There are thousands of ways to access a running Linux machine. In case you need for whatever reason remote access to a full session, one easy way is x11vnc. Given that the user is already logged into X, access the machine via ssh, log in as the user who opened the X session, and enter:
x11vnc -display :0
Now you can access the machine with a vnc viewer, for example with 192.168.123.45:0. Beware however that this configuration has no encryption via network – and no vnc password at all!
In case you need to access a running login manager (where no user is logged in yet) first get the authentication file of the running X and hand it over to x11vnc (as root):
host:~# ps x|grep X 1425 tty8 Ss+ 0:01 /usr/bin/X -br :0 vt8 -auth /var/run/xauth/A:0-1EkR5c host:~# x11vnc -display :0 -auth /var/run/xauth/A:0-1EkR5c
A good client to connect to the running vnc session is KDE’s krdc.
November 13, 2008 at 16:37
If you’re running KDE 4, I can very much advice krfb for logging into a running X session. It has the advantage of being able to create invitations: passwords for vnc access that are only valid for 1 login. Quite convenient for technical support.
November 13, 2008 at 17:24
I also add -localhost so that it only accepts connections from localhost, so you can only access it from through an ssh tunnel for example.
Also -rfbauth so that it will ask for a password
The following allows me to access the login screen:
sudo x11vnc -localhost -display :0 -rfbauth /root/.vnc/passwd -auth /var/run/xauth/A\:0-*
November 13, 2008 at 17:34
Has anyone had problems running KDE4 within a VNC server’s X display? For me the display was far from pretty. I suspect that the colour depth was too low, but haven’t confirmed that.
Running KDE4 with no machine’s NX server worked fine.
It may be a matter of adjusting the VNC server’s settings, but it would be better if the defaults were sufficient. I was using the “vnc4server” package with kubuntu 8.04. I must try it with kubuntu 8.10 when I get the time.
November 13, 2008 at 18:52
rscheepmaker, didn’t knew the one-password-thing, that’s really handy! Although, in this case, it was a KDE 3 to KDE 4 setup, but still….
Anonymous, yes, the localhost makes quite some sense – as does the password. I tried to highlight that the security problems in this method are huge and that it should only be used in non-productive networks which cannot be accessed from the outside.
Paul, haven’t tried that. Maybe you should ask at a KDE/Kubuntu forum…
November 13, 2008 at 21:42
[...] more details and some comments (password option, …) check the following link and try: man x11vnc Spread the word: *BSD, Linux, [...]
November 13, 2008 at 23:17
I’ve been using ‘vnc4server’ on debian/ubuntu and it works very well. Also, it doesn’t need a dedicated DISPLAY; it shares the current DISPLAY so I think it’s a good feature.
The instructions:
1) sudo apt-get install vnc4server
2) add a ‘Load “vnc”‘ line at the Modules section at /etc/X11/xorg.conf
3) add a password file at the Screen section:
Option “passwordFile” “/etc/X11/vnc.passwd” (p.ex)
The passwords on this file are managed by the command ‘vnc4passwd’
4) restart X… and profit!
Hope it helps!
Greets,
Antonio
November 18, 2008 at 0:42
How are you doing the code block with “SyntaxHighlighter”? That is the only thing keeping me from moving to wordpress.
November 18, 2008 at 0:59
nm. finally figured it out. took forever.