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How to Install and Configure VNC on Debian 9 and Kali Linux 2020.2

vnc kali debian

This is a quick guide to installing VNC on Debian 9 and Kali Linux

  • Login to your server as root.
  • Install VNC server with apt-get install tightvncserver
  • If you get the following error then you can install tightvncserver from Debian or Kali installation ISO image.

root@server:/home/user# apt install tightvncserver -y
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Package tightvncserver is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source

E: Package 'tightvncserver' has no installation candidate

  • To install tightvnc from ISO image, Mount Debian or Kali image on /media/cdrom with mount -t iso9660 /dev/sr0 /media/cdrom -o loop

tightvnc .deb packages [tightvncserver_1.3.9-9.1_amd64.deb xtightvncviewer_1.3.9-9.1_amd64.deb] is located in /media/cdrom/pool/main/t/tightvnc

  • Change directory to /media/cdrom/pool/main/t/tightvnc with cd /media/cdrom/pool/main/t/tightvnc
  • Install tightvncserevr with dpkg -i tightvncserver_1.3.9-9.1_amd64.deb
  • Edit xstartup in /home/youraccount/.vnc/xstartup with vi and add following code:

#!/bin/sh
unset SESSION_MANAGER
unset DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS
startxfce4 &
[ -x /etc/vnc/xstartup ] && exec /etc/vnc/xstartup
[ -r $HOME/.Xresources ] && xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
xsetroot -solid grey &
vncconfig -iconic &

  • Start vnc server by executing the following command:

vncserver

  • You will be prompted to enter and verify vnc password. Make sure your password is less than 8 characters else it will be truncated to 8 characters.
  • After vnc password is set you will have the option to set a view-only password which is optional.
  • You may kill any instance of vncserver by executing commands vncserver -kill :1
  • ~/.vnc/xstartup must have executable permission set. You may set these permissions with the command chmod +x ~/.vnc/xstartup
  • If you did the above steps correctly, TightVNC server is already running on your server waiting for an incoming connection.
  • To connect to vnc server from your local PC, install Tight vnc viewer. Open vncviewer and enter the IP address and listening port on the server 85.19.219.89::5906
  • If your vncserver is listening on port :1 then you should enter 85.19.219.89::5901
  • If your vncserver is listening on port :2 then you should enter 85.19.219.89::5902
  • Make sure to check on which port your vnc server is running and then edit port :5901 in vncviewer on your local PC/Server.

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