Access Ubuntu remotely / via VNC

Remote Desktop usually was a breeze on Ubuntu but this time, for some reason, it refused to work. The alternate is simple, use another VNC server.

Install x11vnc

sudo apt-get install x11vnc

Set a password for incoming vnc connections

sudo x11vnc -storepasswd VNCPASSWORD /etc/x11vnc.pass

at this point you are good to go, issue the following command and it’ll come to life, but it’s best to add x11vnc to startup so that you don’t have to start it everytime the server reboots.

Add the following lines to the file: /etc/init/x11vnc.conf

start on login-session-start

script

/usr/bin/x11vnc -xkb -forever -auth /var/run/lightdm/root/:0 -display :0 -rfbauth /etc/x11vnc.pass -rfbport 5900 -bg -o /var/log/x11vnc.log

end script

Reboot and try connecting to the server using a VNC client, I use VNC viewer