HOWTO: Share desktops with x11vnc instead of Built in Remote Desktop

[vanstrien]

You may want to add '-shared' to the line in the original posting. This allows you to connect more than one viewer to the server. This is especially important if your connection dies for some reason and you need to reconnect. Otherwise you'll get kicked out until something in the original VNC connection times out.

x11vnc -nap -bg -many -shared -rfbauth ~/.vnc/passwd -desktop "VNC ${USER}@${HOSTNAME}"

Don't confuse this with '-many', which tells VNC to allow more connections, not exit after the first connection exits.

[JungMin]

Great help. I have it working....Except,

On the client side, the window pops up with the client opens and shows the 'server-machine'. I can see the screen and move the mouse - see where the mouse is going, but if i try to open an application or minimize something or open a menu, i can't see any changes on the client side. i am using a laptop and am sitting at the server. Its working, but its like its not refreshing on the client side??

[dannyboy79]

what you are saying is that you have logged into your x11vnc server from your laptop and can see everything. then you go to the server and open a new window but the laptop doesn't show that window opened? I believe you have to right click on the window border within the client x11vnc session, and chose refresh screen, and the window which the server opened should now show on the client side.

I can't say why it wouldn't automagically apear cause I use this setup but haven't been home to watch the server's screen. but I can tell you that when i do get home, whatever I did on the client, say open up a webbrowser or what have you, it's always there on the server when I get home. So I wonder if the client affects the server but the server doesn't affect teh client? not sure. you would think it should since x11vnc is suppose to share the already open session of the server. let me know what you find out if the refresh window doesn't help.

[maggs]

Hi. having a small problem getting autocutsel to install. This is what's happening. Running 7.04

user@MAPSVR:~/autocutsel-0.8.0$ ./configure --prefix=/usr
checking for a BSD-compatible install... /usr/bin/install -c
checking whether build environment is sane... yes
checking whether make sets $(MAKE)... yes
checking for working aclocal-1.4... missing
checking for working autoconf... missing
checking for working automake-1.4... missing
checking for working autoheader... missing
checking for working makeinfo... missing
checking for gcc... gcc
checking for C compiler default output file name... configure: error: C compiler cannot create executables
See `config.log' for more details.

[dannyboy79]

Hi. having a small problem getting autocutsel to install. This is what's happening. Running 7.04

user@MAPSVR:~/autocutsel-0.8.0$ ./configure --prefix=/usr
checking for a BSD-compatible install... /usr/bin/install -c
checking whether build environment is sane... yes
checking whether make sets $(MAKE)... yes
checking for working aclocal-1.4... missing
checking for working autoconf... missing
checking for working automake-1.4... missing
checking for working autoheader... missing
checking for working makeinfo... missing
checking for gcc... gcc
checking for C compiler default output file name... configure: error: C compiler cannot create executables
See `config.log' for more details.

well I hope you already read config.log before you posted, did that point you to anything that you could fix? THen I would ask if you have the build-essential package installed? other than that, not sure. I didn't even install that package to get this to work. as far as copying and pasting, I guess I haven't seen the need for it yet as I am normally only x11vnc'd into my home computer to maybe open some torrents or to change around some port forwarding on my router. check out winscp if you need to copy files securely from your ssh server at home to any computer on the outside! you don't even need to install on it the windows computer, it just runs like putty does. just double click it and it runs. SWEET!!

UPDATE: I ssh'd into my home server and created a tunnel for my x11vnc server and I am now writing this from my home server over vnc thru ssh. Anyway, I just tried to copy and paste from the server to the client and it worked without ever installing the autocutsel. I can't say the same for going from client to server but I can speak for copying from server to client, and it does work by simply highlighting a word or sentence, then right clicking chose copy, then exit full screen of the vnc session and try to paste it into my machine I am sitting at and it works and never installed the autocutsel for everyone's FYI. good luck to all!

[maggs]

I can copy and paste from the server to the client but not the client to server. I got rid of all errors bar the last one;
checking for C compiler default output file name... configure: error: C compiler cannot create executables
Any ideas why this is happening?
My system is a bit of a hybrid as the only way I could get 7.04 desktop to install was to install server first then add the desktop. Maybe this has something to do with the error.

It was the build-essentials that was the main problem. Works ok now.

[JungMin]

...then you go to the server and open a new window but the laptop doesn't show that window opened?

Not exactly....I mean try to do anything on the client from my Mac doesnt refresh on the Mac, although it works on the server. (On the client I click minimize, the screen on the client doesnt change/folder doesnt minimize. But when i look at the server it DID minimize!!) The client just doesnt refresh......

UPDATE: So here is what I figured out by accident....

Note: Server is running on Fiesty, client is 'Chicken of the VNC' on a MacBook. I accidentally had loaded the VNC server twice...the second being Jungmin:1. So I connected to this, and there is NO delay on when using the client on my Mac.

BUT, if i connect to Jungmin:0, the client running on my Mac doesn't update!!! What is going on???

[JungMin]

Well, I couldnt figure it out.....uninstalled it and tried another server and it works. Thanks for your help!!

[dannyboy79]

does anyone else's mouse stop working once in awhile? for example: i'll open up devede or firefox and I can't click anything with the mouse cursor, only keyboard works, like tabbing and hitting enter but sometimes I can't tab or hit enter so I am screwed. Any suggestions? I use x11vnc from Fiesty repo's and I use tightvnc with the scale option to 7/8 so that it doesn't fill my entire screen at my work. thanks for any suggesitons. Oh, I normally start the x11vnc after I putty into my server using this command, x11vnc -usepw

this is also thru a putty tunnel if that matters?

[yellabelly]

I hit the same problem "error: C compiler cannot create executables" on 7.10.
The problem is down to missing GNU C/C++ development environment.
I corrected this by "sudo apt-get install g++".