Preferred VNC Server

EthernetServers

Hi all,

For years now, when someone asks for a VNC Server recommendation, I've suggested Ubuntu 20.04 with XFCE Desktop and TightVNC - probably because this is one of the few options I've used myself.

I'm curious to hear what others like to use, maybe there's alternatives I'm missing out on that are worth a look.

Cheers!

MikeA

On Windows I've always used and preferred UltraVNC.

EthernetServers

@MikeA said:
On Windows I've always used and preferred UltraVNC.

It appears this is a client rather than a server unless I'm mistaken?

farsighter

VNC is outdated and not too secure I don't think there have been dramatic changes with its open source implementations.

I used it more than a decade ago then switched to X2go.

Arkas

Have you checked out RustDesk? Not sure If it will do everything you want, but it's worked out well for my use case.

Maounique

X2Go is very secure, albeit somewhat sluggish on lower end machines, but it has a lot of features and the extra security which are making up for all that.

MikeA

@EthernetServers said:

@MikeA said:
On Windows I've always used and preferred UltraVNC.

It appears this is a client rather than a server unless I'm mistaken?

Oops, my bad. I didn't read the thread fully, but they do have server software, not used it though.

TheTab

novnc with ssl or use tightvnc with local only connections and just connect via vpn. Biggest security issue is people connecting remotely without encryption. XFCE4 is perfect as it is extremely lightweight.

raindog308

@farsighter said:
VNC is outdated and not too secure I don't think there have been dramatic changes with its open source implementations.

It's best to tunnel to it. We did a howto on LEB with examples for Win and Mac clients.

yoursunny

I often use x11vnc so that I can see the same thing when I'm at the workstation and when I'm connecting remotely.
This also eliminates the need of fiddling with the magical lines in Xstartup file.

Maounique

@yoursunny said: This also eliminates the need of fiddling with the magical lines in Xstartup file.

+1

jegh

TigerVNC has support for dynamic resolution adjustment, so the remote display will automatically set its resolution to fit the client window.

+1 for using Ubuntu 20.04. In 22.04 they have pushed a lot of apps (e.g. Firefox) to run as Snap apps, and it seems Snap apps don't work inside a Vnc virtual display on Ubuntu 22.04 because of the isolation used for Snap applications.

Maounique

@TheTab said: XFCE4 is perfect as it is extremely lightweight.

I wouldn't say extremely, there are lighter, but it is the best compromise for me.

jegh

Here is a script I have used to turn a fresh Oracle Cloud ARM instance (Ubuntu 22.04) into a remote desktop with VNC and Xfce4:

sudo apt update
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/ppa
#Make the Firefox package from Mozillateam PPA preferred over Ubuntu Snap package:
echo '
Package: *
Pin: release o=LP-PPA-mozillateam
Pin-Priority: 1001
' | sudo tee /etc/apt/preferences.d/mozilla-firefox
sudo apt install tigervnc-standalone-server xfce4 xfce4-goodies firefox
sudo iptables -I INPUT -p tcp --dport 5901 -j ACCEPT
vncserver -localhost no

Also remember to open port 5901 in the cloud firewall unless you are tunneling over SSH.