Table of Contents

Overview 

VNC = Virtual Network Computing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VNC enables you to set up a connection from a remote host (e.g. a PC offsite) to a session on a SLAC Linux host.  For access to control system components such as edm displays or matlab programs, VNC often provides the best performance.

This document contains instructions for setting up a connection from a Windows PC to a VNC linux session.  

Set up your PC

• Install vpn if you don't have it already. Instructions from SCCS are here: https://confluence.slac.stanford.edu/display/NetMan/How+to+Connect+to+SLAC+VPN
• Download and install the vnc for windows viewer client software executable from here: http://www.realvnc.com/products/free/4.1/winvncviewer.html
• Download and install putty, if you don't have it already. Once you install and run vpn, you can get putty from the SLAC xweb: https://xweb.slac.stanford.edu

Configure the vncserver

• vpn into the SLAC network, see https://confluence.slac.stanford.edu/display/NetMan/How+to+Connect+to+SLAC+VPN
• Using putty (or XWin-32 if you prefer) log into iris01.slac.stanford.edu, providing your unix username and password
• Create your vnc password:
  • > vncpasswd
    Provide a password following the usual SLAC password guidelines.
    The password will be stored in ~/.vnc/passwd
    To reset the password, run vncpasswd again.

• Protect the password:
  • > fs setacl ~/.vnc system:slac none
  • > fs setacl ~/.vnc system:authuser none

• Start vncserver to create your xstartup file:
  • > vncserver -localhost -nolisten tcp -geometry 1440x900
  • Make note of the display number that is returned, for example:
    jrock@iris01> vncserver -localhost -nolisten tcp -geometry 1440x900
    New 'iris01:3 (jrock)' desktop is iris01:3
    Starting applications specified in /u/cd/jrock/.vnc/xstartup
    Log file is /u/cd/jrock/.vnc/iris01:3.log
    In this case, 3 is the display number, which is a unique ID for your particular vncserver session.
    in the following instructions, the display number is indicated by displaynum

• Kill the server:
  vncserver -kill :displaynum
  for example
  vncserver -kill :3

• Edit your vnc xstartup file to invoke kde at startup:
  • > emacs ~/.vnc/xstartup
    change last line from "twm" & to "startkde&", save and close

Run the vnc server

• > vncserver -localhost -nolisten tcp -geometry 1440x900
  (or use desired display parameters, see.....)
  Again, make note of the displaynum - you'll need to use it to connect from Windows.

The session will continue to run until you -kill it, or until SCCS does.
HOWEVER, there are issues with tokens:

References 

SLAC Linux VNC page: http://www.slac.stanford.edu/comp/unix/vnc.html

contacts:

• Judy Rock
• Jingchen Zhou