VNC won't start properly at boot.

[Corné Beerse]

Ronald Hall wrote:

> I'm ready to toss my stupid box out the window.. having a strange problem
> with VNC I just cannot figure out.  I'm trying to get VNC to start
> automatically when the system comes up.  I've tried to do that 2 ways..

There are more ways, and unfortunatly, your choices are not the best.

> First, by doing it through rc.local:
> 
> su - username -c "vncserver :2 -name SystemName -depth 16 -geometry
> 800x600"
> 
> That fails with a black screen and an X for a cursor.. no windows
> manager..

The problem here is that the environment (`env` and `set` variables) are not as 
they are with a login. It takes a lot of work to get it going but you don't need to.

> 
> Then I tried loading through the vncserver service and the
> /etc/sysconfig/vncservers file.. which I had:
> 
> VNCSERVERS="2:username"
> VNCSERVERARGS[2]="-name SystemName -geometry 800x600 -depth 16"
> 
> That also fails with a black screen and an X for a cursor.

This is a better aproach. I don't know your distribution (guess between SuSE and 
RedHat) but I think your edits in the sysconfig area are not effectuated.

In the end, these edits either go into /etc/X11/gdm/gdm.conf (if gnome is your 
display manager) or in /etc/X11/xdm/Xservers. Details follow.


> 
> No, what doesn't make sense, and is driving me INSANE, is that if I just
> MANUALLY start up VNC via an SSH session after my system boots up (And I
> have VNC Services disabled and nothing in rc.local) it comes up with a
> Gnome desktop just fine.  I also uncommented the 2 lines out of the 
> ~HOME/.vnc/xstartup file that Redhat suggests.  Its just strange if I 
> invoke it manually it works but if I try to do it at startup it fails.

It's RedHat. Thats not bad. Both RedHat and SuSE have something pre-configured. 
If you scan trough their documentation (try /usr/share/doc/ and such) then you 
will find their ideas about how to start vnc-sessions.

> 
> ANY ideas here?  I know the simple answer is just to start it when I need
> it, but this is driving me INSANE and I can't figure out why it won't load
> properly. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.  I am currently 
> running Fedora Core 3, and VNC 4.0.7 I believe.

In '/etc/X11/xdm/Xservers':
     # vncsession :7, using vncpassword from root.
     :7 ROOTVNC local /usr/bin/Xvnc -geometry 800x600 -depth 8 -rfbwait
         120000 -rfbauth /root/.vnc/passwd :7
     # vncsession :4, no vncpassword.
     :4 FREEVNC local /usr/bin/Xvnc -geometry 800x600 -depth 8 -rfbwait
         120000 -alwaysshared -dontdisconnect :4

For gdm based machines, I updated '/etc/X11/gdm/gdm.conf' in a similar way:
- add server definitions (at the end,
     the double inserted lines are continuation of the previous line!!)
     [server-ROOTVNC]
     # vncsession, using vncpassword from root
     name=ROOTVNC server
     flexible=false
     command=/usr/bin/Xvnc -geometry 800x600 -depth 8 -rfbwait 120000
         -rfbauth /root/.vnc/passwd
     [server-FREEVNC]
     # vncsession, using no vncpassword
     name=FREEVNC server
     flexible=false
     command=/usr/bin/Xvnc -geometry 800x600 -depth 8 -rfbwait 120000
         -alwaysshared -dontdisconnect
- in the [servers] section, add and/or replace lines that indicate an Xserver:
     # use roots vncsession on :7
     7=ROOTVNC
     # use the free-access vncsession on :4.
     4=FREEVNC

There is a change the above gives you a blank (black) vnc-session. If so, also 
update the next settings (from 
http://www.sourcecodecorner.com/articles/vnc/linux.asp):
########
2) edit 'xdm-config' and comment out the line '! DisplayManager.requestPort: 0' 
(should be the last line)
           a) RedHat 6.2, 7.1, 7.2 - '/etc/X11/xdm/xdm-config'

3) edit 'kdmrc' and enable XDMCP on port 177 (if kde is new enough)
           a) RedHat 7.2 - '/etc/kde/kdm/kdmrc'
           b) If running Gnome as your desktop, start gdmconfig, select Expert 
Mode, ensure that Enable XDMCP is checked. (You must be logged in as root)

4) edit Xaccess and uncomment the line '*        #any host can get a login window'
           a) RedHat 6.2, 7.1, 7.2 -' /etc/X11/xdm/Xaccess'
########

If you want more than 2 or 3 vnc-sessions at startup, better follow the entire 
instruction on http://www.sourcecodecorner.com/articles/vnc/linux.asp . That 
will give you the 'inetd' setup as also described at 
http://www.realvnc.com/v4/man/Xvnc.html .


CBee