1vncviewer(1)               Virtual Network Computing              vncviewer(1)
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NAME

6       vncviewer - VNC viewer for X
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SYNOPSIS

9       vncviewer [options] [host][:display#]
10       vncviewer [options] [host][::port]
11       vncviewer [options] -listen [port]
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DESCRIPTION

14       vncviewer  is  a  viewer  (client) for Virtual Network Computing.  This
15       manual page documents version 4 for the X window system.
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17       If you run the viewer with no arguments it will prompt you  for  a  VNC
18       server  to  connect  to.   Alternatively,  specify the VNC server as an
19       argument, e.g.:
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21              vncviewer snoopy:2
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23       where 'snoopy' is the name of the machine, and '2' is the display  num‐
24       ber of the VNC server on that machine.  Either the machine name or dis‐
25       play number can be omitted.  So for example ":1" means display number 1
26       on  the  same  machine, and "snoopy" means "snoopy:0" i.e. display 0 on
27       machine "snoopy".
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29       If the VNC server is successfully contacted, you will be prompted for a
30       password  to  authenticate  you.   If the password is correct, a window
31       will appear showing the desktop of the VNC server.
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AUTOMATIC PROTOCOL SELECTION

35       The viewer tests the speed of the connection to the server and  chooses
36       the  encoding and pixel format (color level) appropriately.  This makes
37       it much easier to use than previous versions  where  the  user  had  to
38       specify arcane command line arguments.
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40       The  viewer  normally  starts  out assuming the link is slow, using the
41       encoding with the best compression.  If it turns out that the  link  is
42       fast  enough  it  switches  to an encoding which compresses less but is
43       faster to generate, thus improving the interactive feel.
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45       The viewer normally starts in full-color mode,  but  switches  to  low-
46       color  mode if the bandwidth is insufficient. However, this only occurs
47       when communicating with servers supporting protocol 3.8 or newer, since
48       many old servers does not support color mode changes safely.
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50       Automatic selection can be turned off by setting the AutoSelect parame‐
51       ter to false, or from the options dialog.
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55       The viewer has a popup menu containing entries  which  perform  various
56       actions.  It is usually brought up by pressing F8, but this can be con‐
57       figured with the MenuKey parameter.  Actions which the popup  menu  can
58       perform include:
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60         * switching in and out of full-screen mode
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62         * quitting the viewer
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64         * generating key events, e.g. sending ctrl-alt-del
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66         * accessing the options dialog and various other dialogs
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68       By  default,  key  presses in the popup menu get sent to the VNC server
69       and dismiss the popup.  So to get an F8 through to the VNC server  sim‐
70       ply press it twice.
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72

FULL SCREEN MODE

74       A full-screen mode is supported.  This is particularly useful when con‐
75       necting to a remote screen which is the same size as your local one. If
76       the  remote  screen  is  bigger,  you  can  scroll by bumping the mouse
77       against the edge of the screen.
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79       Unfortunately this mode doesn't work completely with  all  window  man‐
80       agers, since it breaks the X window management conventions.
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82

OPTIONS (PARAMETERS)

84       You  can get a list of parameters by giving -h as a command-line option
85       to vncviewer.  Parameters can be turned on  with  -param  or  off  with
86       -param=0.   Parameters  which  take  a value can be specified as -param
87       value.  Other valid forms are param=value  -param=value  --param=value.
88       Parameter names are case-insensitive.
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90       Many of the parameters can also be set graphically via the options dia‐
91       log box.  This can be accessed from the popup menu or from the "Connec‐
92       tion details" dialog box.
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95       -display Xdisplay
96              Specifies  the  X  display on which the VNC viewer window should
97              appear.
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100       -geometry geometry
101              Standard X position and sizing specification.
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103
104       -listen [port]
105              Causes vncviewer to listen on the given port (default 5500)  for
106              reverse  connections from a VNC server.  WinVNC supports reverse
107              connections initiated using the 'Add New Client' menu option  or
108              the  '-connect' command-line option.  Xvnc supports reverse con‐
109              nections with a helper program called vncconfig.
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112       -passwd password-file
113              If you are on a filesystem which gives you access to  the  pass‐
114              word  file  used by the server, you can specify it here to avoid
115              typing it in.  It will usually be "~/.vnc/passwd".
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117
118       -passwdInput true, false
119              Force standard vnc dialog to getting password and reads password
120              from stdin.  Default is false(shows dialog window)
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122
123       -Shared
124              When  you  make a connection to a VNC server, all other existing
125              connections are normally closed.  This option requests that they
126              be  left  open,  allowing  you to share the desktop with someone
127              already using it.
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129
130       -ViewOnly
131              Specifies that no keyboard or mouse events should be sent to the
132              server.   Useful if you want to view a desktop without interfer‐
133              ing; often needs to be combined with -Shared.
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136       -FullScreen
137              Start in full-screen mode.
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139
140       -DesktopSize widthxheight
141              Instead of keeping the existing remote screen size,  the  client
142              will  attempt  to switch to the specified since when connecting.
143              If the server does not support the SetDesktopSize  message  then
144              the screen will retain the original size.
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146
147       -AutoSelect
148              Use automatic selection of encoding and pixel format (default is
149              on).  Normally the viewer tests the speed of the  connection  to
150              the  server  and chooses the encoding and pixel format appropri‐
151              ately.  Turn it off with -AutoSelect=0.
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153
154       -FullColor, -FullColour
155              Tells the VNC server to send full-color pixels in the best  for‐
156              mat for this display.  This is default.
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158
159       -LowColorLevel, -LowColourLevel level
160              Selects the reduced color level to use on slow links.  level can
161              range from 0 to 2, 0 meaning 8 colors, 1 meaning 64 colors  (the
162              default),  2  meaning  256 colors. Note that decision if reduced
163              color level is used is made by vncviewer. If you would  like  to
164              force  vncviewer  to  use  reduced color level use -AutoSelect=0
165              parameter.
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168       -PreferredEncoding encoding
169              This option specifies the preferred encoding to use from one  of
170              "Tight", "ZRLE", "hextile" or "raw".
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173       -UseLocalCursor
174              Render  the  mouse  cursor  locally  if  the  server supports it
175              (default is on).  This can make the interactive performance feel
176              much better over slow links.
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178
179       -WMDecorationWidth w, -WMDecorationHeight h
180              The  total  width  and height taken up by window manager decora‐
181              tions.  This is used to calculate the maximum size  of  the  VNC
182              viewer window.  Default is width 6, height 24.
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184
185       -log logname:dest:level
186              Configures the debug log settings.  dest can currently be stderr
187              or stdout, and level is between 0 and 100, 100 meaning most ver‐
188              bose output.  logname is usually * meaning all, but you can tar‐
189              get a specific source file if you know the  name  of  its  "Log‐
190              Writer".  Default is *:stderr:30.
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193       -MenuKey keysym-name
194              This  option  specifies  the key which brings up the popup menu.
195              The key is specified  as  an  X11  keysym  name  (these  can  be
196              obtained  by  removing  the  XK_  prefix  from  the  entries  in
197              "/usr/include/X11/keysymdef.h").  Default is F8.
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200       -via gateway
201              Automatically create encrypted TCP tunnel to the gateway machine
202              before  connection,  connect  to  the  host  through that tunnel
203              (TigerVNC-specific). By default, this option invokes  SSH  local
204              port forwarding, assuming that SSH client binary can be accessed
205              as /usr/bin/ssh. Note that when using the -via option, the  host
206              machine  name  should  be  specified  as  known  to  the gateway
207              machine, e.g.  "localhost" denotes the gateway, not the  machine
208              where   vncviewer   was   launched.   The  environment  variable
209              VNC_VIA_CMD  can  override  the  default   tunnel   command   of
210              /usr/bin/ssh -f -L "$L":"$H":"$R" "$G" sleep 20.    The   tunnel
211              command is executed with the environment variables L, H, R,  and
212              G  taken  the  values of the local port number, the remote host,
213              the port number on the remote  host,  and  the  gateway  machine
214              respectively.
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216
217       -SecurityTypes security-type
218              Comma-separated  list  of  which security type(s) to use.  Types
219              include  VeNCrypt,   X509Plain,   TLSPlain,   X509Vnc,   TLSVnc,
220              X509None, TLSNone, VncAuth, None.  The list must start with VeN‐
221              Crypt   for   the   X509   and   TLS   types.    For    example,
222              -SecurityTypes=VeNCrypt,TLSVnc
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224              Description of options:
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226              VeNCrypt
227                     enable X509 and TLS options
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229              X509Plain
230                     X.509 encryption with Plaintext authentication
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232              TLSPlain
233                     TLS encryption with Plaintext authentication
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235              X509Vnc
236                     X.509 encryption with VNC password authentication
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238              TLSVnc TLS encryption with VNC password authentication
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240              X509None
241                     X.509 encryption with no authentication
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243              TLSNone
244                     TLS encryption with no authentication
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246              VNCAuth
247                     VNC password authencation (no encryption)
248
249              None   No authentication, no encryption
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SEE ALSO

253       Xvnc(1), vncpasswd(1), vncconfig(1), vncserver(1)
254       http://www.tigervnc.org
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AUTHOR

258       Tristan Richardson, RealVNC Ltd.
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260       VNC  was  originally  developed  by  the RealVNC team while at Olivetti
261       Research Ltd / AT&T Laboratories Cambridge.   TightVNC  additions  were
262       implemented  by Constantin Kaplinsky. Many other people participated in
263       development, testing and support.
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267TigerVNC                          05 May 2004                     vncviewer(1)
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