VNC access to guest domains

VNC access to guest domains

 Graphical access to guest domains is done over VNC. In general, use vncviewer to connect to a particular port in either the dom0 or the domU.

 To access the framebuffer of a guest domain, connect to the relevant VNC server in dom0. All HVM domains come with a VNC server for the framebuffer. If --vnc was used to create a PV domain, it will also have a framebuffer accessible via VNC. There are some restrictions on when this will work, as it depends upon the guest OS.

 To connect to the framebuffer of a guest domain, log into dom0 and connect to the correct display with vncviewer localhost:`virsh vncdisplay domname`. You must be root.

 By default, the framebuffer is not available remotely as there is currently no secure access. If security is not an issue in your environment, you can open up VNC access.

 As an alternative, you can set up a VNC server internally in the guest domain. This works just like a hardware OS installation. Two ways for doing this in Solaris are described below. The advantage of this is that you can drop into a login screen, so access isn't wide open. However, please be aware that the connection is still not encrypted in any way and can easily be snooped for passwords and the like.

How to Set Up VNC to provide Solaris domU graphical login with gdm

 You can set up VNC to provide a domU graphical login. Bear in mind that VNC is unencrypted: anyone can snoop your VNC session, including any passwords you enter. These instructions are for OpenSolaris; for Nevada, see below.

• Enable XDMCP for GDM

# printf '[xdmcp]\nEnable=true\n' >>/etc/X11/gdm/custom.conf
# svcadm restart gdm

• Make sure GDM is running

# svcadm enable -s gdm

• Set X11-server to listen to tcp port.

# svccfg -s x11-server
svc:/application/x11/x11-server>
svc:/application/x11/x11-server> setprop options/tcp_listen=true

• Turn on xvnc-inetd services.

# svcadm enable xvnc-inetd

How to Set Up VNC to provide Solaris domU graphical login with cde

• Turn on xdmcp.

# svccfg -s cde-login
svc:/application/graphical-login/cde-login>
svc:/application/graphical-login/cde-login> setprop dtlogin/args=""

• Set X11-server to listen to tcp port.

# svccfg -s x11-server
svc:/application/x11/x11-server>
svc:/application/x11/x11-server> setprop options/tcp_listen=true

• Turn on xvnc-inetd services.

# svcadm enable xvnc-inetd

• You should now be able to get a Solaris login console from the remote host by using vncviewer.

# vncviewer domU:0