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]
12       vncviewer [options] [.tigervncfile]
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DESCRIPTION

15       vncviewer  is  a  viewer  (client) for Virtual Network Computing.  This
16       manual page documents version 4 for the X window system.
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18       If you run the viewer with no arguments it will prompt you  for  a  VNC
19       server  to  connect  to.   Alternatively,  specify the VNC server as an
20       argument, e.g.:
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22              vncviewer snoopy:2
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24       where 'snoopy' is the name of the machine, and '2' is the display  num‐
25       ber of the VNC server on that machine.  Either the machine name or dis‐
26       play number can be omitted.  So for example ":1" means display number 1
27       on  the  same  machine, and "snoopy" means "snoopy:0" i.e. display 0 on
28       machine "snoopy".
29
30       As another quick way to start a connection to a VNC server,  specify  a
31       .tigervnc configuration file as an argument to the viewer, e.g.:
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33              vncviewer ./some.tigervnc
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35       where './some.tigervnc' is an existing and valid TigerVNC configuration
36       file.  The file name needs to include  a  path  separator.   Additional
37       options  may  be given too, but the given configuration file will over‐
38       write any conflicting parameters.
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40       If the VNC server is successfully contacted, you will be prompted for a
41       password  to  authenticate  you.   If the password is correct, a window
42       will appear showing the desktop of the VNC server.
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44

AUTOMATIC PROTOCOL SELECTION

46       The viewer tests the speed of the connection to the server and  chooses
47       the  encoding and pixel format (color level) appropriately.  This makes
48       it much easier to use than previous versions  where  the  user  had  to
49       specify arcane command line arguments.
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51       The  viewer  normally  starts  out assuming the link is slow, using the
52       encoding with the best compression.  If it turns out that the  link  is
53       fast  enough  it  switches  to an encoding which compresses less but is
54       faster to generate, thus improving the interactive feel.
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56       The viewer normally starts in full-color mode,  but  switches  to  low-
57       color  mode if the bandwidth is insufficient. However, this only occurs
58       when communicating with servers supporting protocol 3.8 or newer, since
59       many old servers does not support color mode changes safely.
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61       Automatic selection can be turned off by setting the AutoSelect parame‐
62       ter to false, or from the options dialog.
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66       The viewer has a popup menu containing entries  which  perform  various
67       actions.  It is usually brought up by pressing F8, but this can be con‐
68       figured with the MenuKey parameter.  Actions which the popup  menu  can
69       perform include:
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71         * switching in and out of full-screen mode
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73         * quitting the viewer
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75         * generating key events, e.g. sending ctrl-alt-del
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77         * accessing the options dialog and various other dialogs
78
79       By  default,  key  presses in the popup menu get sent to the VNC server
80       and dismiss the popup.  So to get an F8 through to the VNC server  sim‐
81       ply press it twice.
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83

FULL SCREEN MODE

85       A full-screen mode is supported.  This is particularly useful when con‐
86       necting to a remote screen which is the same size as your local one. If
87       the  remote  screen  is  bigger,  you  can  scroll by bumping the mouse
88       against the edge of the screen.
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90

OPTIONS (PARAMETERS)

92       You can get a list of parameters by giving -h as a command-line  option
93       to  vncviewer.   Parameters  can  be  turned on with -param or off with
94       -param=0.  Parameters which take a value can  be  specified  as  -param
95       value.   Other  valid forms are param=value -param=value --param=value.
96       Parameter names are case-insensitive.
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98       Many of the parameters can also be set graphically via the options dia‐
99       log box.  This can be accessed from the popup menu or from the "Connec‐
100       tion details" dialog box.
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102
103       -display Xdisplay
104              Specifies the X display on which the VNC  viewer  window  should
105              appear.
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107       -geometry geometry
108              Standard X position and sizing specification.
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110       -listen [port]
111              Causes  vncviewer to listen on the given port (default 5500) for
112              reverse connections from a VNC server.  WinVNC supports  reverse
113              connections  initiated using the 'Add New Client' menu option or
114              the '-connect' command-line option.  Xvnc supports reverse  con‐
115              nections with a helper program called vncconfig.
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117       -SecurityTypes sec-types
118              Specify  which security schemes to attempt to use when authenti‐
119              cating with the server.  Valid values are a comma separated list
120              of  None,  VncAuth,  Plain, TLSNone, TLSVnc, TLSPlain, X509None,
121              X509Vnc and X509Plain. Default is  to  attempt  every  supported
122              scheme.
123
124       -passwd, -PasswordFile password-file
125              If  you  are on a filesystem which gives you access to the pass‐
126              word file used by the server, you can specify it here  to  avoid
127              typing it in.  It will usually be "~/.vnc/passwd".
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129       -X509CA path
130              Path to CA certificate to use when authenticating remote servers
131              using any of  the  X509  security  schemes  (X509None,  X509Vnc,
132              etc.). Must be in PEM format. Default is $HOME/.vnc/x509_ca.pem,
133              if it exists.
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135       -X509CRL path
136              Path to certificate revocation list to use in  conjunction  with
137              -X509CA.    Must   also   be   in   PEM   format.   Default   is
138              $HOME/.vnc/x509_crl.pem, if it exists.
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140       -Shared
141              When you make a connection to a VNC server, all  other  existing
142              connections are normally closed.  This option requests that they
143              be left open, allowing you to share  the  desktop  with  someone
144              already using it.
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146       -ViewOnly
147              Specifies that no keyboard or mouse events should be sent to the
148              server.  Useful if you want to view a desktop without  interfer‐
149              ing; often needs to be combined with -Shared.
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151       -AcceptClipboard
152              Accept clipboard changes from the server. Default is on.
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154       -SetPrimary
155              Set  the  primary  selection as well as the clipboard selection.
156              Default is on.
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158       -SendClipboard
159              Send clipboard changes to the server. Default is on.
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161       -SendPrimary
162              Send the primary selection to the server as well  as  the  clip‐
163              board selection. Default is on.
164
165       -Maximize
166              Maximize viewer window.
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168       -FullScreen
169              Start in full-screen mode.
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171       -FullScreenAllMonitors
172              Use all local monitors and not just the current one when switch‐
173              ing to full-screen mode.
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175       -FullscreenSystemKeys
176              Pass special keys (like Alt+Tab) directly to the server when  in
177              full-screen mode.
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179       -DesktopSize widthxheight
180              Instead  of  keeping the existing remote screen size, the client
181              will attempt to switch to the specified since  when  connecting.
182              If  the  server does not support the SetDesktopSize message then
183              the screen will retain the original size.
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185       -RemoteResize
186              Dynamically resize the remote desktop size as the  size  of  the
187              local  client  window  changes. Note that this may not work with
188              all VNC servers.
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190       -AutoSelect
191              Use automatic selection of encoding and pixel format (default is
192              on).   Normally  the viewer tests the speed of the connection to
193              the server and chooses the encoding and pixel  format  appropri‐
194              ately.  Turn it off with -AutoSelect=0.
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196       -FullColor, -FullColour
197              Tells  the VNC server to send full-color pixels in the best for‐
198              mat for this display.  This is default.
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200       -LowColorLevel, -LowColourLevel level
201              Selects the reduced color level to use on slow links.  level can
202              range  from 0 to 2, 0 meaning 8 colors, 1 meaning 64 colors (the
203              default), 2 meaning 256 colors. Note that  decision  if  reduced
204              color  level  is used is made by vncviewer. If you would like to
205              force vncviewer to use reduced  color  level  use  -AutoSelect=0
206              parameter.
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208       -PreferredEncoding encoding
209              This  option specifies the preferred encoding to use from one of
210              "Tight", "ZRLE", "hextile" or "raw".
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212       -NoJpeg
213              Disable lossy JPEG compression in  Tight  encoding.  Default  is
214              off.
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216       -QualityLevel level
217              JPEG quality level. 0 = Low, 9 = High. May be adjusted automati‐
218              cally if -AutoSelect is turned on. Default is 8.
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220       -CompressLevel level
221              Use specified lossless compression level. 0 =  Low,  6  =  High.
222              Default is 2.
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224       -CustomCompressLevel
225              Use custom compression level. Default if CompressLevel is speci‐
226              fied.
227
228       -DotWhenNoCursor
229              Show the dot cursor when the server sends an  invisible  cursor.
230              Default is off.
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232       -PointerEventInterval time
233              Time  in  milliseconds  to rate-limit successive pointer events.
234              Default is 17 ms (60 Hz).
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236       -Log logname:dest:level
237              Configures the debug log settings.  dest can currently be stderr
238              or stdout, and level is between 0 and 100, 100 meaning most ver‐
239              bose output.  logname is usually * meaning all, but you can tar‐
240              get  a  specific  source  file if you know the name of its "Log‐
241              Writer".  Default is *:stderr:30.
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243       -MenuKey keysym-name
244              This option specifies the key which brings up  the  popup  menu.
245              The currently supported list is: F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, F7, F8,
246              F9, F10, F11, F12, Pause, Scroll_Lock, Escape,  Insert,  Delete,
247              Home, Page_Up, Page_Down). Default is F8.
248
249       -via gateway
250              Automatically create encrypted TCP tunnel to the gateway machine
251              before connection, connect  to  the  host  through  that  tunnel
252              (TigerVNC-specific).  By  default, this option invokes SSH local
253              port forwarding, assuming that SSH client binary can be accessed
254              as  /usr/bin/ssh. Note that when using the -via option, the host
255              machine name  should  be  specified  as  known  to  the  gateway
256              machine,  e.g.  "localhost" denotes the gateway, not the machine
257              where  vncviewer  was   launched.   The   environment   variable
258              VNC_VIA_CMD   can   override   the  default  tunnel  command  of
259              /usr/bin/ssh -f -L "$L":"$H":"$R" "$G" sleep 20.    The   tunnel
260              command  is executed with the environment variables L, H, R, and
261              G taken the values of the local port number,  the  remote  host,
262              the  port  number  on  the  remote host, and the gateway machine
263              respectively.
264
265       -AlertOnFatalError
266              Display a dialog with any fatal error before exiting. Default is
267              on.
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FILES

271       $HOME/.vnc/default.tigervnc
272              Default  configuration  options.  This  file must have a "magic"
273              first line of "TigerVNC Configuration file Version 1.0" (without
274              quotes),  followed  by  simple  <setting>=<value>  pairs of your
275              choosing. The available settings are those  shown  in  this  man
276              page.
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278       $HOME/.vnc/x509_ca.pem
279              Default CA certificate for authenticating servers.
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281       $HOME/.vnc/x509_crl.pem
282              Default certificate revocation list.
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SEE ALSO

286       Xvnc(1), vncpasswd(1), vncconfig(1), vncserver(1)
287       http://www.tigervnc.org
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289

AUTHOR

291       Tristan Richardson, RealVNC Ltd. and others.
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293       VNC  was  originally  developed  by  the RealVNC team while at Olivetti
294       Research Ltd / AT&T Laboratories Cambridge.   TightVNC  additions  were
295       implemented  by Constantin Kaplinsky. Many other people have since par‐
296       ticipated in development, testing and support. This manual is  part  of
297       the TigerVNC software suite.
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301TigerVNC                                                          vncviewer(1)
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