Setting Up VNC in Ubuntu, Gutsy Gibson. ~ Ask The Admin

Monday, March 31, 2008

Setting Up VNC in Ubuntu, Gutsy Gibson.

We have had more than a few questions asked about how to get VNC working on Ubuntu. It seemed either you had it working already or you didn't and no one could explain how to do it.

We found this how to on Lifehacker but the meat of the post came from a little know blog called Ubuntu Unleashed.

We love giving props to the little guy - so here you go have some PROPS!

The Ubuntu Unleashed blog has a great tutorial on remote controlling your Linux system—even through a Java-enabled browser. Here's the whole deal:

  1. Install packages. Code: sudo apt-get install x11vnc vnc-java
  2. Set up a password for clients. Code: x11vnc -storepasswd
  3. Open up ports 5800 and 5900 on your firewall
  4. Run the terminal command: x11vnc -forever -usepw -httpdir /usr/share/vnc-java/ -httpport 5800 and add it for auto-starting in future sessions
That third step isn't quite so simple, but luckily we've covered that ground before. The same warnings and disclaimers about running a VNC server in that link above apply here. While the guide and code are written from an Ubuntu users' perspective, the packages and commands, possibly with a little tweaking, should be available in most distributions. Windows and Mac users can get help setting up their own VNC connections through this guide.


Do you do VNC? What do you use to get your remote administration going? In the comments guys!!

_TheQuickPostingAdmiN_