vncconfig(1)

💖 vncconfig — configure and control a VNC server 💖

okay bestie, welcome to vncconfig(1), a page from the Virtual Network Computing manual set 🦋. it's giving "little tool that runs the whole vibe of your VNC session", and honestly? iconic. let's get into it ✨

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

vncconfig [parameters]
vncconfig [parameters] -connect [-view-only] host[:port]
vncconfig [parameters] -disconnect
vncconfig [parameters] [-set] Xvnc-param=value ...
vncconfig [parameters] -list
vncconfig [parameters] -get Xvnc-param
vncconfig [parameters] -desc Xvnc-param

👑 DESCRIPTION 👑

vncconfig is your girl for configuring and controlling a running instance of Xvnc, or literally any other X server that has the VNC extension bolted on. 🫶

important!! it cannot be used to control VNC servers from before version 4. sorry babe, that's ancient history 💀

So here's the tea. When you run it with no options at all, it becomes a kind of "helper" application for Xvnc. Its main character purpose in this mode is to ask the user how new connections should be handled — but only if that feature is enabled, okay? 🙈

• the -nowin flag is there if you always want that query support but you do NOT want to clutter your desktop with the settings window. lowkey valid.
• alternatively, the -iconic option makes it iconified by default. cute and tucked away. 🎀

When you run it in any other mode, vncconfig is a one-shot program — it does one job and dips. it configures or controls Xvnc as appropriate. Specifically it can:

• tell Xvnc to connect or disconnect from listening viewers
• set and retrieve Xvnc's parameters

and now the part you cannot skip, bestie: the DISPLAY environment variable or the -display option must be set as appropriate to control Xvnc. periodt. ✨

heads up 🍓 if you run it on an ordinary X server (or on a version 3 Xvnc), you'll get an error message saying there's no VNC extension. not a vibe, but that's what happens.

✨ OPTIONS ✨

• -connect [-view-only] host[:port] — tells an Xvnc server to make a "reverse" connection to a listening VNC viewer. (normally it's the other way round — the viewer connects to the server, iykyk.) host is where the listening viewer is running. if it's not listening on the default port of 5500, you can say host:port instead. the -view-only option says the server must ignore all keyboard or mouse events sent by the client. read-only queen behavior 💅
• -desc Xvnc-param — prints a short description of the given Xvnc parameter. it's giving "explain it to me like I'm five" 🧚
• -disconnect — causes Xvnc to disconnect from all viewers, so the VNC desktop is not displayed anywhere. poof. gone. 💀
• -get Xvnc-param — prints the current value of the given Xvnc parameter.
• -list — lists all the parameters supported by Xvnc. the full menu, bestie 📋
• [-set] Xvnc-param=value — sets an Xvnc parameter to the given value. but bestie listen — some of Xvnc's parameters are read only once at startup, so changing them this way may not have any effect. it's giving "you had one chance and you missed it" 😭

🦋 PARAMETERS 🦋

vncconfig also has parameters of its own, which you can set on the command line. do NOT confuse these with Xvnc's parameters — those are the ones you manipulate with the -set, -get, -list and -desc options. two different friend groups, don't mix them up 🙈

the rules, no cap:

• parameters can be turned on with -param or off with -param=0
• parameters that take a value can be specified as -param value
• other valid forms are param=value, -param=value, and --param=value
• parameter names are case-insensitive 👑
• -display Xdisplay — specifies the Xvnc server to control. this is the one you need, remember? 🎯
• -iconic — when run as a "helper" app, make the window iconified at startup. tiny window energy 🎀
• -nowin — when run as a "helper" app, don't put up a window. stealth mode, slay ✨

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

• vncpasswd(1)
• vncviewer(1)
• Xvnc(1)
• vncsession(8)
• https://www.tigervnc.org

💜 AUTHOR 💜

Tristan Richardson, RealVNC Ltd. and others.

VNC was originally developed by the RealVNC team while at Olivetti Research Ltd / AT&T Laboratories Cambridge. TightVNC additions were implemented by Constantin Kaplinsky. Many other people have since participated in development, testing and support. This manual is part of the TigerVNC software suite. 🫶

and that's the whole page, bestie!! this lil manual lives in the TigerVNC software suite, and it's the vncconfig(1) page from the Virtual Network Computing manual set — TigerVNC edition, coming to you straight from the TigerVNC crew. 💖✨🎀🦋🌸💅