
# systemctl daemon-reload
Set the VNC password for the user defined in the new configuration file.
# su - oracle
$ vncpasswd
Password:
Verify:
$ exit
logout
#
Enable the service for autostart and start the service.
# systemctl enable vncserver@:3.service
# systemctl start vncserver@:3.service
You should now be able to use a VNC viewer to connect to system using the display number and password defined.
Use the following commands to stop the service and disable autostart.
# systemctl stop vncserver@:3.service
# systemctl disable vncserver@:3.service
VNC Clients
Once your VNC server is configured, you can connect to it from any VNC server. On Linux this will often be TigerVNC, installed using the following command.
# yum install tigervnc
Connect to a VNC server using the following command.
# vncviewer machine-name:port
# vncviewer maggie.localdomain:3
# vncviewer 192.168.0.4:3