X11vnc

x11vnc is a virtual network client that allows you to log into a computer and see the desktop screen from a remote location (remote dekstop). This requires running x11vnc as a server on the server computer, then connecting to the x11vnc server using a host with a remote desktop client (I use Chicken of the VNC).

Installing

Prerequisites

Mac

To install x11vnc on a Mac, you will need a jpeg library, which I was able to download from Fink.

Linux

You can use a package management software like aptitude or yum to install x11vnc. This should resolve dependencies.

Configuring

For the Mac, my configure line looked like:

#!/bin/sh

./configure \
 --prefix=/path/to/x11vnc \
 --without-x

Then run make and make install.

And then add to your $PATH.

Starting

When you first run x11vnc, you will see a bunch of loud warnings about not setting a password. Follow the instructions given to set a password. This is a password used to access your desktop - without it, anyone who connects to your server can control the screen.

Once you have set your password, create a script for starting x11vnc. Mine looks like this:

#!/bin/sh

sudo x11vnc -usepw -display :0 -ncache 10 -forever

Starting: Redux

First, set your password by running

x11vnc -storepasswd 

Then set a VNC password. Start up x11vnc and tell it to use this stored password:

x11vnc -rfbauth ~/.vnc/passwd

note that ~/.vnc/passwd is the default location of the stored password file.

You can also put these two arguments into your .x11vncrc file, which is read on startup.

Tunneling Via SSH

See also SSH Tunnels

To tunnel a VNC connection through SSH, you'll want to make an ssh tunnel from local port 5900 to remote port 5901 (or whatever remote port VNC is listening on).

Connecting with Chicken of the VNC

Once you've started x11vnc on the remote computer and created an SSH tunnel to your local machine's port 5900 (or whatever port you want your VNC to listen on), you can run Chicken of the VNC to connect the VNC to your local machine's port 5900. Do this by connecting Chicken of the VNC to the host localhost:5900 (once you type the :5900, the port box will be greyed out and will not be used). If you specify the host as localhost and then specify port 5900 in the "port" box, it won't work.

Your VNC server settings should look like this: