VNC User Guide

Saving connections to VNC Address Book

You can save connections to VNC Address Book if you installed VNC on the client computer. For more information, see Setting up the client computer.

Note: If VNC Address Book is not available, you can save connections to desktop icons. This is equally convenient but may be less secure. See Saving connections to desktop icons.

When you save a connection, you can subsequently use VNC Address Book to connect to that host computer instead of VNC Viewer. This means you do not have to remember the network address of the host computer or the port number for VNC Server, nor a user name and password. In addition, VNC Address Book automatically recreates the VNC Viewer environment you chose for controlling that host computer last time, for example the scaling applied to the desktop, the encryption level, and the color quality.

Note: Because VNC Address Book stores VNC Server authentication credentials, access to it is controlled by a master password. For more information, see Working with the master password.

You can additionally use VNC Address Book to organize connections, configure the appearance and behavior of VNC Viewer for particular connections, and share connections with other VNC Viewer users.

Saving the current connection

If you are connected to a host computer, you can save the current connection to VNC Address Book at any time. To do this:

1. Click the Save Connection VNC Viewer toolbar button. VNC Address Book opens. If you entered a password in order to connect to VNC Server, you are prompted to save it:

Choose:

— Don’t save VNC Server password in order to forget the password. You will need to enter it each time you use VNC Address Book to connect.

— Save VNC Server password to save the password in obfuscated, though not encrypted, form. You will no longer need to remember the password. However, since the connection will not be protected by the VNC Address Book master password, any other user of your client computer will also be able to connect.

— Encrypt VNC Server password to create a protected connection in which the password is both saved and encrypted. You will no longer need to remember it. You will, however, have to enter the VNC Address Book master password in order to connect (and also to edit the connection). Note that a protected connection is identified by a padlock symbol throughout VNC Address Book.

2. Click the OK button. If you chose to create a protected connection, and this is the first time you have used VNC Address Book, you are prompted to specify a master password:

3. Click the OK button. The connection is saved to VNC Address Book:

To see how to use VNC Address Book to connect to this host computer again, read Using VNC Address Book to connect.

For more information on editing and organizing connections, start with Organizing connections.

Creating a new connection

You can create a connection in VNC Address Book directly. To do this:

1. Start VNC Address Book on the client computer. See how to do this. The VNC Address Book dialog opens:

2. Click the New Entry toolbar button. The Properties dialog opens:

3. Enter a network address for the host computer in the VNC Server field (including a port number if nec­essary), choose an Encryption option (or retain the default) and, optionally, specify your VNC Server user name and password in the Authentication area. To see how to find out this information, start with Step 3: Identify VNC Server running on the host computer.

By default, VNC Address Book creates a protected connection. This means you must enter the VNC Address Book master password in order to connect to the host computer, and also to edit the connection. A protected connection is identified by a padlock symbol throughout VNC Address Book.

Note: Turn off Encrypt password (recommended) if you do not want to enter the VNC Address Book master password in order to connect. Note this may constitute a security risk if others use your client computer.

You can optionally edit VNC Viewer options in order to set up your preferred environment for controlling this host computer. To do this, use the Basic tab to configure common options, or click the Advanced button to see all the tabs. For more information, start with Configuring VNC Viewer before you connect.

4. Click the OK button. If you chose to create a protected connection, and this is the first time you have used VNC Address Book, you are prompted to specify a master password:

5. Click the OK button. The connection is saved to VNC Address Book:

To see how to use VNC Address Book to connect to this host computer, read Using VNC Address Book to connect.

For more information on editing and organizing connections, start with Organizing connections.