x11vnc - will it do what I think it will?

PhantomBeaker

Hi all,

I have a desktop in work running a *nix, and I'm wondering if there's a way for me to set up a VNC server on my machine so that I can connect using VNC and see my X session exactly as I left it when I left the office?

Now, someone mentioned that x11vnc might be the one to do the job. I'm just wondering if it's actually going to do what I think it'll do? I.e. set up an X server that will display on my physical monitors in work (and hopefully be something that I can use in dual-head mode), and also have it available as a VNC session when I want to log in from home.

Is this what I want, or should I be looking at some other program/technology to do this?

Thanks,
Aoife

GreenHell

VNC can do a job here.

If you kick off a vnc session, this will follow you around until you actually kill the session. This session however you be a different X session to what you have running on your physical machine.

PhantomBeaker

Ok, are you talking about x11vnc specifically (which is part of the Xorg bundle) , or just vnc in general?

What I'm really looking for is where my local X display is shared by VNC (or something else - I'm not picky) so I can get to it from home.

Aoife

niallb

That's exactly where x11vnc comes in.

Normally on linux, vncserver kicks off a new session running as the same user,
but it is not the same one that is displayed on the local screen.
This is the behaviour Greenhell has seen.

x11vnc is different, and is not just one of the many vnc programs available.
You run x11vnc after first launching X locally, and it makes that
desktop available for remote connection. i.e: The same session you're working with
when you sit down at the machine.

PhantomBeaker

@niallb: Thanks. That's what I needed to know. A lot of websites were just a bit sketchy on the details.

That's a major help.
Cheers,
Aoife