[Cialug] Lots 'o questions....

[Jeff Chapin]

VNC has a file, at least on fedora, that you can configure to tell it
what to run when you VNC in. It is ~/.vnc/xstartup.

I just configure that. When I want a shell, I use SSH when I want a GUI,
I use VNC.

Jeff

David Champion wrote:
> Matthew Nuzum wrote:
>> On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 4:43 PM,  <jrnosee at gmail.com> wrote:
>>  
>>> to know is there any way to install the standard gnome interface,
>>> but only
>>> have it and X running when I want it to (i.e. running headless, so I
>>> just
>>> want to start X/gnome and turn on a VNC server, then stop it all
>>> when I'm
>>> done).
>>>     
>>
>> You can make x not run on startup by removing gdm from runlevel 2
>> after installing the GNOME desktop. On my 8.10 it's
>>
>>  sudo rm /etc/rc2.d/S30gdm
>>
>> Just look for /etc/rc2.d/*gdm
>>
>> Regarding the vnc part, I've done this numerous times but not for a
>> while. I think the last time was the days of Ximian desktop and
>> probably FC2 (maybe earlier). I'm not sure what has changed but the
>> trick was to edit /etc/gdm/gdm.conf and find the [server] section.
>> There it will bind to a display, typical :0. Comment out that line or
>> do whatever to make it not bind to a display.
>>
>> Also you need to enable xdmcp. After doing that start up gdm (which
>> will also start up X).
>>
>>  sudo /etc/init.d/gdm start
>>
>> Nothing should appear to happen but ps will show gdm running.
>>
>> You need to add a line to services to pick a port for your vnc to
>> listen to. Then configure a service that will listen to that port and
>> launch VNC when you connect to it.
>>
>> Now that I'm older and wiser I would probably ensure that this is only
>> possible when tunneled through an SSH or stunnel connection.
>>
>> If you google for gdm vnc xdmcp I think you'll find more complete and
>> recent instructions.
>>
>>   
>
> Why even bother with gdm? Just do step 1 - remove gdm from the
> runlevel, and when you want to run x, just type "startx". This is how
> I run pretty much all of my workstations - primarily because I hate it
> when you update your kernel and the nVidia module doesn't load... then
> your gdm gets stuck in a loop... or if you plug in a different monitor
> that doesn't support the resolution you were running...
>
> Also... doesn't Ubuntu have an easier way to disable gdm? In Mandriva,
> when you run the x config tool, there's an "options" tab with a
> checkbox that lets you choose not to run X at boot, which disables gdm.
>
> -dc
>
>
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