Set up VNC on Ubuntu 14.04

Set up VNC on Ubuntu 14.04

Setting up VNC on Ubuntu used to be pretty painless. But recent changes in Ubuntu and X have left it kind of a mess. It took me way longer to set up VNC than it should have, and finding the documentation wasn’t super-easy either. There were lots of broken guides. So, here’s what you need to do:

  • Follow these setup instructions first:
    https://www.howtoforge.com/how-to-install-vnc-server-on-ubuntu-14.04
  • When completed, however, a known issue means the screen will come up blue-grey and have few desktop controls if you try to connect to it. This is because (near as I can tell) the X manager currently used for Ubuntu doesn’t work over VNC anymore. You need to set VNC up to use an older desktop manager that
  • To fix that problem, you need to fix things according to this guide:
    http://onkea.com/ubuntu-vnc-grey-screen/
  • On your client, start the vncserver and connect to it by matching the final digit of the port number to the :X number you used to create it.
    • Example:
      host: vncserver :4 –geometry 800×600 (to create the server)
      client should use the ip: 10.23.47.150:5904
  • If you get an error starting the vncserver, increment the :2 to :3 or :4 and so forth until you find one not in use by some other user on the server.

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