Many Ways to Use Remote Desktop (X11VNC)

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There are many ways to get into a computer by using remote desktop. Some examples include: ssh, VNC, RDP, XDMCP, ICA, X11VNC, etc.

Remote desktop can be used for lots of different reasons, such as if you promised your son to get him a game in your house and you have to go to work, VNC can come to the rescue!. Or, if you need help with configuring something on your system and know a trusted person that can assist you remotely, X11VNC is the tool to help.

Today, I’m going to talk about X11VNC. X11VNC is the most commonly used remote desktop tool for X systems. To start X11VNC, you need to first install it. To get X11VNC, type this command in a terminal of a Debian- or Ubuntu-based:

 sudo apt-get install x11vnc
  1. To start it up, just for a test, type
    x11vnc

    and you might see¬†something that catches your attention. You’re using X11VNC without a password. Press Ctrl + C.

  2. Time to setup a password. Type
    x11vnc -storepasswd
  3. Enter a password.
  4. X11VNC will ask you to save your password into a place like /home/<YOUR LOGIN NAME>/.vnc/passwd. It will ask you to confirm. Press y.
  5. To start X11VNC with a password, get ready to type 32 letters or more if your name is large. Type
    x11vnc -rfbauth /home/<YOUR LOGIN NAME>/.vnc/passwd

    and there you have it!

Note your host and port. Since the server setup is complete, let’s move on to client. You should have two accounts for this step.

  1. Login to the other account without closing the terminal or logging off that account.
  2. Open a terminal and type
    vncviewer <THE HOST NAME>:<THE PORT>.

You’re done, remote desktop is set up.