VNC Remote Connection Setup

There are couple of different SSH Clients available for Windows. You can use either use Bitvise or Putty ssh clients.

• Download and install Bitvise SSH client from https://www.bitvise.com/ssh-client-download

• From your SSH client, connect to cpeg424.ece.udel.edu using the default port (22).

• Enter your EECIS username and password when prompted as in the screenshot below.

• You can select whether you want to open the sftp window each time you login. Stfp is useful for file transfer

• To run VNC, you will need to export graphics display from linux. In the SSH client's Terminal tab, enable X11 forwarding. Use the default display setting: 127.0.0.1:0.0.

• Also, setup client to server (C2S) port forwarding. You need to use the correct address and VNC port number (5900+instance number). You may have to change this setting and reconnect if using a different VNC server instance, say 5903 for instance :3.

• Then click on “Login” at the bottom of the screen.
• A SSH session will then open up to the ampic{n} server something like in the figure below:
• You can save this bitvise profile for future use and load it the next time you need to login.

• In the ssh shell create a VNC Viewer (i.e. Client) instance using the vncserver command.
• Create vnc password using the command below. Sometimes the VNC viewers insists on setting one for security purposes.

vncpasswd 

• If you just want to create a VNC instance with number=1, then use the command vncserver :<instance number>

vncserver :1

• Note: If multiple users try to use the same vnc port (:1 in that case) this could lead to a conflict between users. So we need to employ unique vnc port for every user. You could just let vncserver pick a number for you (say N). However, you need to make sure you use the same exact number when configuring the port (5900+N) in the SSH client and VNC viewer.

vncserver

• You can also set VNC Server Resolution using the command below. You will need to change the target screen resolution as needed, say 1920×1080 or so.

 vncserver -geometry 1920x1080 :1

• Don't create new vncserver instances every time you log into the server. This will slow down the server. Either use the same instance that you picked the first time or kill your previous vncserver instance if you need to start a new one:

vncserver -kill :<instance number>

• Download and Install Real VNC Viewer.
• Setup a new connection (when setting up for the first time) using File→ New Connection. Here, you need to enter the IP address followed by the VNC port with instance as shown below (This is important!).

• After connecting and entering the VNC password you created when creating the server instance, the viewer should show the xwindows.

• You can use the saved connection profile from next time onwards. Figure out how to properly size the server instance to fit your screen.

• If the Gnome screensaver bothers you by locking the screen you can change the settings using System→Preferences→Screensaver.