newbie unable to configure GNOME to display in vnc...

[marvc]

I was trying to follow the document listed on the home page of this site that covers getting a GNOME session to start in VNC instead of the default terminal session and I'm having a problem locating this directory that it refers to:
~/.vnc/xstartup
Can anyone tell me where to locate this? I installed vnc into /usr/local, yet when I go to bin I don't see this executable. What am I doing wrong? I'm running realvnc and I want to use this to work on some web pages remotely so I'm hoping to get the SSH portion completed before I leave.

Many thanks in advance.

Also would anyone happen to know why once logged in I'm unable to start a terminal session in the default mode? It seems like once I log out or exit and try to log back in I'm no longer able to open a terminal window. I just get a blank screen and the mouse doesn't work. Luckily I'm still at home or I'd have never found this out.

[marvc]

hmm...still no response...jokers must be out eating BBQ...
How about I get out of town and can't get access to my server. vnc tells me that it cannot connect to my server. What's up with that? I know the server is up and running because I can see my default page. anyone know how to resolve this remotely?

[MrPointy]

~/ refers to the users home directory

so ~/.vnc/xstartup would be:

/home/username/.vnc/xstartup

[chrisP]

well i jsut spent hours following all the sites showing how to get a gnome session to run through vnc... Well the were all right but left out one thing...

I kept getting a blank grey screen after editing /home/username/.vnc/xstartup like they all say..

i changerd xstartup to the following:

#!/bin/sh
exec /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc&



Only one thing, I was getting a blank grey screen still... Along with an error in the .vnc. log file about you're already running a gnome session..

Well the fix is to append SESSION_MANAGER= above the previous xstartup file... So, the fix is use the following xstartup file:


#!/bin/sh
SESSION_MANAGER=
exec /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc&

[marvc]

Why is it that I get No such file or directory when I attempt to navigate to /home/username/.vnc/xstartup? I installed vnc while logged in as root, yet when I su to root or attempt to locate this while logged in as root it gives me this error.
Anyone familiar with this?

Question#2:
I can log into vnc remotely while at home from an XP laptop and on my network, but can't while away from home. Can anyone advise on this or recommend another app that works similar to vnc that can be used on either platform?

TIA

[endoalpha]

Originally posted by marvc
Why is it that I get No such file or directory when I attempt to navigate to /home/username/.vnc/xstartup? I installed vnc while logged in as root, yet when I su to root or attempt to locate this while logged in as root it gives me this error.
Anyone familiar with this?

Question#2:
I can log into vnc remotely while at home from an XP laptop and on my network, but can't while away from home. Can anyone advise on this or recommend another app that works similar to vnc that can be used on either platform?

TIA
Are you kidding? the 'username' in the path /home/username/.vnc/xstartup is your username. It is the name you use to login with. Use VNC as a regular user, not root. When you start vncserver as a regular user, the file /home/<put your username here>/.vnc/xstartup is the editable file.
Q#2. Do you have a router? If so, you have to forward the vnc port, (i don;t know what it is offhand) to the computer running the vncserver.

[Hayl]

mind if i ask a question(s)? why are you running X on a server? it is a total waste of resources - especially when you can ssh into the box easily with little or no hassle and do anything that you might require. in fact, if you absolutely had to use a X app, you could just export the app to your local display by: ssh -X server_name_or_ip /path/to/x/app

i.e. to run the Yosemite Tapeware admin program through sudo on the linux host named server.domain.com:

ssh -X server.domain.com "sudo /usr/local/tapeware/twxadmin"

this way - the server has a lot more free RAM because X is not ever running on it (nor would VNC have to) and you can still run X apps securely and remotely from whatever system you are using.

[marvc]

Man you just had to go there? I don't "actually" type username, I added it in the question as an example and when I wrote "when I su to root or attempt to locate this while logged in as root" this should be clear that I'm trying to find it while logged in as the user and as root. Contain your urge to be a smartass and try to understand what it is I'm asking or don't respond.

I also probably should have wrote that this server is my web server that does sit behind a router which the correct port is forwarded on, but I'll take the blame for that one. And as far as the "vnc port" that's supposed to forwarded, that is something I didn't know as I haven't seen that mentioned anywhere. The tutorial mentioned on the home page of this site doesn't mention forwarding a vnc port unless I missed it.

TIA...

[marvc]

"why are you running X on a server?"
I'm a newbie making a "little" progress in this linux world and VNC seemed to be the most used app for accessing the server remotely and working on files. I'm open to trying other methods for doing this. I simply want to be able to access the server from remote locations to work on and/or transfer files from my xp laptop to the server or publish php files to the server.
I tried to get ssh to work but ran into some problems. Would you happen to have a doc or tutorial I could use to get this properly installed? I'd greatly appreciate it 'cause right now vnc isn't working like I'm sure it should.

TIA

[Hayl]

what distro are you running? (if it's rpm-based then i won't be too much help as i am not well-versed on the init system that most of those distros use and what/where they keep their config files)

there shoud be an init sript in /etc/init.d that you can use to start the ssh server.

i.e.

/etc/init.d/sshd start

OR

/etc/init.d/ssh start

you may need to set up your keys on the server first, before you start up the server. if you start the server and it complains about the keys being missing then the commands you will need are.

/usr/bin/ssh-keygen -t rsa1 -b 1024 -f /etc/ssh/ssh_host_key -N

/usr/bin/ssh-keygen -d -f /etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key -N

/usr/bin/ssh-keygen -t rsa -f /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key -N

you will need to install puTTY on your XP box in order to connect. it is a typical windows app and easy to understand.

if you install an X server on your win XP box then you would be able to export any X apps you want to your XP without running X on the web server (like i mentioned in my other post). CygWin is a free Windows X Server and they have excellent documentation on their web site (easy to install - typical windows point-and-click installer).

if you are going to use SSH, then i suggest editing the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file to make sure that ONLY Protocol 2 is being used (it's near teh beginning of that file) - and also make sure that PermitRootLogin is set to no. you should ssh as a regular user and then use sudo or su to perform any tasks that require a root login.

PS: i hope i didn't come across as that i thought you were dumb or anything like that in my first post, i really just wanted to know why you weren't using ssh since it is esaier to get working and a better solution all around - especially for accessing a server remotely. like i said in my first post, the vnc way is a waste of resources #1 by have X running on your server and #2 by having vnc running on your server when both are unnecessary.

[endoalpha]

vncserver does not run a regular X server.
Xvnc is a VNC (Virtual Network Computing) server. It acts like an X
server with a virtual display. The display can be seen by a VNC viewer
application, which may be running on a different machine: see
vncviewer(1). Xvnc is built inside the source code tree of XFree86, and
shares many options with it.

however, the solution of running X on the remote machine does use less resources. I use tight-vnc and i can fit the vnc-viewer on a floppy and take it anywhere, and do not have to 'install' an X-server on the remote machine. Actually, I fit Putty and vnc-viewer on the same floppy and ssh into my box and then start vncserver and then use the viewer from the floppy.
And, marvc, I should not have to "try to understand what it is (you are) asking". When you say " I attempt to navigate to /home/username/.vnc/xstartup" after someone instructs you to do so, why should I think you know what you are doing?

[marvc]

Thanks for the info hayl. I started ssh by using /etc/init.d/sshd start. I also downloaded and installed putty and cygwin. I get using putty to establish a remote connection with the server using ssh or one of the other protocols but I don't see the purpose of cygwin as I have no current plans to begin programming. I'll look over the user guide tomorrow to learn a lil more on it.
Again...thanks for the help on this. Tell me, is it possible to configure either of these to utilize the gnome environment? They both look like term windows. From the looks of it xwin-32 is kinda pricey for what I want to do as a single user. Are there any free apps available like this?

I wasn't offended by any of your earlier remarks, it was endo starting 'ish. :D.
I'm here to ask questions and learn, so any help is appreciated.

Endo
It's cool. I seem to have made some progress on this issue so I'm not as frustrated as I was earlier.