8.21. Securely Tunneling x11vnc over SSH

Problem

x11vnc is great for remote helpdesk and roaming users, but you're not comfortable with sending everything in cleartext. You want to tunnel x11vnc over SSH for secure encryption, so how is this done?

Solution

This example shows you how to tunnel x11vnc over SSH, establishing the tunnel and starting x11vnc with one command. No remote user intervention is needed at all, providing that sshd is running on their PC. Windbag is the local PC, and Stinkpad is the remote machine:

	carla@windbag:~$ ssh -L 5900:windbag:5900 stinkpad 'x11vnc -localhost -display :0'

Then, open a second command shell on the local machine, and connect with this command:

	carla@windbag:~$ vncviewer localhost:0

Just like VNC, you may run as many x11vnc sessions as you want. They are numbered sequentially.

If you don't want to keep your password in a configuration file, and would rather enter it on the command line, use the -passwd flag:

	$ x11vnc -passwd [password] -bg

x11vnc is a stateless connection, so you can log in, log out, wander around, and log in again, picking up where you left off.

x11vnc has many dozens of options; to see a list of them, run:

	$ x11vnc -opts

This command gives long descriptions for each one:

	$ x11vnc -help

Discussion

This should work for any version of VNC.

See Also