Using VNC to connect to a CS host

the following came from the page: http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/UTCS/vnc/

About VNC
VNC (Virtual Network Computing) is a system that allows you to view and control the desktop environment of another computer remotely. It operates independently of the operating system, meaning the server and client do not need to be of the same architecture (that is, you can control a MS-Windows machine from a Unix machine, and vice versa). This web page describes how to access a CS X-window environment from a remote Windows or Unix machine with a VNC client or java-enabled web browser installed. The computers available for use in the seminar rooms in ACES are such machines.

For more information on VNC visit the VNC website.
Starting a VNC server

1. The first step is to connect to a CS host; for this example we'll use ahab.cs.utexas.edu, a public Sun Ultra 10. You may need to visit the available sessions page to quickly find a machine with an available vnc server slot.
2. On the machine which you are physically logged into, use an ssh client to connect to the cs host. An ssh client is installed on the ACES seminar room machines, it can be started via Start Menu->Programs->Secure Shell Client, and then choosing the menu "Window"->New Terminal.
3. Once connected to the CS machine, you may want to configure your vnc session. It will run the window manager twm by default, which is probably not the same thing you have configured for your normal X window setup (ie when you run startx). To choose a different window manager such as fvwm or kde, edit the ~/.vnc/xstartup file to contain the things you'd like to run in your x-session, minimally something like
fvwm
or
startkde
The xstartup file has the exact function of your ~/.xinitrc file, so just copying that over to ~/.vnc/xstartup may server to duplicate your regular session. Like .xinitrc, the xstartup file must be executable (chmod u+x ~/.vnc/xstartup) or its contents will not be run.
4. Once connected to the CS machine, type the command vncserver . The CS copy of the vncserver command is modified to only allow 2 sessions per host to be run. Please do not attempt to circumvent these measures. Creating more than 2 vncserver sessions on a machine tends to degrade machine performance for everyone.
5. If this is the first time you have run vncserver it will ask for a password. Enter a password, and then type the command again to proceed to the next step. If you have run vncserver before just proceed to the next step.
Note: The password you set is stored in your home directory in .vnc/passwd. Remove this file if you wish to change the password.
6. At this step you'll be told the display the vncserver was started up on, for example:
New 'X' desktop is ahab.cs.utexas.edu:1
Make note of the display number for the next stage.

* One final note about VNC server: to stop the server when you are finished using it type the command vncserver -kill :1. Make sure to use the same display number the server was initailly assigned.
Please be sure to log in to the CS host and kill the server with this command!
Failure to do so will leave it running forever, which prevents someone else from using that vnc display, which is a fairly scarce resource.

Using VNC viewer

1. Find and run the program called "vncviewer.exe" on the Windows machine. (or, 'vncviewer' on a unix machine.) you may need to download this software (for any OS) from the vnc website if it is not already installed on your machine. On the ACES seminar room machines, it can be found as Start Menu->Programs->Run VNC Viewer.
2. Enter the host and display of the server you started as follows:
picture of vnc connection dialog box
3. Enter the password you previously chose.
4. A window should now open allowing you to access the X11 session which you previously started (with 'vncserver' above) on the unix host.

* Alternatively, you can connect to your vnc session with most java-enabled web browsers. Just visit http://vncserverhostname.cs.utexas.edu:580X.


The value of X in the above example will vary with the display name (match it precisely).
Questions?
The Windows machines in the ACES seminar rooms are not maintained by the CS staff. Questions concerning them should be directed to ACES tech support.
Questions concerning the operation of the VNC server or vncviewer on the CS machines should be directed to gripe@cs.
This document was last modified on Tuesday, 30-Mar-2004 07:40:32 CST.

the above was copied from the link http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/UTCS/vnc/
(No plagarism)