Remote control and screen sharing of Ubuntu

installation • software

13 Sep 2016

This is a tutorial about how to set up connect a ubuntu server (15.10) from mac (OS X).

• On the server side, get a vnc software, e.g. x11vnc:

  • sudo apt-get install x11vnc,
  • set up password: x11vnc -storepasswd

• On the client side, assuming the ssh tunnel is already built (ssh key instead of password is recommended to increase the security, check out this for more information.) Then create a ssh tunnel:

  ssh id@foo -L 1234:localhost:1234 "x11vnc -display :0 -noxdamage -usepw -ncache 10 -forever"

  • ssh -L creates the tunnel: every traffic goes to local port 1234 will redirect to the foo machine.
  • x11vnc starts the remote desktop
  • noxdamage, ncache: cf x11vnc options
  • the screen should indicate which port is using: The VNC desktop is: foo:0 PORT=1234

  The last step is accessing the sharing screen from a vnc client, I use chicken of the vnc

  Add the host location and password accordingly like:

  Hope this helps!