VNC^® Enterprise Edition User Guide

Starting VNC Server

To start VNC Server, follow the appropriate instructions for the host computer’s platform below.

Note: As soon as VNC Server starts, users can connect. To delay or prevent connections, see Preventing connections to VNC Server.

Windows

VNC Server can start in Service Mode, in User Mode, or both. For more information on these modes, which you might want to use, and why you might want to run more than one instance of VNC Server, see Running multiple instances of VNC Server.

To start VNC Server:

•  In Service Mode, select RealVNC > VNC Server from the Start menu. You may be required to confirm this operation. Note that, by default, VNC Server starts in this mode automatically when the computer is powered on. To see how to prevent this, read Preventing VNC Server starting automatically (Windows only).

•  In User Mode, select RealVNC > Advanced > VNC Server (User Mode) from the Start menu.

The VNC Server Status dialog opens:

(Windows XP. In this example, VNC Server is in Service Mode.)

The VNC Server Status dialog is the gateway to VNC Server and all its operations. For more information, see Using the VNC Server Status dialog.

Click the Close button to minimize the VNC Server Status dialog but keep VNC Server running in the background. To access the dialog again, double-click the VNC Server icon in the Notification area. For more information, see Using the VNC Server icon.

To see how to stop VNC Server, or to learn why VNC Server might stop automatically, read Stopping VNC Server.

UNIX or Linux

VNC Server can start in User Mode, in Virtual Mode, or both. In addition, VNC Server can start in Virtual Mode as many times as your license permits. For more information on these modes, which you might want to use, and why you might want to run more than one instance of VNC Server, see Running multiple instances of VNC Server.

To start VNC Server:

•  In User Mode, either:

— Type x0vncserver in a Terminal window, and press the ENTER key.

— Select Applications > Internet > VNC Server (User Mode) from the menu system, if available.

The VNC Server Status dialog opens:

(Ubuntu 8.10 Linux)

The VNC Server Status dialog is the gateway to VNC Server in User Mode and all its operations. For more information, see Using the VNC Server Status dialog.

Under most versions of UNIX and Linux, you can click the dialog’s Close button to minimize the VNC Server Status dialog but keep VNC Server in User Mode running in the background. To access the dialog again, click the VNC Server icon in the Notification Area. See Using the VNC Server icon for more information.

Note: Under some versions of UNIX, a VNC Server icon is not available. In these circumstances, clicking the Close button stops VNC Server.

•  In Virtual Mode, type vncserver in a Terminal window, and press the ENTER key. A message ending with text similar to the following appears:

New desktop is johndoe:1 (192.168.2.187:1)

This operation starts VNC Server in Virtual Mode attached to a virtual desktop, detached from the monitor, and independent of the console. This means that no VNC Server icon and VNC Server Status dialog comparable to that of VNC Server in User Mode can be displayed. To see how to work with VNC Server in Virtual Mode, read Working with VNC Server in Virtual Mode (UNIX or Linux only).

A virtual desktop is assigned an X Server session number corresponding to the port on which VNC Server is listening for connection requests. In the example above, this is X Server session number 1, corresponding to port 5901. For more information on ports, see Configuring network communications.

To see how to stop VNC Server, or to learn why VNC Server might stop automatically, read Stopping VNC Server.

Mac OS X

VNC Server can start in Service Mode, in User Mode, or both. In addition, VNC Server can start in User Mode as many times as your license permits. For more information on these modes, which you might want to use, and why you might want to run more than one instance of VNC Server, see Running multiple instances of VNC Server.

To start VNC Server:

•  In Service Mode, navigate to the Applications > RealVNC folder, and double-click the VNC Server program. You may be required to confirm this operation.

•  In User Mode, navigate to the Applications > RealVNC > Advanced folder, and double-click the VNC Server (User Mode) program.

In either mode, a VNC Server icon appears in the Status bar:

(Mac OS X 10.5)

Click the VNC Server icon to open the VNC Server shortcut menu, and select the Status option. The VNC Server Status dialog opens:

(Mac OS X 10.5. In this example, VNC Server is in Service Mode.)

The VNC Server Status dialog is the gateway to VNC Server and all its operations. For more information, see Using the VNC Server Status dialog.

Click the Close button to minimize the VNC Server Status dialog but keep VNC Server running in the background. To access the dialog again, select Status from the VNC Server shortcut menu. For more information, see Using the VNC Server icon.

To see how to stop VNC Server, or to learn why VNC Server might stop automatically, read Stopping VNC Server.

Preventing VNC Server starting automatically (Windows only)

By default, VNC Server in Service Mode starts automatically when a Windows host computer is powered on. This means users can connect before a host computer user logs on.

To prevent VNC Server in Service Mode starting automatically, open the VNC Server Properties dialog and turn off Start VNC Server automatically with Windows. For more information on this dialog, see Using the VNC Server Properties dialog.

Working with VNC Server in Virtual Mode (UNIX or Linux only)

VNC Server in Virtual Mode starts unattached to any physical display hardware. This means that desktop artifacts that help you work with VNC Server, such as a VNC Server icon and VNC Server Status dialog, are not available.

To configure VNC Server in Virtual Mode, you can instead:

•  Specify parameters on start-up.

•  Configure VNC Server as a connected user.

Note that changes made using either method are lost when VNC Server stops.

Specifying parameters on start-up

You can configure VNC Server in Virtual Mode on start-up using parameters.

Parameters can be specified in configuration files, in which case they apply to all instances of VNC Server in Virtual Mode automatically, or at the command line when a particular instance starts. VNC Server reads parameters in the following order:

1. The system configuration file: /etc/vnc/config.

2. The configuration file of the user starting VNC Server: $HOME/.vnc/config.

3. Appended to the vncserver command at the command line.

Parameters specified later in this list override duplicates specified earlier.

For a full list of parameters, type vncserver -list at the command line. For more information, type man vncserver.

Configuring VNC Server as a connected user

You can connect to VNC Server in Virtual Mode and configure it as a connected user. When you disconnect, your changes apply to all future connections to this instance of VNC Server while it runs.

Note: To see how to use VNC Viewer to connect to VNC Server, read Connecting to a host computer. You will need to qualify the network address of the host computer with the X Server session number assigned when VNC Server starts, for example 192.168.2.187:1.

Under most versions of UNIX or Linux, when you connect, a VNC Server icon is displayed in the VNC Viewer window. For more information on this icon, including how to use it to open the VNC Server Status dialog and configure VNC Server, start with Using the VNC Server icon.

Note: If another user connects, the VNC Server icon is shaded black.

Note that under some versions of UNIX, a VNC Server icon is not available. In these circumstances, the VNC Server Status dialog should be running as a standalone application.