Ubuntu Manpage: vncserver - start or stop a VNC server

Provided by: vnc4server_4.1.1+xorg4.3.0-37.3ubuntu2_amd64

NAME

       vncserver - start or stop a VNC server

SYNOPSIS

       vncserver  [:display#] [-name desktop-name] [-geometry widthxheight] [-depth depth] [-pixelformat format]
       [Xvnc-options...]
       vncserver -kill :display#

DESCRIPTION

       vncserver is used to start a VNC (Virtual Network Computing) desktop.  vncserver is a Perl  script  which
       simplifies the process of starting an Xvnc server.  It runs Xvnc with appropriate options and starts some
       X applications to be displayed in the VNC desktop.

       vncserver  can  be  run  with  no options at all. In this case it will choose the first available display
       number (usually :1), start Xvnc as that display, and run a  couple  of  basic  applications  to  get  you
       started.  You  can  also  specify  the  display  number,  in  which case it will use that number if it is
       available and exit if not, eg:

              vncserver :13

       Editing the file $HOME/.vnc/xstartup allows you to change the applications run at startup (but note  that
       this will not affect an existing desktop).

OPTIONS

You can get a list of options by giving -h as an option to vncserver. In addition to the options listed
below, any unrecognised options will be passed to Xvnc - see the Xvnc man page, or "Xvnc -help" for
details.

-name desktop-name
Each desktop has a name which may be displayed by the viewer. It defaults to "host:display#
(username)" but you can change it with this option. It is passed in to the xstartup script via
the $VNCDESKTOP environment variable, allowing you to run a different set of applications
according to the name of the desktop.

-geometry widthxheight
Specify the size of the desktop to be created. Default is 1024x768. Can be specified as an array
or scalar for geometry.

-depth depth
Specify the pixel depth in bits of the desktop to be created. Default is 16, other possible values
are 8, 15 and 24 - anything else is likely to cause strange behaviour by applications.

-pixelformat format
Specify pixel format for server to use (BGRnnn or RGBnnn). The default for depth 8 is BGR233
(meaning the most significant two bits represent blue, the next three green, and the least
significant three represent red), the default for depth 16 is RGB565 and for depth 24 is RGB888.

-cc 3 As an alternative to the default TrueColor visual, this allows you to run an Xvnc server with a
PseudoColor visual (i.e. one which uses a colour map or palette), which can be useful for running
some old X applications which only work on such a display. Values other than 3 (PseudoColor) and
4 (TrueColor) for the -cc option may result in strange behaviour, and PseudoColor desktops must be
8 bits deep.

-kill :display#
This kills a VNC desktop previously started with vncserver. It does this by killing the Xvnc
process, whose process ID is stored in the file "$HOME/.vnc/host:display#.pid". It actually
ignores anything preceding a ":" in its argument. This can be useful so you can write "vncserver
-kill $DISPLAY", for example at the end of your xstartup file after a particular application
exits.

FILES

       Several VNC-related files are found in the directory $HOME/.vnc:

       $HOME/.vnc/xstartup
              A shell script specifying X applications to be run when a VNC desktop is started.  If  it  doesn't
              exist, vncserver will create a new one which runs a couple of basic applications.

       $HOME/.vnc/passwd
              The VNC password file.

       $HOME/.vnc/host:display#.log
              The log file for Xvnc and applications started in xstartup.

       $HOME/.vnc/host:display#.pid
              Identifies the Xvnc process ID, used by the -kill option.

AUTHOR