Introduction
This is a short walkthrough for installing
xtightvncserver
on your small board computer running Debian GNU/Linux
or a Debian derivative, so that you can connect a
vncviewer
and interact with the device's desktop remotely.
This tutorial was developed with an Olinuxino Lime2 single
board computer running Debian 8. This is a tiny single-board
ARM computer with a dual core processor suitable for light to
medium loads. The Olinuxino was chosen because it supports using
entirely free software (unlike some
other single board computers). This device's
uptime
as of this writing should give some hint of its potential
usefulness:
$ uptime
02:52:06 up 316 days, 16:33, 2 users, load average: 1.06,
1.14, 1.16
Though created with single board computers in mind, there's no reason that this process can't be used on any local or remote Debian or derivative system having an X server installed. For that matter, the process doesn't differ much for non-Debianish systems.
Recommended is reading the instructions through all the way before beginning. They're short.
Installing
SSH into your device for the installation. If you don't
know its IP address, but you are pretty sure it's up and running
(evidence from blinking lights on the device, for example), you
can run a "quick scan" on Zenmap of your local network (for example,
on 192.168.1.*).
Once at the shell prompt of your device, make sure that xtightvncserver is installed with the following command:
sudo apt install tightvncserver
You'll (probably) need to supply your password for sudo.
Starting the Server
To start the server, type
vncserver
at the shell prompt. Sample output:
New 'X' desktop is smallbox:1
Starting applications specified in /home/myusername/.vnc/xstartup
Log file is /home/myusername/.vnc/smallbox:1.log
The line about "New X desktop is smallbox:1" means that vncserver is running. Your device's hostname will appear in place of the word "smallbox".
Connect to your VNC session by running a vncviewer and connecting to 192.168.xxx.yyy:1 (fill in your IP address; the :1 is the session number from the message above.)
Stopping the VNC server
At the shell prompt of your single board computer, run the
following command:
killall Xtightvnc
Note the capital "X". This will shut down all running VNC server processes.
Setting Your Password
When you run the
vncserver
for the first time, it will ask you to establish a password
for VNC access.
$ vncserver
You will require a password to access your desktops.
Password:
Verify:
Would you like to enter a view-only password (y/n)? n
Creating default startup script /home/myusername/.vnc/xstartup
Changing your password(s)
One way to change the password(s) for the VNC server is
to stop the VNC server, then delete the password configuration
file with the commands below.
killall Xtightvnc ; rm ~/.vnc/passwd
The next time you run vncserver, it will ask for new password(s).
Troubleshooting your session
- No menu? Try right-clicking on an empty area of the desktop for a menu.
- Still no menu? You may need to look at your default startup script (its filename is ~/.vnc/xstartup ).
Sample xstartup (your configuration may differ slightly):
#!/bin/sh
xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
xsetroot -solid grey
export XKL_XMODMAP_DISABLE=1
/etc/X11/Xsession
Also see: Never Do This: How Not to Give a Single Board GNU/Linux PC a Static-y IP Address
Short tutorial, "Connecting to your single board computer with VNC". Originally written Tue Nov 28 12:29:49 EST 2017. Copyright 2017 J. Public. License: WTDHPL