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VNC

Using VNC for remote access to the front-end hosts

VNC stands for Virtual Network Computing. It is a remote control software which allows you to view and interact with one computer (the "server") using a simple program (the "viewer") on another computer anywhere on the Internet.

For more info on VNC see: the VNC web site

On the front-end host


To use VNC, first you need to start the VNC server on the front-end host: 


qcdochostb:> vncserver :7 -fp /usr/lib/X11/fonts



New 'X' desktop is qcdochostb:7



Starting applications specified in /home/user/.vnc/xstartup

Log file is /home/user/.vnc/qcdochostb:7.log

If you use VNC for the first time, you will be prompted for a password.

On the Remote host


On the remote host open an ssh tunnel to the front-end host, via the QCDOC ssh gateways (ssh.qcdoc.bnl.gov):


remote_host> ssh -e none -f -N -L 5907:qcdochostb.qcdoc.bnl.gov:5907 user@ssh.qcdoc.bnl.gov

The 07 on the above 5907 port is the :7 on the vncserver command.
Now start the vncviewer on the remote host:


remote_host> vncviewer localhost:5907 &

This should fire up an X console from qcdochostb to your box.

Cleaning up


If you don't need the VNC server running any more, you can get rid of it:


vncserver -kill :7

On the remote host, the ssh tunnel will remain open. If you want to get rid of it, find the process ID of the ssh tunnel and kill it (kill -9).


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DOE, Office of ScienceOne of ten national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies and national security. Brookhaven Lab also builds and operates major scientific facilities available to university, industry and government researchers. Brookhaven is operated and managed for DOE's Office of Science by Brookhaven Science Associates, a limited-liability company founded by Stony Brook University, the largest academic user of Laboratory facilities, and Battelle, a nonprofit, applied science and technology organization.

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