How to Install and Configure a VNC Server on RedHat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6

http://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/SLN283098/EN

Article Summary: This article provides information on how to install and configure a VNC server on RedHat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6.

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Table of Contents:

1. Installation
2. Configure VNC password for the user(s)
3. Configure resolution for the user(s)
4. Start the VNC server
5. Configure firewall

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1. Installation of the software

• Ensure you are logged in as 'root'
• If you have connectivity to RHN or a Satellite Server :
  • # yum install tigervnc-server
• If you do not have connectivity to RHN or a Satellite Server :
• Create a local 'yum' repository
• More information : How to Create a Local 'yum' Repository in RedHat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5 and 6

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2. Configure VNC password for the user(s)

• Switch user to the user you want to use for VNC :
  • # su - vncuser1

NOTE: Replace 'vncuser1' with the correct username

• Set the VNC password for the user :
• $ vncpasswd
• $ exit
• Repeat for each VNC user as necessary

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3. Configure resolution for the user(s)

• Edit '/etc/sysconfig/vncservers' with your favorite editor
• Append the following lines :
  • VNCSERVERS="1:vncuser1 2:vncuser2"
  • VNCSERVERARGS[1]="-geometry 1024x768"
  • VNCSERVERARGS[2]="-geometry 1024x768"

NOTE: Replace 'vncuser1' and 'vncuser2' with the correct usernames. You can add more users as needed. In addition, you can change the resolution value as needed.

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4. Start the VNC server

• Start the service :
  • # service vncserver start
• Ensure service is started on reboots :
• # chkconfig vncserver on

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5. Configure the firewall

• # iptables -I INPUT -m state --state NEW -p tcp --destination-port 5901 -j ACCEPT
• # iptables -I INPUT -m state --state NEW -p tcp --destination-port 5902 -j ACCEPT

NOTE : Each user requires an additional firewall port opened starting at 5901. Because we added two users above, we need to open two ports.

• # service iptables save

Other related articles:

http://tecadmin.net/setup-vnc-server-on-centos-redhat-and-fedora/

https://support.godaddy.com/help/article/6012/setting-up-desktop-access-for-your-centos-or-fedora-linux-dedicated-server

On REHL7

https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/7/html/System_Administrators_Guide/ch-TigerVNC.html#sec-vnc-server