How to install VNC server on Centos 7.3
Installing VNC server on Centos 7.3
VNC is used to connect and control desktop environment of the server from remote clients. VNC viewer is used on remote computer to connect the server .
In this article, we are going to see how to install vnc server on centos 7.3. We can use the default packages provided in the centos yum repository.
Let’s go ahead,
Prerequisites
- CentOS 7.3 (Operating system used here)
- root privileges.
Step 1 : Lets start by ensuring our server is up to date.
# yum clean all # yum -y update
Once updates are completed, reboot the server
Step 2 : If you don’t have desktop environment (X windows), issue the below commands one by one for installing the basic needs.
[root@webhostingchennai ~]# yum groupinstall "GNOME Desktop" [root@webhostingchennai ~]# yum install gnome-classic-session gnome-terminal nautilus-open-terminal control-center liberation-mono-fonts [root@webhostingchennai ~]# unlink /etc/systemd/system/default.target [root@webhostingchennai ~]# ln -sf /lib/systemd/system/graphical.target /etc/systemd/system/default.target
Now, reboot the server once again
[root@webhostingchennai ~]# reboot
After reboot, you will get Centos 7.3 desktop.
Step 3 : Now, we can start installing VNC packages.
[root@webhostingchennai ~]# yum install tigervnc-server -y
After installing the VNC packages, we need to create a file vncserver@:1.service in /etc/systemd/system/ folder by copying the example config file vncserver@.service in /lib/systemd/system/
[root@webhostingchennai ~]# cp /lib/systemd/system/vncserver@.service /etc/systemd/system/vncserver@:1.service
Step 4 : Let add a user for VNC
[root@webhostingchennai ~]# useradd webhostchennai
Step 5 : Now, open vncserver@:1.service file and replace the <USER> with your username.
[root@webhostingchennai ~]# nano /etc/systemd/system/vncserver@:1.service
Modify the configuration file as below
[Unit] Description=Remote desktop service (VNC) After=syslog.target network.target [Service] Type=forking # Clean any existing files in /tmp/.X11-unix environment ExecStartPre=/bin/sh -c '/usr/bin/vncserver -kill %i > /dev/null 2>&1 || :' ExecStart=/sbin/runuser -l webhostchennai -c "/usr/bin/vncserver %i" PIDFile=/home/webhostchennai/.vnc/%H%i.pid ExecStop=/bin/sh -c '/usr/bin/vncserver -kill %i > /dev/null 2>&1 || :' [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target
If you wish to add more users you would create a new vncserver@:#.service file and change the <USER> string to the new users.
Configuring the Firewall
Enable the firewall service
[root@webhostingchennai ~]# systemctl enable firewalld [root@webhostingchennai ~]# systemctl start firewalld [root@webhostingchennai ~]# firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service vnc-server [root@webhostingchennai ~]# firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=public --add-port=5905/tcp [root@webhostingchennai ~]# firewall-cmd --reload
Now, switch to the vncuser just created above and start the vnc service as
[root@webhostingchennai ~] su - webhostchennai [webhostchennai@webhostingchennai ~]$ vncserver
Step 6 : Now create VNC password for the user.
[root@webhostingchennai ~]# vncpasswd Password: Verify: Would you like to enter a view-only password (y/n)? y Password: Verify: [root@webhostingchennai ~]#
Step 7 : Enable and start the service.
[root@webhostingchennai ~]# systemctl enable vncserver@:1.service Created symlink from /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/vncserver@:1.service to /etc/systemd/system/vncserver@:1.service. [root@webhostingchennai ~]# systemctl start vncserver@:1.service
Now we can able to connect VNC server using IP and Port using VNC viewer application.
Before connecting, Make sure the port 5901 is enabled in your local firewall (if you are using) and your ISP end.
Additional Commands:
To stop VNC service
[root@webhostingchennai ~]# systemctl stop vncserver@:1.service
To disable VNC service from startup
[root@webhostingchennai ~]# systemctl disable vncserver@:1.service
To stop firewall
[root@webhostingchennai ~]# systemctl stop firewalld.service
