1vncserver(1) Virtual Network Computing vncserver(1)
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6 vncserver - start or stop a VNC server
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9 vncserver [:display#] [-name desktop-name] [-geometry widthxheight]
10 [-depth depth] [-pixelformat format] [Xvnc-options...]
11 vncserver -kill :display#
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14 vncserver is used to start a VNC (Virtual Network Computing) desktop.
15 vncserver is a Perl script which simplifies the process of starting an
16 Xvnc server. It runs Xvnc with appropriate options and starts some X
17 applications to be displayed in the VNC desktop.
18 vncserver can be run with no options at all. In this case it will
20 choose the first available display number (usually :1), start Xvnc as
21 that display, and run a couple of basic applications to get you
22 started. You can also specify the display number, in which case it will
23 use that number if it is available and exit if not, eg:
24 vncserver :13
26 Editing the file $HOME/.vnc/xstartup allows you to change the applica‐
28 tions run at startup (but note that this will not affect an existing
29 desktop).
30
33 You can get a list of options by giving -h as an option to vncserver.
34 In addition to the options listed below, any unrecognised options will
35 be passed to Xvnc - see the Xvnc man page, or "Xvnc -help" for details.
36 -name desktop-name
39 Each desktop has a name which may be displayed by the viewer. It
40 defaults to "host:display# (username)" but you can change it
41 with this option. It is passed in to the xstartup script via
42 the $VNCDESKTOP environment variable, allowing you to run a dif‐
43 ferent set of applications according to the name of the desktop.
44 -geometry widthxheight
47 Specify the size of the desktop to be created. Default is
48 1024x768.
49 -depth depth
52 Specify the pixel depth in bits of the desktop to be created.
53 Default is 16, other possible values are 8, 15 and 24 - anything
54 else is likely to cause strange behaviour by applications.
55 -pixelformat format
58 Specify pixel format for server to use (BGRnnn or RGBnnn). The
59 default for depth 8 is BGR233 (meaning the most significant two
60 bits represent blue, the next three green, and the least signif‐
61 icant three represent red), the default for depth 16 is RGB565
62 and for depth 24 is RGB888.
63 -cc 3 As an alternative to the default TrueColor visual, this allows
66 you to run an Xvnc server with a PseudoColor visual (i.e. one
67 which uses a colour map or palette), which can be useful for
68 running some old X applications which only work on such a dis‐
69 play. Values other than 3 (PseudoColor) and 4 (TrueColor) for
70 the -cc option may result in strange behaviour, and PseudoColor
71 desktops must be 8 bits deep.
72 -nohttpd
75 Do not instruct Xvnc to run a mini-httpd if the VNC Java applet
76 is found.
77 -kill :display#
80 This kills a VNC desktop previously started with vncserver. It
81 does this by killing the Xvnc process, whose process ID is
82 stored in the file "$HOME/.vnc/host:display#.pid". It actually
83 ignores anything preceding a ":" in its argument. This can be
84 useful so you can write "vncserver -kill $DISPLAY", for example
85 at the end of your xstartup file after a particular application
86 exits.
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90 Several VNC-related files are found in the directory $HOME/.vnc:
91 $HOME/.vnc/xstartup
93 A shell script specifying X applications to be run when a VNC
94 desktop is started. If it doesn't exist, vncserver will create
95 a new one which runs a couple of basic applications.
96 $HOME/.vnc/passwd
98 The VNC password file.
99 $HOME/.vnc/host:display#.log
101 The log file for Xvnc and applications started in xstartup.
102 $HOME/.vnc/host:display#.pid
104 Identifies the Xvnc process ID, used by the -kill option.
105
108 vncviewer(1), vncpasswd(1), vncconfig(1), Xvnc(1)
109 http://www.realvnc.com
110
113 Tristan Richardson, RealVNC Ltd.
114 VNC was originally developed by the RealVNC team while at Olivetti
116 Research Ltd / AT&T Laboratories Cambridge. It is now being maintained
117 by RealVNC Ltd. See http://www.realvnc.com for details.
118RealVNC Ltd 03 Mar 2005 vncserver(1)