Setting up VNC server on Solaris

Introduction

Solaris, my love! You who never have packages and are never very convenient to use! In short, my difficult love! And yes, VNC server is doable! Recompiling manually is too difficult and time-consuming, so I opted for packages. But even that isn't all roses!

Installation

Method 1

Add this line to your profile:

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PATH=$PATH:/usr/openwin/bin:/usr/X11/bin

Method 2

For prerequisites, you need pkg-get! Then let's get started:

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pkg-get -i vncserver

Let's refine things by editing /etc/init.d/boot.server and adding the magic line:

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test -d /tmp/.X11-unix && /usr/bin/chmod 1777 /tmp/.X11-unix 

This line allows all users to access vncserver from boot.

That's it! Now you just need to launch it.

Configuration

We'll start vncserver once, then kill it to get the configuration. Also enter the password when prompted:

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$ vncserver
You will require a password to access your desktops.

Password:
Verify:

New 'unknown:1 (root)' desktop is unknown:1

Creating default startup script //.vnc/xstartup
Starting applications specified in //.vnc/xstartup
Log file is //.vnc/unknown:1.log

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vncserver -kill :1

Now we can edit the ~/.vnc/xstartup file for all users:

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#!/bin/sh

[ -r $HOME/.Xresources ] && xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
xsetroot -solid grey
#vncconfig -iconic &
#xterm -geometry 80x24+10+10 -ls -title "$VNCDESKTOP Desktop" &
gnome-session &

Launching

Let's start vncserver and we're good to go!

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$ vncserver