Remote Access to Linux Mint using VNC

Server - tigerVNC

Installation

sudo apt install tigervnc-standalone-server tigervnc-xorg-extension tigervnc-viewer

Setup a password for vnc login:

vncpasswd

This creates ~/.vnc/passwd.

To start TigerVNC server:

vncserver -depth {8|16|24|32} -geometry {width}x{height} -localhost no

e.g.

vncserver -depth 16 -geometry 1920x1080 -localhost no

To verify server running:

pgrep Xtigervnc
ss -tulpn | grep -E -i 'vnc|590'

To list VNC server sessions:

vncserver -list

To stop TigetVNC server:

vncserver -kill :1

Convenience script ~/.vnc.sh:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Exit on error. Append "|| true" if you expect an error.
set -o errexit
# Exit on error inside any functions or subshells.
set -o errtrace
# Do not allow use of undefined vars. Use ${VAR:-} to use an undefined VAR
set -o nounset
# Catch the error in case mysqldump fails (but gzip succeeds) in `mysqldump |gzip`
set -o pipefail
# Turn on traces, useful while debugging but commented out by default
#set -o xtrace


case "${1:-unspecified}" in
    "start"|"Start"|"START" )
        vncserver -depth 16 -geometry 1920x1080 -localhost no ;;
    "stop" )
        vncserver -kill :1 ;;
    "list"|"ls" )
        vncserver -list ;;
    *)
        echo "vnc start|stop|list"
	    exit 1
esac

Configuration

The above only resulted in server failure. Followed steps:

✘ alex@exi > ~/.vnc > ls -la  /usr/share/xsessions/
total 24
drwxr-xr-x   2 root root  4096 Jan 17 14:26 .
drwxr-xr-x 339 root root 12288 Jan 19 18:27 ..
-rw-r--r--   1 root root   268 Jan 10 08:06 cinnamon2d.desktop
-rw-r--r--   1 root root   155 Jan 10 08:06 cinnamon.desktop
alex@exi > ~/.vnc > cat /usr/share/xsessions/cinnamon2d.desktop
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Cinnamon (Software Rendering)
Comment=This session logs you into Cinnamon (using software rendering)
Exec=cinnamon-session-cinnamon2d
TryExec=/usr/bin/cinnamon2d
Icon=
Type=Application
X-Ubuntu-Gettext-Domain=cinnamon
X-GNOME-Provides=cinnamon2d

alex@exi > ~/.vnc > cat /usr/share/xsessions/cinnamon.desktop
cat /usr/share/xsessions/cinnamon.desktop
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Cinnamon
Comment=This session logs you into Cinnamon
Exec=cinnamon-session-cinnamon
TryExec=/usr/bin/cinnamon
Icon=
Type=Application

Based on the above created ~/.vnc/xstartup:

#!/bin/bash

#PATH=/usr/bin:/usr/sbin
unset SESSION_MANAGER
unset DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS
exec cinnamon-session-cinnamon

Client - remmina

Use remmina.

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:remmina-ppa-team/remmina-next
sudo apt update
sudo apt install remmina remmina-plugin-vnc remmina-plugin-secret

In GUI when configuring for the server use: <host-or-ip>:1. Remember to enter the display number.

Client - tigervnc-viewer on Linux

Install:

sudo apt install tigervnc-viewer

Connect:

xtigervncviewer exi:1

Client MacOS

In Finder: Go / Connect to Server enter URL: vnc://192.168.1.50:5901.

Known Problems caused by Karabiner:

Ctrl+C, Ctrl+A are not passed to server

Client - tiger-vnc on MacOS