Quick VNC server/client setup on Debian Linux Jessie 8

In this config we will show a quick VNC server/client configuration on Debian Linux Jessie 8. Visit the following page on how to configure VNC on Debian 9 Stretch Linux.

We will be using vnc4server to start a VNC server and xvnc4viewer client to connect remotely. First perform a server installation on the server you wish to remotely connect to:

# apt-get install vnc4server

Next, setup your password. Login as a user you will eventually use to create a remote VNC session and set your password consisting of 6 - 8 characters:

$ vnc4passwd 
Password:
Verify:

At this point you can start VNC server. In the example below have startted VNC server with 800x600 screen resolution and 24 pixel depth:

$ vnc4server -geometry 800x600 -depth 24
New 'debian:1 (lubos)' desktop is debian:1

Creating default startup script /home/lubos/.vnc/xstartup
Starting applications specified in /home/lubos/.vnc/xstartup
Log file is /home/lubos/.vnc/debian:1.log

Once you have started your VNC server you can use your VNC viewer to connect to it. On Debian Linux you can use xvnc4viewer for this job:

# apt-get install xvnc4viewer

Next, open a new VNC session:

$ xvnc4viewer 10.1.1.12:1

where 10.1.1.12 is an IP address of your previously started VNC server and 1is a desktop number. The result will look similar to the one below: The VNC session started with a bare minimum of applications. To start VNC server with KDE GUI as an example you need to change your VNC start up script. First kill currently running VNC desktop number 1:

$ vnc4server -kill :1

Next, edit your ~/.vnc/xstartup script to include the following lines:

#!/bin/sh

startkde &

Next time you start new VNC desktop the KDE will run as a default application.