Beyond Linux® From Scratch (System V Edition) - Version r12.2-628

Chapter 41. Other X-based Programs

Tigervnc-1.14.1

Introduction to Tigervnc

Tigervnc is an advanced VNC (Virtual Network Computing) implementation. It allows creation of an Xorg server not tied to a physical console and also provides a client for viewing of the remote graphical desktop.

[Note]

Note

Development versions of BLFS may not build or run some packages properly if LFS or dependencies have been updated since the most recent stable versions of the books.

Package Information

Additional Downloads

[Note]

Note

The version of Xorg may eventually be a few versions out of date, but is required for the customizations needed for this package.

Tigervnc Dependencies

Required

CMake-3.31.0, FLTK-1.3.10, GnuTLS-3.8.8, libgcrypt-1.11.0, libjpeg-turbo-3.0.1, Linux-PAM-1.7.0, Pixman-0.44.0, Xorg Applications, xinit-1.4.2, and Xorg Legacy Fonts

Recommended

ImageMagick-7.1.1-36

Installation of Tigervnc

First, make adjustments to the configuration files to make them compatible with LFS systems: 

patch -Np1 -i ../tigervnc-1.14.1-configuration_fixes-1.patch

Install tigervnc by running the following commands: 

# Put code in place
mkdir -p unix/xserver &&
tar -xf ../xorg-server-21.1.14.tar.xz \
    --strip-components=1              \
    -C unix/xserver                   &&
( cd unix/xserver &&
  patch -Np1 -i ../xserver21.patch ) &&

# Build viewer
cmake -G "Unix Makefiles"          \
      -D CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr \
      -D CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release  \
      -D INSTALL_SYSTEMD_UNITS=OFF \
      -W no-dev .                  &&
make &&

# Build server
pushd unix/xserver &&
  autoreconf -fiv  &&

  CPPFLAGS="-I/usr/include/drm"       \
  ./configure $XORG_CONFIG            \
      --disable-xwayland    --disable-dri        --disable-dmx         \
      --disable-xorg        --disable-xnest      --disable-xvfb        \
      --disable-xwin        --disable-xephyr     --disable-kdrive      \
      --disable-devel-docs  --disable-config-hal --disable-config-udev \
      --disable-unit-tests  --disable-selective-werror                 \
      --disable-static      --enable-dri3                              \
      --without-dtrace      --enable-dri2        --enable-glx          \
      --with-pic &&
  make  &&
popd

This package does not come with a test suite.

Now, as the root user: 

#Install viewer
make install &&
mv  /usr/share/doc/tigervnc /usr/share/doc/tigervnc-1.14.1

#Install server
( cd unix/xserver/hw/vnc && make install ) &&

[ -e /usr/bin/Xvnc ] || ln -svf $XORG_PREFIX/bin/Xvnc /usr/bin/Xvnc

Finally, modify the PAM file to be compatible with elogind: 

sed -i 's/pam_systemd.so/pam_elogind.so/' /etc/pam.d/tigervnc

Command Explanations

tar -xf .. xorg-server...: This command extracts the standard Xorg package into the tree in a location needed for modification.

--disable ...: Most options that are usually needed for the standard Xorg server are not needed for the Xvnc instance being built.

[ -e /usr/bin/Xvnc ] || ln ... Xvnc: If the Xvnc server is not installed in the /usr/bin directory, then create a link so the vncserver script can find it.

Configuring Tigervnc

The default installation of this package makes some changes in the way it is used. The vncserver perl script is placed in /usr/bin/libexec and the server is designed to be run via a systemd style .service file or the vncsession script as the root user. The man page for vncserver is placed in section 8 of the man pages. The new procedures require a display manager to be installed.

To restore the previous behavior, install the additional downloaded files as the root user: 

install -m755 --owner=root ../vncserver /usr/bin &&
cp ../vncserver.1 /usr/share/man/man1

Using the previous procedures, the user specific configuration files of vncserver reside in the .vnc directory in the user's home directory. The xstartup file in that directory is a script specifying what commands to run when a VNC desktop is started. If no xstartup file exists, vncserver will try to start an xterm in a twm session. An example xstartup would be: 

#!/bin/sh
[ -x /etc/vnc/xstartup ] && exec /etc/vnc/xstartup
[ -r $HOME/.Xresources ] && xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
startlxqt &

The xstartup file must be executable for the commands in it to be executed, so run chmod a+x ~/.vnc/xstartup.

Set up the vnc passwd with vncpasswd. The server can then be started with the vncserver command. See the man pages in section 1 for the vncserver for the server system and vncviewer for the remote system.

Contents

Installed Programs: Xvnc, vncconfig, vncpasswd, vncserver, vncviewer, and x0vncserver
Installed Libraries: libvnc.so
Installed Directories: /usr/share/doc/tigervnc-1.14.1

Short Descriptions

Xvnc

is a X VNC (Virtual Network Computing) server. It is based on a standard X server, but it has a “virtual” screen rather than a physical one

vncconfig

is a program to configure and control a VNC server

vncpasswd

allows you to set the password used to access VNC desktops

vncserver

is a perl script used to start or stop a VNC server

vncviewer

is a client used to connect to VNC desktops

x0vncserver

is a program to make an X display on a physical terminal accessible via TigerVNC or compatible viewers