Can I start x0vncserver automatically at boot time?

Yes, it is possible to run x0vncserver at the login prompt, but there are certain caveats.

It's done by adding it to the display manager's init script (running it from an ssh connection as a normal user won't work, as it won't have permission to connect to the X server).

On our RedHat box, /etc/gdm/gdm.conf tells it to look in /etc/gdm/Init where it finds a script called Default. While our box has /etc/gdm/Init/Default, on other Unix boxes it might be in a file called Xsetup_0 in the XDM configuration directory.�

For example this is what we added to /etc/gdm/Init/Default:

HOME=/root x0vncserver -nowin >/tmp/x0v.log 2>&1 &

This will run the x0vncserver as root, so obviously it will pick up root's settings rather than your personal x0vncserver settings.

To get x0vncserver to continue to run after login, in GDM you need to set the KillInitClients option to false in the /etc/gdm/gdm.conf file or equivalent. If it's not killed then x0vncserver will continue to run as root - this may be a security hole which you don't want - for example it will allow access to files as root.

If it is killed, then the viewer will be kicked off, but you can run a new x0vncserver from your $HOME/.xsession or equivalent which allows you to connect back in again from the viewer.� This of course will use your personal settings.� It will also have a different server signature than the root x0vncserver.� Ignoring the viewer warnings about this would mean that you are losing protection against man-in-the-middle attacks. So it may be better to run the "user-mode" x0vncserver on a different port to the login session one.

So as you can see it is possible but it's still not easy to configure, and is more awkward to use than the vnc.so module which is probably preferable if it works for you.

Please note that, beyond the information included here, we're unable to support running x0vncserver to access the login prompt.


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Last Updated
4th of February, 2011

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