--- name: "tigervncserver" section: "1" platform: "linux" package: "tigervnc-standalone-server" version: "1.15.0+dfsg-2.1~deb13u1" release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)" platforms: ["linux"] url: "https://new.carta.tech/tigervncserver" --- # tigervncserver(1) start or stop a TigerVNC standalone server ## NAME tigervncserver - start or stop a TigerVNC standalone server ## SYNOPSIS **tigervncserver** \[\[*user@*\]*host*\]\[*:display#*\] \[**-rfbport** *rfbport#*\] \[**-rfbunixpath** *Unix*socket*path*\] \[**-rfbunixmode** *permissions*\] \[**-localhost** \[*yes*\|*no*\]\] \[**-SecurityTypes** *sec-types*\] \[**-RequireUsername** \[*yes*\|*no*\]\] \[**-PasswordFile**\|**-rfbauth** *passwd-file*\] \[**-PlainUsers** *user-list*\] \[**-PAMService**\|**-pam\_service** *service-name*\] \[**-X509Key** *cert-key-file*\] \[**-X509Cert** *cert-file*\] \[**-RSAKey** *rsa-key-file*\] \[**-fg**\] \[**-useold**\] \[**-verbose**\] \[**-dry-run**\] \[**-geometry** *\x\*\] \[**-wmDecoration** *\x\*\] \[**-xdisplaydefaults**\] \[**-xstartup** *script*\] \[**-noxstartup**\] \[**-desktop** *desktop-name*\] \[**-depth** *depth*\] \[**-pixelformat** *format*\] \[**-autokill** \[*yes*\|*no*\]\] \[**-fp** *font-path*\] \[**-pidfile** *pid-file-path*\] \[*Xtigervnc options...*\] \[**--** *X session or command with optional options...*\]\ **tigervncserver -kill** \[\[*user@*\]*host*\]\[*:display#*\|*:\**\] \[**-rfbport** *rfbport#*\] \[**-rfbunixpath** *Unix*socket*path*\] \[**-dry-run**\] \[**-verbose**\] \[**-clean**\]\ **tigervncserver -list** \[\[*user@*\]*host*\]\[*:display#*\|*:\**\] \[**-rfbport** *rfbport#*\] \[**-rfbunixpath** *Unix*socket*path*\] \[**-cleanstale**\]\ **tigervncserver -version** ## DESCRIPTION **tigervncserver is used to start a TigerVNC (Virtual Network Computing)** desktop. **tigervncserver** is a Perl wrapper script which simplifies the process of starting an instance of the **Xtigervnc** VNC server. It runs **Xtigervnc** with appropriate options and starts some X applications to be displayed in the TigerVNC desktop. **tigervncserver can be run with no options at all. In this case it will** choose the first available display number (usually :1), start **Xtigervnc** as that display, and run a couple of basic applications to get you started. You can also specify the display number, in which case it will use that number if it is available and exit if not, e.g.: tigervncserver :13 Moreover, a username and a hostname can be given to start the **tigervncserver** via SSH on the given machine under the provided user account, e.g.: tigervncserver franz@kopernikus:13 Note that this **requires the same version** of the **tigervncserver** wrapper script on the remote machine as is on the local machine. Creating the file *~/.config/tigervnc/xstartup* allows you to change the applications run at startup (but note that this will not affect an existing desktop). System defaults for this wrapper script are found in */etc/tigervnc/vncserver-config-defaults*. These defaults can be overwritten by the user defaults given in *~/.config/tigervnc/config.pl* (see the [**tigervnc.conf**(5x)](/tigervnc.conf/5x.md) man page). Next, command-line options overwrite the settings in both tigervnc configuration files. Finally, options from */etc/tigervnc/vncserver-config-mandatory* have the highest priority overwriting all previous settings. **WARNING! There is nothing stopping users from constructing their own wrapper** **script that calls Xtigervnc directly to bypass any options defined in the** **/etc/tigervnc/vncserver-config-mandatory configuration file.** ## OPTIONS You can get a list of options by giving **-h** as an option to **tigervncserver**. In addition to the options listed below, any unrecognized options will be passed to **Xtigervnc** – see the [**Xtigervnc**(1)](/Xtigervnc/1.md) man page or "**Xtigervnc -help**" for details. - *:display#* Specifies the X11 display to be created by the **Xtigervnc** server. - **-rfbport *rfbport#*** Specifies the TCP port on which **Xtigervnc** listens for connections from viewers (the protocol used in VNC is called RFB – "remote framebuffer"). The default is 5900 plus the display number display#. To disable, specify -1. - **-rfbunixpath *Unix socket path*** Specifies a path to be used for listening on as a Unix domain socket by the **Xtigervnc** server. No Unix domain socket is created if this option is not provided. - **-rfbunixmode *permissions*** Specifies the mode of the Unix domain socket. The default is *0600*. - **-localhost \[*yes*\|*no*\]** Should the TigerVNC server only listen on localhost for incoming TigerVNC connections. Useful if you use SSH and want to stop non-SSH connections from any other hosts. If the option is not specified, then the behavior is as follows: We will only listen on localhost if the *sec-types* list does not contain any *TLS\** or *X509\** security types or if the list contains at least one *\*None* security type. Otherwise, we will listen on all network addresses of the machine. - **-SecurityTypes *sec-types*** Specify which security scheme to use for incoming connections. Valid values are a comma-separated list of *None*, *VncAuth*, *Plain*, *TLSNone*, *TLSVnc*, *TLSPlain*, *X509None*, *X509Vnc*, *X509Plain*, *RA2*, *RA2ne*, *RA2\_256*, and *RA2ne\_256*. Default is *VncAuth* if **-localhost** is not given and *VncAuth,TLSVnc* if **-localhost** *no* is given. - **-RequireUsername \[*yes*\|*no*\]** Specifies for the *RSA-AES* security types (i.e., *RA2*, *RA2ne*, *RA2\_256*, and *RA2ne\_256*) if authentication should be performed via Unix username and password (**-RequireUsername** *yes***) or the VNC** **password file (-RequireUsername** *no***). The default is to perform** **authentication via the VNC password file.** - **-PasswordFile *passwd-file* \| -rfbauth *passwd-file*** **Specifies the file containing the password used to authenticate viewers for the** **security types** *VncAuth***,** *TLSVnc***,** *X509Vnc***,** *RA2***,** *RA2ne***,** *RA2\_256***, and** *RA2ne\_256***. The default password file is** *~/.config/tigervnc/passwd***. For the** *RSA-AES* **security types, authentication via** **the VNC password file is only performed in case -RequireUsername is** *no***,** **which is the default.** - **-PlainUsers *user-list*** **Specifies a comma-separated list of user names that are allowed to authenticate** **via any of the** *\*Plain* **security types (***Plain***,** *TLSPlain***, etc.)** **or the** *RSA-AES* **security types (***RA2***,** *RA2ne***, etc.) in case** **-RequireUsername is** *yes***. Specify** *\** **to allow any user to** **authenticate using these security types. The default only allows the user who** **has started the tigervncserver wrapper script.** - **-PAMService** *service-name* **\| -pam\_service** *service-name* **Specifies the PAM service name to use when authenticating users using any of the** *\*Plain* **security types or the** *RSA-AES* **security types in case** **-RequireUsername is** *yes***. Default is vnc if /etc/pam.d/vnc is** **present and tigervnc otherwise. The tigervnc-common package ships the** */etc/pam.d/tigervnc* **PAM service configuration for use by tigervncserver.** - **-X509Cert *cert-path* and -X509Key *key-path*** **Path to a X509 certificate in PEM format to be used for all** *X509* **based** **security types (i.e.,** *X509None***,** *X509Vnc***, etc.) as well as its** **private key also in PEM format. If the certificate and its key are not provided** **via the -X509Cert and -X509Key command-line options or their** **corresponding configuration parameters in the configuration files** */etc/tigervnc/vncserver-config-defaults***,** *~/.config/tigervnc/config.pl***, or** */etc/tigervnc/vncserver-config-mandatory***, then the tigervncserver** **wrapper script auto-generates a self-signed certificate. The auto-generated** **self-signed certificate and its private key are stored in the files** **~/.config/tigervnc/***host***-SrvCert.pem and ~/.config/tigervnc/***host***-SrvKey.pem.** - **-RSAKey *rsa-key-path*** **Path to an RSA key in PEM format used by all** *RSA-AES* **security types.** **If the RSA key is not provided via the -RSAKey command-line option or** **the corresponding configuration parameter in the configuration files** */etc/tigervnc/vncserver-config-defaults***,** *~/.config/tigervnc/config.pl***, or** */etc/tigervnc/vncserver-config-mandatory***, then the tigervncserver** **wrapper script auto-generates an RSA key. The auto-generated key is stored** **in the file ~/.config/tigervnc/***host***-SrvRsaKey.pem.** - **-fg** **Runs the Xtigervnc server as a foreground process. Thus, the server can** **be aborted with CTRL-C.** - **-useold** **Only start a new TigerVNC server if a VNC server for your account is not** **already running on the requested display number** *display#* **and RFB port** *rfbport#***. If no display number is requested, a new TigerVNC server** **will only be started if there is no TigerVNC server running under your user** **account. In any case, information about the newly started TigerVNC server or** **the reused TigerVNC server session will be printed.** - **-verbose** **This will turn on some debug output.** - **-dry-run** **Do not actually do anything, but only perform the checks if the requested** **action would be possible. For example, there will be checks performed for the** **availability of the requested display number display#.** - **-geometry *\x\*** **This option specifies the size of the desktop to be created. On default, a** **1920x1200 desktop is created.** - **-wmDecoration *\x\*** **sets the adjustment of the dimensions derived by -xdisplaydefaults to** **accommodate the window decoration used by the X11 window manager. This is used** **to fully display the VNC desktop even if the VNC viewer is not in full screen** **mode.** - **-xdisplaydefaults** **The -xdisplaydefaults option can be used to derive values for the above** **three options, i.e., -geometry to -pixelformat, from the running** **X session. The derived dimensions are adjusted by the -wmDecoration** **option.** - **-xstartup *script*** **Run a custom startup script, instead of** *~/.config/tigervnc/xstartup***, after** **launching Xtigervnc. This is useful to run full-screen applications.** - **-noxstartup** **Do not run the** *~/.config/tigervnc/xstartup* **script after launching** **Xtigervnc. This option allows you to manually start a window manager in** **your TigerVNC session.** - **-desktop *desktop-name*** **Each desktop has a name which may be displayed by the viewer. It defaults to** **"***host***:***display#* **(***username***)" but you can change it with this** **option. It is passed in to the Xtigervnc-session script via the $VNCDESKTOP** **environment variable, allowing you to run a different set of applications** **according to the name of the desktop.** - **-depth *depth*** **Specify the pixel depth in bits of the desktop to be created. Default is 24,** **other possible values are 16 and 32. Anything else is likely to cause strange** **behaviour by applications and may prevent the server from starting at all.** - **-pixelformat *format*** **Specify pixel format for the server to use (BGRnnn or RGBnnn). The default for** **depth 16 is RGB565 (meaning the most significant five bits represent red, the** **next six green, and the least significant five represent blue) and for depth 24** **and 32 is RGB888.** - **-autokill \[*yes*\|*no*\]** **The -autokill option is enabled by default. If enabled, the TigerVNC** **server is automatically killed when the Xtigervnc-session script exits. In most** **cases, this has the effect of terminating Xtigervnc when the user logs** **out of the window manager. To disable this, use -autokill** *no***.** - **-fp *font-path*** **Specifies a font path. Otherwise, if no font path is configured, the** **Xtigervnc server will use its own preferred method of font handling.** - **-pidfile** **Specifies the file that stores the pid of the Xtigervnc server to be started.** - **--** *X session* **This special option can be used to control which X session type will be** **started. This should match one of the files in** */usr/share/xsessions***. For** **example, if there is a file called** *gnome.desktop***, then --** *gnome* **would start this X session.** - **-kill \[\[*user@*\]*host*\]\[*:display#*\|*:\**\] \[-rfbport *rfbport#*\]** **This kills a TigerVNC server previously started with tigervncserver or** **x0tigervncserver. It does this by killing the Xtigervnc process, whose** **process ID is stored in the file ~/.config/tigervnc/***host***:***rfbport#***.pid. This can** **be useful so you can write "tigervncserver -kill $DISPLAY", e.g., at the end** **of your Xtigervnc-session file after a particular application exits. If** **:\* is given, then tigervncserver tries to kill all Xtigervnc processes with** **pidfiles in** *~/.config/tigervnc* **on the local machine. If no display number is given, then** **tigervncserver tries to kill the Xtigervnc processes of the user on the local** **machine if only one such process is running and has a pidfile in** *~/.config/tigervnc***. If a** *host* **is specified, then tigervncserver will use SSH to kill a Xtigervnc** **process on the remote machine.** - **-clean** **If given with -kill, then the logfile** **~/.config/tigervnc/***host***:***rfbport#***.log is also removed.** - **-list \[\[*user@*\]*host*\]\[*:display#*\|*:\**\] \[-rfbport *rfbport#*\]** **This lists all running TigerVNC servers previously started with** **tigervncserver or x0tigervncserver. If a** *host* **is specified,** **then tigervncserver will use SSH to list VNC desktops on the remote** **machine. Stale entries are marked with (stale) in the output.** - **-cleanstale** **If given with -list, then stale entries – resulting from missed** **cleanups of pidfiles in** *~/.config/tigervnc* **as well as stale X11 locks and sockets in** **/tmp due to Xtigervnc or X0tigervnc server crashes – are cleaned** **up and not shown in the output of -list.** ## FILES **Several TigerVNC-related files are found in the** *~/.config/tigervnc* **directory:** - *~/.config/tigervnc/xstartup* **A shell script specifying X applications to be run when a TigerVNC desktop is** **started. If it doesn't exist, the system default provided in** */etc/tigervnc/vncserver-config-defaults* **is used. A mandatory start script** **can also be given in** */etc/tigervnc/vncserver-config-mandatory***.** - *~/.config/tigervnc/passwd* **The TigerVNC password file for the security types** *VncAuth***,** *TLSVnc***,** **and** *X509Vnc***.** - *~/.config/tigervnc/\:\.log* **The log file for the VNC server and the applications started by Xtigervnc-session.** - *~/.config/tigervnc/\:\.pid* **Identifies the VNC server process ID, used by the -kill option.** - *~/.config/tigervnc/\-SrvCert.pem and \-SrvKey.pem* **The security types** *X509None***,** *X509Vnc***, and** *X509Plain* **need a** **certificate and the corresponding private key. If these are not provided via** **the -X509Cert and -X509Key command-line options or their** **corresponding configuration parameters in the configuration files** */etc/tigervnc/vncserver-config-defaults***,** *~/.config/tigervnc/config.pl***, or** */etc/tigervnc/vncserver-config-mandatory***, then the tigervncserver** **wrapper script auto-generates a self-signed certificate for the** **-X509Cert and -X509Key options of the Xtigervnc server. The** **auto-generated self-signed certificate and its private key are stored in the** **above given two files. If the user wants their own certificate – instead** **of the on-demand auto-generated one – they can either specify it via the** **tigervncserver options -X509Cert and -X509Key or replace** **the files ~/.config/tigervnc/***host***-SrvCert.pem and ~/.config/tigervnc/***host***-SrvKe.pem.** **These files will not be overwritten once generated by the tigervncserver** **wrapper script.** - *~/.config/tigervnc/\-SrvRsaKey.pem* **The** *RSA-AES* **security types (i.e.,** *RA2***,** *RA2ne***,** *RA2\_256***,** **and** *RA2ne\_256***) need an RSA private key. If this key is not provided via** **the -RSAKey command-line option or the corresponding parameter in** **the configuration files** */etc/tigervnc/vncserver-config-defaults***,** *~/.config/tigervnc/config.pl***, or** */etc/tigervnc/vncserver-config-mandatory***,** **then the tigervncserver wrapper script auto-generates an RSA key for** **the -RSAKey option of the Xtigervnc server. The auto-generated** **key is stored in the file ~/.config/tigervnc/***host***-SrvRsaKey.pem.** - *~/.config/tigervnc/config.pl* **The user configuration file for tigervncserver.** **To be compatible with the upstream provided wrapper scripts, we will** **fall back to trying to load configuration from** *~/.config/tigervnc/config* **if** *~/.config/tigervnc/config.pl* **is not present. Note that the** *config* **file uses** **key=value lines as configuration syntax, while the** *config.pl* **and** **the** *tigervncserver-config-\** **files in the** */etc/tigervnc* **directory use** [**perl**(1)](/perl/1.md) **syntax.** **Furthermore, there are global configuration files for tigervncserver in** **the** */etc/tigervnc* **directory:** - */etc/tigervnc/vncserver-config-defaults* **The global configuration file specifying the defaults for tigervncserver.** - */etc/tigervnc/vncserver-config-mandatory* **If this file exists and defines options to be passed to Xtigervnc, they will** **override any of the same options defined in a user's** *config.pl* **file** **or ones given on the command line of this wrapper script. This file offers a** **mechanism to establish some basic form of system-wide policy.** **WARNING! There is nothing stopping users from constructing their own wrapper** **script that calls Xtigervnc directly to bypass any options defined in the** **/etc/tigervnc/vncserver-config-mandatory configuration file.** ## SEE ALSO [**tigervnc.conf**(5x)](/tigervnc.conf/5x.md), [**tigervncconfig**(1)](/tigervncconfig/1.md), [**tigervncpasswd**(1)](/tigervncpasswd/1.md), [**tigervncsession**(8)](/tigervncsession/8.md), [**Xtigervnc**(1)](/Xtigervnc/1.md), [**xtigervncviewer**(1)](/xtigervncviewer/1.md), [**x0tigervncserver**(1)](/x0tigervncserver/1.md)\ **http://www.tigervnc.org** ## AUTHOR **Joachim Falk, Tristan Richardson, RealVNC Ltd., and others.** **VNC was originally developed by the RealVNC team while at Olivetti** **Research Ltd / AT&T Laboratories Cambridge. TightVNC additions were** **implemented by Constantin Kaplinsky. Many other people have since** **participated in development, testing and support. This manual is part** **of the TigerVNC Debian packaging project.**