VNC performance

[Andy]

Hi

I think I can offer you a solution. Not sure if this is the best 
solution or you - I haven't investigated the VNC options included with 
Ubuntu - but I know this one works!

I use VNC on a number of Linux PCs with different distros so it makes my 
life easier if I use the same VNC client and server where possible.

I normally use tightvnc (client and server) and I think this would suit 
you. The one thing to note is that the tightvnc server does not serve 
the main display (i.e. the one you would see if you plugged a monitor 
in) but starts a completely new X session. However, this is an advantage 
for headless operation for two reasons:

1. It's a _lot_ faster than serving a primary display (I do that as well 
using a different server called x11vnc when I have to).

2. You can specify the exact size of the "virtual" X desktop when you 
start the session so it's a nice size for the PC you're logging in from.

The way I normally use it is as follows (though it's not the only one):

1. When I want to log into (say) my Ubunto box, I first ssh into it (I 
assume you are familiar with this - if not say and I'll explain).

2. Using the SSH session, I start the tightVNC server. When it starts it 
will tell you the number of the X display it's running on (0, 1, 2 etc. 
depending on how many X sessions are running).

3. Then I start the vnc viewer on the local PC and specify the name of 
the PC to connect to followed by the display number, e.g.

	$ vncserver mars:1

A couple of points/problems:

1. I installed tightVNC from source, and I had to edit the VNC X startup 
script ~/.vnc/xstartup to start gnome-session - just delete or comment 
out what's in there and replace it with the command gnome-session

2. If another X session is already running (e.g. started from the main 
console) I don't get the right icons - haven't tracked this one down 
yet. It's something to do with the way I'm starting gnome I suspect.

Hope that helps

Andy B