Virtual Network Computing (VNC) is a popular and widely used technology that allows users to remotely access and control their computers from another device. VNC uses a server-client model, where the server is installed on the computer that you want to control, and the client is installed on the device that you want to use to control the computer.

In this tutorial, we will show you how to install and set up a VNC server on Ubuntu 22.04. We will assume that you have already installed Ubuntu 22.04 on your system.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, you will need the following:

• A system running Ubuntu 22.04
• A user with administrative privileges on your system

Installing the VNC Server

To install the VNC server on Ubuntu 22.04, you can use the apt package manager. First, update the package index using the following command:

sudo apt update

Then, install the tightvncserver package using the following command:

sudo apt install tightvncserver

This will install the TightVNC server on your system, which is a popular and widely used VNC server.

Configuring the VNC Server

After installing the VNC server, you need to configure the server to allow remote access.

To do this, run the tightvncserver command to start the configuration process:

tightvncserver

This will prompt you to set the password for the VNC server. Enter a password and press <Enter> to continue.

Next, you will be asked to confirm the password. Re-enter the password and press <Enter> to confirm.

Then, you will be asked if you want to set a view-only password. If you want to allow other users to view your desktop without controlling it, you can enter a view-only password. Otherwise, press <Enter> to skip this step.

After completing the configuration, the VNC server will start running in the background.

Connecting to the VNC Server

After configuring the VNC server, you can connect to the server using a VNC client.

To do this, you need to know the IP address of the computer where the VNC server is running, and the display port number of the VNC server.

To find the IP address of the computer, you can use the ifconfig command. Run the following command:

ifconfig

This will display the network configuration of the computer, including the IP address.

To find the display port number of the VNC server, you can use the netstat command. Run the following command:

netstat -an | grep 5900

This will display the network connections that are listening on port 5900, which is the default port number for VNC servers.

The output should look like this:

tcp        0      0 0.0.0.0:5900            0.0.0.0:*               LISTEN

In this example, the IP address of the computer is 0.0.0.0 and the display port number is 5900.

To connect to the VNC server using a VNC client you need to enter the IP address and the display port number in the following format:

IP_ADDRESS:DISPLAY_PORT

For example, if the IP address of the computer is 192.168.1.100 and the display port number is 5900, you need to enter the following address in the VNC client:

192.168.1.100:5900

After entering the address, you will be prompted to enter the password that you set for the VNC server. Enter the password and press <Enter> to continue.

If the password is correct, the VNC client will connect to the VNC server, and you will see the desktop of the computer on the VNC client.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, you learned how to install and configure a VNC server on Ubuntu 22.04. You also learned how to find the IP address and display port number of the VNC server, and how to connect to the server using a VNC client.

With VNC, you can remotely access and control your computer from another device, and work on your files and applications from anywhere.