.\" This file was automatically generated from x11vnc -help output. .TH X11VNC "1" "December 2004" "x11vnc " "User Commands" .SH NAME x11vnc - allow VNC connections to real X11 displays version: 0.7pre, lastmod: 2004-12-20 .SH SYNOPSIS .B x11vnc [OPTION]... .SH DESCRIPTION .PP Typical usage is: .IP Run this command in a shell on the remote machine "far-host" with X session you wish to view: .IP x11vnc -display :0 .IP Then run this in another window on the machine you are sitting at: .IP vncviewer far-host:0 .PP Once x11vnc establishes connections with the X11 server and starts listening as a VNC server it will print out a string: PORT=XXXX where XXXX is typically 5900 (the default VNC server port). One would next run something like this on the local machine: "vncviewer hostname:N" where "hostname" is the name of the machine running x11vnc and N is XXXX - 5900, i.e. usually "vncviewer hostname:0". .PP By default x11vnc will not allow the screen to be shared and it will exit as soon as a client disconnects. See \fB-shared\fR and \fB-forever\fR below to override these protections. See the FAQ on how to tunnel the VNC connection through an encrypted channel such as .IR ssh (1). .PP For additional info see: http://www.karlrunge.com/x11vnc/ and http://www.karlrunge.com/x11vnc/#faq .PP Rudimentary config file support: if the file $HOME/.x11vncrc exists then each line in it is treated as a single command line option. Disable with \fB-norc.\fR For each option name, the leading character "-" is not required. E.g. a line that is either "nap" or "\fB-nap\fR" may be used and are equivalent. Likewise "wait 100" or "\fB-wait\fR \fI100\fR" are acceptable and equivalent lines. The "#" character comments out to the end of the line in the usual way. Leading and trailing whitespace is trimmed off. Lines may be continued with a "\\" as the last character of a line (it becomes a space character). .PP .SH OPTIONS .PP \fB-display\fR \fIdisp\fR .IP X11 server display to connect to, usually :0. The X server process must be running on same machine and support MIT-SHM. Equivalent to setting the DISPLAY environment variable to \fIdisp\fR. .PP \fB-auth\fR \fIfile\fR .IP Set the X authority file to be \fIfile\fR, equivalent to setting the XAUTHORITY environment varirable to \fIfile\fR before startup. See .IR Xsecurity (7) , .IR xauth (1) man pages. .PP \fB-id\fR \fIwindowid\fR .IP Show the window corresponding to \fIwindowid\fR not the entire display. New windows like popup menus, transient toplevels, etc, may not be seen or may be clipped. Disabling SaveUnders or BackingStore in the X server may help show them. x11vnc may crash if the window is initially partially obscured, changes size, is iconified, etc. Some steps are taken to avoid this and the \fB-xrandr\fR mechanism is used to track resizes. Use .IR xwininfo (1) to get the window id, or use "\fB-id\fR \fIpick\fR" to have x11vnc run .IR xwininfo (1) for you and extract the id. The \fB-id\fR option is useful for exporting very simple applications (e.g. the current view on a webcam). .PP \fB-sid\fR \fIwindowid\fR .IP As \fB-id,\fR but instead of using the window directly it shifts a root view to it: this shows SaveUnders menus, etc, although they will be clipped if they extend beyond the window. .PP \fB-flashcmap\fR .IP In 8bpp indexed color, let the installed colormap flash as the pointer moves from window to window (slow). .PP \fB-notruecolor\fR .IP For 8bpp displays, force indexed color (i.e. a colormap) even if it looks like 8bpp TrueColor. (rare problem) .PP \fB-visual\fR \fIn\fR .IP Experimental option: probably does not do what you think. It simply *forces* the visual used for the framebuffer; this may be a bad thing... (e.g. messes up colors or cause a crash). It is useful for testing and for some workarounds. n may be a decimal number, or 0x hex. Run .IR xdpyinfo (1) for the values. One may also use "TrueColor", etc. see for a list. If the string ends in ":m" for better or for worse the visual depth is forced to be m. .PP \fB-overlay\fR .IP Handle multiple depth visuals on one screen, e.g. 8+24 and 24+8 overlay visuals (the 32 bits per pixel are packed with 8 for PseudoColor and 24 for TrueColor). .IP Currently \fB-overlay\fR only works on Solaris via .IR XReadScreen (3X11) and IRIX using .IR XReadDisplay (3). On Solaris there is a problem with image "bleeding" around transient popup menus (but not for the menu itself): a workaround is to disable SaveUnders by passing the "\fB-su\fR" argument to Xsun (in /etc/dt/config/Xservers). Also note that the mouse cursor shape is exactly correct in this mode. .IP Use \fB-overlay\fR as a workaround for situations like these: Some legacy applications require the default visual to be 8bpp (8+24), or they will use 8bpp PseudoColor even when the default visual is depth 24 TrueColor (24+8). In these cases colors in some windows will be messed up in x11vnc unless \fB-overlay\fR is used. Another use of \fB-overlay\fR is to enable showing the exact mouse cursor shape (details below). .IP Under \fB-overlay,\fR performance will be somewhat degraded due to the extra image transformations required. For optimal performance do not use \fB-overlay,\fR but rather configure the X server so that the default visual is depth 24 TrueColor and try to have all apps use that visual (some apps have \fB-use24\fR or \fB-visual\fR options). .PP \fB-overlay_nocursor\fR .IP Sets \fB-overlay,\fR but does not try to draw the exact mouse cursor shape using the overlay mechanism. .PP \fB-scale\fR \fIfraction\fR .IP Scale the framebuffer by factor \fIfraction\fR. Values less than 1 shrink the fb, larger ones expand it. Note: image may not be sharp and response may be slower. Currently the cursor shape is not scaled. If \fIfraction\fR contains a decimal point "." it is taken as a floating point number, alternatively the notation "m/n" may be used to denote fractions exactly, e.g. \fB-scale\fR 2/3. .IP Scaling Options: can be added after \fIfraction\fR via ":", to supply multiple ":" options use commas. If you just want a quick, rough scaling without blending, append ":nb" to \fIfraction\fR (e.g. \fB-scale\fR 1/3:nb). For compatibility with vncviewers the scaled width is adjusted to be a multiple of 4: to disable this use ":n4". More esoteric options: ":in" use interpolation scheme even when shrinking, ":pad", pad scaled width and height to be multiples of scaling denominator (e.g. 3 for 2/3). .PP \fB-viewonly\fR .IP All VNC clients can only watch (default off). .PP \fB-shared\fR .IP VNC display is shared (default off). .PP \fB-once\fR .IP Exit after the first successfully connected viewer disconnects, opposite of \fB-forever.\fR This is the Default. .PP \fB-forever\fR .IP Keep listening for more connections rather than exiting as soon as the first client(s) disconnect. Same as \fB-many\fR .PP \fB-inetd\fR .IP Launched by .IR inetd (1): stdio instead of listening socket. Note: if you are not redirecting stderr to a log file (via shell 2> or \fB-o\fR option) you must also specify the \fB-q\fR option, otherwise the stderr goes to the viewer. .PP \fB-connect\fR \fIstring\fR .IP For use with "vncviewer -listen" reverse connections. If \fIstring\fR has the form "host" or "host:port" the connection is made once at startup. Use commas for a list of host's and host:port's. If \fIstring\fR contains "/" it is instead interpreted as a file to periodically check for new hosts. The first line is read and then the file is truncated. .PP \fB-vncconnect,\fR \fB-novncconnect\fR .IP Monitor the VNC_CONNECT X property set by the standard VNC program .IR vncconnect (1). When the property is set to "host" or "host:port" establish a reverse connection. Using .IR xprop (1) instead of vncconnect may work (see the FAQ). Default: \fB-vncconnect\fR .PP \fB-allow\fR \fIhost1[,host2..]\fR .IP Only allow client connections from hosts matching the comma separated list of hostnames or IP addresses. Can also be a numerical IP prefix, e.g. "192.168.100." to match a simple subnet, for more control build libvncserver with libwrap support (See the FAQ). If the list contains a "/" it instead is a interpreted as a file containing addresses or prefixes that is re-read each time a new client connects. Lines can be commented out with the "#" character in the usual way. .PP \fB-localhost\fR .IP Same as \fB-allow\fR 127.0.0.1 .PP \fB-viewpasswd\fR \fIstring\fR .IP Supply a 2nd password for view-only logins. The \fB-passwd\fR (full-access) password must also be supplied. .PP \fB-passwdfile\fR \fIfilename\fR .IP Specify libvncserver \fB-passwd\fR via the first line of the file \fIfilename\fR instead of via command line. If a second non blank line exists in the file it is taken as a view-only password (i.e. \fB-viewpasswd)\fR Note: this is a simple plaintext passwd, see also \fB-rfbauth\fR and \fB-storepasswd\fR below for obfuscated passwords. .PP \fB-storepasswd\fR \fIpass\fR \fIfile\fR .IP Store password \fIpass\fR as the VNC password in the file \fIfile\fR. Once the password is stored the program exits. Use the password via "\fB-rfbauth\fR \fIfile\fR" .PP \fB-accept\fR \fIstring\fR .IP Run a command (possibly to prompt the user at the X11 display) to decide whether an incoming client should be allowed to connect or not. \fIstring\fR is an external command run via .IR system (3) or some special cases described below. Be sure to quote \fIstring\fR if it contains spaces, shell characters, etc. If the external command returns 0 the client is accepted, otherwise the client is rejected. See below for an extension to accept a client view-only. .IP Environment: The RFB_CLIENT_IP environment variable will be set to the incoming client IP number and the port in RFB_CLIENT_PORT (or -1 if unavailable). Similarly, RFB_SERVER_IP and RFB_SERVER_PORT (the x11vnc side of the connection), are set to allow identification of the tcp virtual circuit. The x11vnc process id will be in RFB_X11VNC_PID, a client id number in RFB_CLIENT_ID, and the number of other connected clients in RFB_CLIENT_COUNT. RFB_MODE will be "accept" .IP If \fIstring\fR is "popup" then a builtin popup window is used. The popup will time out after 120 seconds, use "popup:N" to modify the timeout to N seconds (use 0 for no timeout) .IP If \fIstring\fR is "xmessage" then an .IR xmessage (1) invocation is used for the command. xmessage must be installed on the machine for this to work. .IP Both "popup" and "xmessage" will present an option for accepting the client "View-Only" (the client can only watch). This option will not be presented if \fB-viewonly\fR has been specified, in which case the entire display is view only. .IP If the user supplied command is prefixed with something like "yes:0,no:*,view:3 mycommand ..." then this associates the numerical command return code with the actions: accept, reject, and accept-view-only, respectively. Use "*" instead of a number to indicate the default action (in case the command returns an unexpected value). E.g. "no:*" is a good choice. .IP Note that x11vnc blocks while the external command or popup is running (other clients may see no updates during this period). .IP More \fB-accept\fR tricks: use "popupmouse" to only allow mouse clicks in the builtin popup to be recognized. Similarly use "popupkey" to only recognize keystroke responses. These are to help avoid the user accidentally accepting a client by typing or clicking. All 3 of the popup keywords can be followed by +N+M to supply a position for the popup window. The default is to center the popup window. .PP \fB-gone\fR \fIstring\fR .IP As \fB-accept,\fR except to run a user supplied command when a client goes away (disconnects). RFB_MODE will be set to "gone" and the other RFB_* variables are as in \fB-accept.\fR Unlike \fB-accept,\fR the command return code is not interpreted by x11vnc. Example: \fB-gone\fR 'xlock &' .PP \fB-noshm\fR .IP Do not use the MIT-SHM extension for the polling. Remote displays can be polled this way: be careful this can use large amounts of network bandwidth. This is also of use if the local machine has a limited number of shm segments and \fB-onetile\fR is not sufficient. .PP \fB-flipbyteorder\fR .IP Sometimes needed if remotely polled host has different endianness. Ignored unless \fB-noshm\fR is set. .PP \fB-onetile\fR .IP Do not use the new copy_tiles() framebuffer mechanism, just use 1 shm tile for polling. Limits shm segments used to 3. .PP \fB-blackout\fR \fIstring\fR .IP Black out rectangles on the screen. \fIstring\fR is a comma separated list of WxH+X+Y type geometries for each rectangle. .PP \fB-xinerama\fR .IP If your screen is composed of multiple monitors glued together via XINERAMA, and that screen is non-rectangular this option will try to guess the areas to black out (if your system has libXinerama). In general on XINERAMA displays you may need to use the \fB-xwarppointer\fR option if the mouse pointer misbehaves. .PP \fB-xrandr\fR \fI[mode]\fR .IP If the display supports the XRANDR (X Resize, Rotate and Reflection) extension, and you expect XRANDR events to occur to the display while x11vnc is running, this options indicates x11vnc should try to respond to them (as opposed to simply crashing by assuming the old screen size). See the .IR xrandr (1) manpage and run \'xrandr \fB-q'\fR for more info. [mode] is optional and described below. .IP Since watching for XRANDR events and errors increases polling overhead, only use this option if XRANDR changes are expected. For example on a rotatable screen PDA or laptop, or using a XRANDR-aware Desktop where you resize often. It is best to be viewing with a vncviewer that supports the NewFBSize encoding, since it knows how to react to screen size changes. Otherwise, libvncserver tries to do so something reasonable for viewers that cannot do this (portions of the screen may be clipped, unused, etc). .IP "mode" defaults to "resize", which means create a new, resized, framebuffer and hope all viewers can cope with the change. "newfbsize" means first disconnect all viewers that do not support the NewFBSize VNC encoding, and then resize the framebuffer. "exit" means disconnect all viewer clients, and then terminate x11vnc. .PP \fB-padgeom\fR \fIWxH\fR .IP Whenever a new vncviewer connects, the framebuffer is replaced with a fake, solid black one of geometry WxH. Shortly afterwards the framebuffer is replaced with the real one. This is intended for use with vncviewers that do not support NewFBSize and one wants to make sure the initial viewer geometry will be big enough to handle all subsequent resizes (e.g. under \fB-xrandr,\fR \fB-remote\fR id:windowid, rescaling, etc. .PP \fB-o\fR \fIlogfile\fR .IP Write stderr messages to file \fIlogfile\fR instead of to the terminal. Same as "\fB-logfile\fR \fIfile\fR". .PP \fB-rc\fR \fIfilename\fR .IP Use \fIfilename\fR instead of $HOME/.x11vncrc for rc file. .PP \fB-norc\fR .IP Do not process any .x11vncrc file for options. .PP \fB-h,\fR \fB-help\fR .IP Print this help text. .PP \fB-V,\fR \fB-version\fR .IP Print program version (last modification date). .PP \fB-q\fR .IP Be quiet by printing less informational output to stderr. Same as \fB-quiet.\fR .PP \fB-bg\fR .IP Go into the background after screen setup. Messages to stderr are lost unless \fB-o\fR logfile is used. Something like this could be useful in a script: .IP port=`ssh $host "x11vnc -display :0 -bg" | grep PORT` .IP port=`echo "$port" | sed -e 's/PORT=//'` .IP port=`expr $port - 5900` .IP vncviewer $host:$port .PP \fB-modtweak,\fR \fB-nomodtweak\fR .IP Option \fB-modtweak\fR automatically tries to adjust the AltGr and Shift modifiers for differing language keyboards between client and host. Otherwise, only a single key press/release of a Keycode is simulated (i.e. ignoring the state of the modifiers: this usually works for identical keyboards). Also useful in resolving cases where a Keysym is bound to multiple keys (e.g. "<" + ">" and "," + "<" keys). Default: \fB-modtweak\fR .PP \fB-xkb\fR .IP When in modtweak mode, use the XKEYBOARD extension (if the X display supports it) to do the modifier tweaking. This is powerful and should be tried if there are still keymapping problems when using \fB-modtweak\fR by itself. .PP \fB-skip_keycodes\fR \fIstring\fR .IP Ignore the comma separated list of decimal keycodes. Perhaps these are keycodes not on your keyboard but your X server thinks exist. Currently only applies to \fB-xkb\fR mode. Use this option to help x11vnc in the reverse problem it tries to solve: Keysym -> Keycode(s) when ambiguities exist (more than one Keycode per Keysym). Run 'xmodmap \fB-pk'\fR to see your keymapping. E.g. "\fB-skip_keycodes\fR \fI94,114\fR" .PP \fB-add_keysyms\fR .IP If a Keysym is received from a VNC viewer and that Keysym does not exist in the X server, then add the Keysym to the X server's keyboard mapping. Added Keysyms will be removed when exiting. .PP \fB-clear_mods\fR .IP At startup and exit clear the modifier keys by sending KeyRelease for each one. The Lock modifiers are skipped. Used to clear the state if the display was accidentally left with any pressed down. .PP \fB-clear_keys\fR .IP As \fB-clear_mods,\fR except try to release any pressed key. Note that this option and \fB-clear_mods\fR can interfere with a person typing at the physical keyboard. .PP \fB-remap\fR \fIstring\fR .IP Read Keysym remappings from file named \fIstring\fR. Format is one pair of Keysyms per line (can be name or hex value) separated by a space. If no file named \fIstring\fR exists, it is instead interpreted as this form: key1-key2,key3-key4,... See header file for a list of Keysym names, or use .IR xev (1). To map a key to a button click, use the fake Keysyms "Button1", ..., etc. E.g. "-remap Super_R-Button2" (useful for pasting on a laptop) .PP \fB-norepeat,\fR \fB-repeat\fR .IP Option \fB-norepeat\fR disables X server key auto repeat when VNC clients are connected. This works around a repeating keystrokes bug (triggered by long processing delays between key down and key up client events: either from large screen changes or high latency). Note: your VNC viewer side will likely do autorepeating, so this is no loss unless someone is simultaneously at the real X display. Default: \fB-norepeat\fR .PP \fB-nofb\fR .IP Ignore video framebuffer: only process keyboard and pointer. Intended for use with Win2VNC and x2vnc dual-monitor setups. .PP \fB-nobell\fR .IP Do not watch for XBell events. (no beeps will be heard) Note: XBell monitoring requires the XKEYBOARD extension. .PP \fB-nosel\fR .IP Do not manage exchange of X selection/cutbuffer between VNC viewers and the X server. .PP \fB-noprimary\fR .IP Do not poll the PRIMARY selection for changes to send back to clients. (PRIMARY is still set on received changes, however). .PP \fB-cursor\fR \fI[mode],\fR \fB-nocursor\fR .IP Sets how the pointer cursor shape (little icon at the mouse pointer) should be handled. The "mode" string is optional and is described below. The default is to show some sort of cursor shape(s). How this is done depends on the VNC viewer and the X server. Use \fB-nocursor\fR to disable cursor shapes completely. .IP Some VNC viewers support the TightVNC CursorPosUpdates and CursorShapeUpdates extensions (cuts down on network traffic by not having to send the cursor image every time the pointer is moved), in which case these extensions are used (see \fB-nocursorshape\fR and \fB-nocursorpos\fR below to disable). For other viewers the cursor shape is written directly to the framebuffer every time the pointer is moved or changed and gets sent along with the other framebuffer updates. In this case, there will be some lag between the vnc viewer pointer and the remote cursor position. .IP If the X display supports retrieving the cursor shape information from the X server, then the default is to use that mode. On Solaris this can be done with the SUN_OVL extension using \fB-overlay\fR (see also the \fB-overlay_nomouse\fR option). A similar overlay scheme is used on IRIX. Xorg (e.g. Linux) and recent Solaris Xsun servers support the XFIXES extension to retrieve the exact cursor shape from the X server. If XFIXES is present it is preferred over Overlay and is used by default (see \fB-noxfixes\fR below). This can be disabled with \fB-nocursor,\fR and also some values of the "mode" option below. .IP The "mode" string can be used to fine-tune the displaying of cursor shapes. It can be used the following ways: .IP "\fB-cursor\fR \fIarrow\fR" - just show the standard arrow nothing more or nothing less. .IP "\fB-cursor\fR \fInone\fR" - same as "\fB-nocursor\fR" .IP "\fB-cursor\fR \fIX\fR" - when the cursor appears to be on the root window, draw the familiar X shape. Some desktops such as GNOME cover up the root window completely, and so this will not work, try "X1", etc, to try to shift the tree depth. On high latency links or slow machines there will be a time lag between expected and the actual cursor shape. .IP "\fB-cursor\fR \fIsome\fR" - like "X" but use additional heuristics to try to guess if the window should have a windowmanager-like resizer cursor or a text input I-beam cursor. This is a complete hack, but may be useful in some situations because it provides a little more feedback about the cursor shape. .IP "\fB-cursor\fR \fImost\fR" - try to show as many cursors as possible. Often this will only be the same as "some" unless the display has overlay visuals or XFIXES extensions available. On Solaris and IRIX if XFIXES is not available, \fB-overlay\fR mode will be attempted. .PP \fB-noxfixes\fR .IP Do not use the XFIXES extension to draw the exact cursor shape even if it is available. .PP \fB-nocursorshape\fR .IP Do not use the TightVNC CursorShapeUpdates extension even if clients support it. See \fB-cursor\fR above. .PP \fB-cursorpos,\fR \fB-nocursorpos\fR .IP Option \fB-cursorpos\fR enables sending the X cursor position back to all vnc clients that support the TightVNC CursorPosUpdates extension. Other clients will be able to see the pointer motions. Default: \fB-cursorpos\fR .PP \fB-xwarppointer\fR .IP Move the pointer with .IR XWarpPointer (3X) instead of the XTEST extension. Use this as a workaround if the pointer motion behaves incorrectly, e.g. on touchscreens or other non-standard setups. Also sometimes needed on XINERAMA displays. .PP \fB-buttonmap\fR \fIstring\fR .IP String to remap mouse buttons. Format: IJK-LMN, this maps buttons I -> L, etc., e.g. \fB-buttonmap\fR 13-31 .IP Button presses can also be mapped to keystrokes: replace a button digit on the right of the dash with :: or :+: etc. for multiple keys. For example, if the viewing machine has a mouse-wheel (buttons 4 5) but the x11vnc side does not, these will do scrolls: .IP \fB-buttonmap\fR 12345-123:Prior::Next: .IP \fB-buttonmap\fR 12345-123:Up+Up+Up::Down+Down+Down: .IP See header file for a list of Keysyms, or use the .IR xev (1) program. Note: mapping of button clicks to Keysyms may not work if \fB-modtweak\fR or \fB-xkb\fR is needed for the Keysym. .IP If you include a modifier like "Shift_L" the modifier's up/down state is toggled, e.g. to send "The" use :Shift_L+t+Shift_L+h+e: (the 1st one is shift down and the 2nd one is shift up). (note: the initial state of the modifier is ignored and not reset) To include button events use "Button1", ... etc. .PP \fB-nodragging\fR .IP Do not update the display during mouse dragging events (mouse motion with a button held down). Greatly improves response on slow setups, but you lose all visual feedback for drags, text selection, and some menu traversals. It overrides any \fB-pointer_mode\fR setting (think of it as pointer_mode 0) .PP \fB-pointer_mode\fR \fIn\fR .IP Various pointer update schemes. The problem is pointer motion can cause rapid changes on the screen, e.g. a window drag. Neither x11vnc's screen polling nor the bandwidth to the vncviewers can keep up these rapid screen changes: everything bogs down when dragging or scrolling. Note that most video h/w is optimized for writing, not reading (a 50X rate difference is possible) and x11vnc is reading all the time. So a scheme has to be used to "eat" much of that pointer input before re-polling the screen. n can be 1 to 4. .IP n=1 was the original scheme used to about Jan 2004: it basically just skips \fB-input_skip\fR pointer events before repolling the screen. n=2 is an improved scheme: by watching the current rate it tries to detect if it should try to "eat" more pointer events. n=3 is basically a dynamic \fB-nodragging\fR mode: it detects if the mouse drag motion has paused and refreshes the display. n=4 is TBD, it will try measure screen read and client write rates and try to insert "frames" between the on/off states of mode 3. The default n is 2. .PP \fB-input_skip\fR \fIn\fR .IP For the pointer handling when non-threaded: try to read n user input events before scanning display. n < 0 means to act as though there is always user input. Default: 10 .PP \fB-debug_pointer\fR .IP Print debugging output for every pointer event. .PP \fB-debug_keyboard\fR .IP Print debugging output for every keyboard event. .PP Same as \fB-dp\fR and \fB-dk,\fR respectively. Use multiple times for more output. .PP \fB-defer\fR \fItime\fR .IP Time in ms to wait for updates before sending to client (deferUpdateTime) Default: 30 .PP \fB-wait\fR \fItime\fR .IP Time in ms to pause between screen polls. Used to cut down on load. Default: 30 .PP \fB-nap\fR .IP Monitor activity and if low take longer naps between polls to really cut down load when idle. Default: off .PP \fB-sb\fR \fItime\fR .IP Time in seconds after NO activity (e.g. screen blank) to really throttle down the screen polls (i.e. sleep for about 1.5 secs). Use 0 to disable. Default: 60 .PP \fB-sigpipe\fR \fIstring\fR .IP Broken pipe (SIGPIPE) handling. \fIstring\fR can be "ignore" or "exit". For "ignore" libvncserver will handle the abrupt loss of a client and continue, for "exit" x11vnc will cleanup and exit at the 1st broken connection. Default: "ignore". .PP \fB-threads,\fR \fB-nothreads\fR .IP Whether or not to use the threaded libvncserver algorithm [rfbRunEventLoop] if libpthread is available Default: \fB-nothreads\fR .PP \fB-fs\fR \fIf\fR .IP If the fraction of changed tiles in a poll is greater than f, the whole screen is updated. Default: 0.75 .PP \fB-gaps\fR \fIn\fR .IP Heuristic to fill in gaps in rows or cols of n or less tiles. Used to improve text paging. Default: 4 .PP \fB-grow\fR \fIn\fR .IP Heuristic to grow islands of changed tiles n or wider by checking the tile near the boundary. Default: 3 .PP \fB-fuzz\fR \fIn\fR .IP Tolerance in pixels to mark a tiles edges as changed. Default: 2 .PP \fB-gui\fR \fI[gui-opts]\fR .IP Start up a simple tcl/tk gui based on the the remote control options \fB-remote/-query\fR described below. Requires the "wish" program to be installed on the machine. "gui-opts" is not required: the default is to start up both the gui and x11vnc with the gui showing up on the X display in the environment variable DISPLAY. .IP "gui-opts" can be a comma separated list of items. Currently there are only two types of items: 1) a gui mode and 2) the X display the gui should display on. The gui mode can be "start", "conn", or "wait" "start" is the default mode above and is not required. "conn" means do not automatically start up x11vnc, but instead just try to connect to an existing x11vnc process. "wait" means just start the gui and nothing else (you will later instruct the gui to start x11vnc or connect to an existing one.) .IP Note the possible confusion regarding the potentially two different X displays: x11vnc polls one, but you may want the gui to appear on another. For example, if you ssh in and x11vnc is not running yet you may want the gui to come back to you via your ssh redirected X display (e.g. localhost:10). .IP Examples: "x11vnc \fB-gui",\fR "x11vnc \fB-gui\fR localhost:10", "x11vnc \fB-gui\fR :10", "x11vnc \fB-gui\fR wait,:10", "x11vnc \fB-gui\fR " .IP If you do not specify a gui X display in "gui-opts" then the DISPLAY environment variable and \fB-display\fR option are tried (in that order). Regarding the x11vnc X display the gui will try to connect to, it first tries \fB-display\fR and then DISPLAY. For example, "x11vnc \fB-display\fR :0 \fB-gui\fR otherhost:0", will remote control an x11vnc polling :0 and display the gui on otherhost:0 .IP If you do not intend to start x11vnc from the gui (i.e. just remote control an existing one), then the gui process can run on a different machine from the x11vnc server as long as X permissions, etc. permit communication between the two. .PP \fB-remote\fR \fIcommand\fR .IP Remotely control some aspects of an already running x11vnc server. "\fB-R\fR" and "\fB-r\fR" are aliases for "\fB-remote\fR". After the remote control command is sent to the running server the 'x11vnc \fB-remote\fR ...' command exits. You can often use the \fB-query\fR command (see below) to see if the x11vnc server processed your \fB-remote\fR command. .IP The default communication channel is that of X properties (specifically VNC_CONNECT), and so this command must be run with correct settings for DISPLAY and possibly XAUTHORITY to connect to the X server and set the property. Alternatively, use the \fB-display\fR and \fB-auth\fR options to set them to the correct values. The running server cannot use the \fB-novncconnect\fR option because that disables the communication channel. See below for alternate channels. .IP For example: 'x11vnc \fB-remote\fR stop' (which is the same as \'x11vnc \fB-R\fR stop') will close down the x11vnc server. \'x11vnc \fB-R\fR shared' will enable shared connections, and \'x11vnc \fB-R\fR scale:3/4' will rescale the desktop. .IP Note: the more drastic the change induced by the \fB-remote\fR command, the bigger the chance for bugs or crashes. Please report reproducible bugs. .IP .IP The following \fB-remote/-R\fR commands are supported: .IP stop terminate the server, same as "quit" "exit" or "shutdown" .IP ping see if the x11vnc server responds. Return is: ans=ping: .IP blacken try to push a black fb update to all clients (due to timings a client could miss it). Same as "zero", also "zero:x1,y1,x2,y2" for a rectangle. .IP refresh send the entire fb to all clients. .IP reset recreate the fb, polling memory, etc. .IP id:windowid set \fB-id\fR window to "windowid". empty or "root" to go back to root window .IP sid:windowid set \fB-sid\fR window to "windowid" .IP flashcmap enable \fB-flashcmap\fR mode. .IP noflashcmap disable \fB-flashcmap\fR mode. .IP notruecolor enable \fB-notruecolor\fR mode. .IP truecolor disable \fB-notruecolor\fR mode. .IP overlay enable \fB-overlay\fR mode (if applicable). .IP nooverlay disable \fB-overlay\fR mode. .IP overlay_cursor in \fB-overlay\fR mode, enable cursor drawing. .IP overlay_nocursor disable cursor drawing. same as nooverlay_cursor. .IP visual:vis set \fB-visual\fR to "vis" .IP scale:frac set \fB-scale\fR to "frac" .IP viewonly enable \fB-viewonly\fR mode. .IP noviewonly disable \fB-viewonly\fR mode. .IP shared enable \fB-shared\fR mode. .IP noshared disable \fB-shared\fR mode. .IP forever enable \fB-forever\fR mode. .IP noforever disable \fB-forever\fR mode. .IP deny deny any new connections, same as "lock" .IP nodeny allow new connections, same as "unlock" .IP connect:host do reverse connection to host, "host" may be a comma separated list of hosts or host:ports. See \fB-connect.\fR .IP disconnect:host disconnect any clients from "host" same as "close:host". Use host "all" to close all current clients. If you know the client internal hex ID, e.g. 0x3 (returned by \fB-query\fR clients and RFB_CLIENT_ID), you can use that too. .IP allowonce:host For the next connection only, allow connection from "host". .IP allow:hostlist set \fB-allow\fR list to (comma separated) "hostlist". See \fB-allow\fR and \fB-localhost.\fR Do not use with \fB-allow\fR /path/to/file Use "+host" to add a single host, and use "\fB-host\fR" to delete a single host .IP localhost enable \fB-localhost\fR mode .IP nolocalhost disable \fB-localhost\fR mode .IP accept:cmd set \fB-accept\fR "cmd" (empty to disable). .IP gone:cmd set \fB-gone\fR "cmd" (empty to disable). .IP noshm enable \fB-noshm\fR mode. .IP shm disable \fB-noshm\fR mode (i.e. use shm). .IP flipbyteorder enable \fB-flipbyteorder\fR mode, you may need to set noshm for this to do something. .IP noflipbyteorder disable \fB-flipbyteorder\fR mode. .IP onetile enable \fB-onetile\fR mode. (you may need to set shm for this to do something) .IP noonetile disable \fB-onetile\fR mode. .IP blackout:str set \fB-blackout\fR "str" (empty to disable). See \fB-blackout\fR for the form of "str" (basically: WxH+X+Y,...) Use "+WxH+X+Y" to append a single rectangle use "-WxH+X+Y" to delete one .IP xinerama enable \fB-xinerama\fR mode. (if applicable) .IP noxinerama disable \fB-xinerama\fR mode. .IP xrandr enable \fB-xrandr\fR mode. (if applicable) .IP noxrandr disable \fB-xrandr\fR mode. .IP xrandr_mode:mode set the \fB-xrandr\fR mode to "mode". .IP padgeom:WxH set \fB-padgeom\fR to WxH (empty to disable) If WxH is "force" or "do" the padded geometry fb is immediately applied. .IP quiet enable \fB-quiet\fR mode. .IP noquiet disable \fB-quiet\fR mode. .IP modtweak enable \fB-modtweak\fR mode. .IP nomodtweak enable \fB-nomodtweak\fR mode. .IP xkb enable \fB-xkb\fR modtweak mode. .IP noxkb disable \fB-xkb\fR modtweak mode. .IP skip_keycodes:str enable \fB-xkb\fR \fB-skip_keycodes\fR "str". .IP add_keysyms enable \fB-add_keysyms\fR mode. .IP noadd_keysyms stop adding keysyms. those added will still be removed at exit. .IP clear_mods enable \fB-clear_mods\fR mode and clear them. .IP noclear_mods disable \fB-clear_mods\fR mode. .IP clear_keys enable \fB-clear_keys\fR mode and clear them. .IP noclear_keys disable \fB-clear_keys\fR mode. .IP remap:str set \fB-remap\fR "str" (empty to disable). See \fB-remap\fR for the form of "str" (basically: key1-key2,key3-key4,...) Use "+key1-key2" to append a single keymapping, use "-key1-key2" to delete. .IP norepeat enable \fB-norepeat\fR mode. .IP repeat disable \fB-norepeat\fR mode. .IP bell enable bell (if supported). .IP nobell disable bell. .IP sel disable \fB-nosel\fR mode. .IP nosel enable \fB-nosel\fR mode. .IP primary disable \fB-noprimary\fR mode. .IP noprimary enable \fB-noprimary\fR mode. .IP cursor:mode enable \fB-cursor\fR "mode". .IP show_cursor enable showing a cursor. .IP noshow_cursor disable showing a cursor. (same as "nocursor") .IP xfixes enable xfixes cursor shape mode. .IP noxfixes disable xfixes cursor shape mode. .IP cursorshape disable \fB-nocursorshape\fR mode. .IP nocursorshape enable \fB-nocursorshape\fR mode. .IP cursorpos disable \fB-nocursorpos\fR mode. .IP nocursorpos enable \fB-nocursorpos\fR mode. .IP xwarp enable \fB-xwarppointer\fR mode. .IP noxwarp disable \fB-xwarppointer\fR mode. .IP buttonmap:str set \fB-buttonmap\fR "str", empty to disable .IP dragging disable \fB-nodragging\fR mode. .IP nodragging enable \fB-nodragging\fR mode. .IP pointer_mode n set \fB-pointer_mode\fR to n. .IP input_skip n set \fB-input_skip\fR to n. .IP debug_pointer enable \fB-debug_pointer,\fR same as "dp" .IP nodebug_pointer disable \fB-debug_pointer,\fR same as "nodp" .IP debug_keyboard enable \fB-debug_keyboard,\fR same as "dk" .IP nodebug_keyboard disable \fB-debug_keyboard,\fR same as "nodk" .IP defer:n set \fB-defer\fR to n ms,same as deferupdate:n .IP wait:n set \fB-wait\fR to n ms. .IP nap enable \fB-nap\fR mode. .IP nonap disable \fB-nap\fR mode. .IP sb:n set \fB-sb\fR to n s, same as screen_blank:n .IP fs:frac set \fB-fs\fR fraction to "frac", e.g. 0.5 .IP gaps:n set \fB-gaps\fR to n. .IP grow:n set \fB-grow\fR to n. .IP fuzz:n set \fB-fuzz\fR to n. .IP progressive:n set libvncserver \fB-progressive\fR slice height parameter to n. .IP file:name run \fB-remote\fR commands from file "name", one command per line,blank and # skipped .IP noremote disable the \fB-remote\fR command processing, it cannot be turned back on. .IP .IP The .IR vncconnect (1) command from standard VNC .IP distributions may also be used if string is prefixed .IP with "cmd=" E.g. 'vncconnect cmd=stop'. Under some .IP circumstances .IR xprop (1) can used if it supports \fB-set\fR .IP (see the FAQ). .IP .IP If "\fB-connect\fR \fI/path/to/file\fR" has been supplied to the .IP running x11vnc server then that file can be used as a .IP communication channel (this is the only way to remote .IP control one of many x11vnc's polling the same X display) .IP Simply run: 'x11vnc \fB-connect\fR /path/to/file \fB-remote\fR ...' .IP or you can directly write to the file via something .IP like: "echo cmd=stop > /path/to/file", etc. .PP \fB-query\fR \fIvariable\fR .IP Like \fB-remote,\fR except just query the value of \fIvariable\fR. "\fB-Q\fR" is an alias for "\fB-query\fR". Multiple queries can be done by separating variables by commas, e.g. \fB-query\fR var1,var2. The results come back in the form ans=var1:value1,ans=var2:value2,... to the standard output. If a variable is read-only, it comes back with prefix "aro=" instead of "ans=". .IP Some \fB-remote\fR commands are pure actions that do not make sense as variables, e.g. "stop" or "disconnect", in these cases the value returned is "N/A". To direct a query straight to the VNC_CONNECT property or connect file use "qry=..." instead of "cmd=..." .IP Here is the current list of "variables" that can be supplied to the \fB-query\fR command. This includes the "N/A" ones that return no useful info. For variables names that do not correspond to an x11vnc option or remote command, we hope the name makes it obvious what the returned value corresponds to (hint: the ext_* variables correspond to the presence of X extensions): .IP ans= stop quit exit shutdown ping blacken zero refresh reset close disconnect id sid flashcmap noflashcmap truecolor notruecolor overlay nooverlay overlay_cursor overlay_yescursor nooverlay_cursor overlay_nocursor visual scale viewonly noviewonly shared noshared forever noforever once deny lock nodeny unlock connect allowonce allow localhost nolocalhost accept gone shm noshm flipbyteorder noflipbyteorder onetile noonetile blackout xinerama noxinerama xrandr noxrandr xrandr_mode padgeom quiet q noquiet modtweak nomodtweak xkb noxkb skip_keycodes add_keysyms noadd_keysyms clear_mods noclear_mods clear_keys noclear_keys remap repeat norepeat bell nobell sel nosel primary noprimary cursorshape nocursorshape cursorpos nocursorpos cursor show_cursor noshow_cursor nocursor xfixes noxfixes xwarp xwarppointer noxwarp noxwarppointer buttonmap dragging nodragging pointer_mode input_skip debug_pointer dp nodebug_pointer nodp debug_keyboard dk nodebug_keyboard nodk deferupdate defer wait nap nonap sb screen_blank fs gaps grow fuzz progressive noremote .IP aro= display vncdisplay desktopname desktop auth rootshift scale_str scaled_x scaled_y scale_numer scale_denom scale_fac scaling_noblend scaling_nomult4 scaling_pad scaling_interpolate inetd safer unsafe passwdfile using_shm logfile o rc norc h help V version lastmod bg nofb sigpipe threads clients client_count pid ext_xtest ext_xkb ext_xshm ext_xinerama ext_overlay ext_xfixes ext_xdamage ext_xrandr rootwin num_buttons button_mask mouse_x mouse_y bpp depth indexed_color dpy_x dpy_y rfbport rfbwait rfbauth passwd alwaysshared dontdisconnect httpdir enablehttpproxy .PP \fB-sync\fR .IP By default \fB-remote\fR commands are run asynchronously, that is, the request is posted and the program immediately exits. Use \fB-sync\fR to have the program wait for an acknowledgement from the x11vnc server that command was processed. On the other hand \fB-query\fR requests are always processed synchronously because they have wait for the result. .IP Also note that if both \fB-remote\fR and \fB-query\fR requests are supplied on the command line, the \fB-remote\fR is processed first (synchronously: no need for \fB-sync),\fR and then the \fB-query\fR request is processed in the normal way. This allows for a reliable way to see if the \fB-remote\fR command was processed by querying for any new settings. Note however that there is timeout of a few seconds so if the x11vnc takes longer than that to process the requests the requestor will think that a failure has taken place. .PP \fB-noremote\fR .IP Do not process any remote control commands or queries. .IP A note about security wrt remote control commands. If someone can connect to the X display and change the property VNC_CONNECT, then they can remotely control x11vnc. Normally access to the X display is protected. Note that if they can modify VNC_CONNECT, they could also run their own x11vnc and have complete control of the desktop. If the "\fB-connect\fR \fI/path/to/file\fR" channel is being used, obviously anyone who can write to /path/to/file can remotely control x11vnc. So be sure to protect the X display and that file's write permissions. .PP \fB-unsafe\fR .IP If x11vnc is running as root (e.g. inetd or Xsetup for a display manager) a few remote commands are disabled (currently: id:pick, accept:, and gone:) because they are associated with running external programs. If you specify \fB-unsafe,\fR then these remote control commands are allowed when running as root. When running as non-root all commands are allowed. See \fB-safer\fR below. .PP \fB-safer\fR .IP Even if not running as root, disable the above unsafe remote control commands. .PP \fB-deny_all\fR .IP For use with \fB-remote\fR nodeny: start out denying all incoming clients until "\fB-remote\fR \fInodeny\fR" is used to let them in. .PP These options are passed to libvncserver: .PP \fB-rfbport\fR \fIport\fR .IP TCP port for RFB protocol .PP \fB-rfbwait\fR \fItime\fR .IP max time in ms to wait for RFB client .PP \fB-rfbauth\fR \fIpasswd-file\fR .IP use authentication on RFB protocol (use 'storepasswd' to create a password file) .PP \fB-passwd\fR \fIplain-password\fR .IP use authentication (use plain-password as password, USE AT YOUR RISK) .PP \fB-deferupdate\fR \fItime\fR .IP time in ms to defer updates (default 40) .PP \fB-desktop\fR \fIname\fR .IP VNC desktop name (default "LibVNCServer") .PP \fB-alwaysshared\fR .IP always treat new clients as shared .PP \fB-nevershared\fR .IP never treat new clients as shared .PP \fB-dontdisconnect\fR .IP don't disconnect existing clients when a new non-shared connection comes in (refuse new connection instead) .PP \fB-httpdir\fR \fIdir-path\fR .IP enable http server using dir-path home .PP \fB-httpport\fR \fIportnum\fR .IP use portnum for http connection .PP \fB-enablehttpproxy\fR .IP enable http proxy support .PP \fB-progressive\fR \fIheight\fR .IP enable progressive updating for slow links .SH "FILES" .IR $HOME/.x11vncrc , .IR $HOME/.Xauthority .SH "ENVIRONMENT" .IR DISPLAY , .IR XAUTHORITY , .IR HOME .PP The following are set for the auxiliary commands run by \fB-accept\fR and \fB-gone\fR: .PP .IR RFB_CLIENT_IP , .IR RFB_CLIENT_PORT , .IR RFB_SERVER_IP , .IR RFB_SERVER_PORT , .IR RFB_X11VNC_PID , .IR RFB_CLIENT_ID , .IR RFB_CLIENT_COUNT , .IR RFB_MODE .SH "SEE ALSO" .IR vncviewer (1), .IR vncpasswd (1), .IR vncconnect (1), .IR vncserver (1), .IR Xvnc (1), .IR inetd (1), .IR xev (1), .IR xmodmap (1), .IR Xserver (1), .IR xauth (1), .IR xhost (1), .IR Xsecurity (7), .IR xmessage (1), .IR ipcrm (1), .IR http://www.tightvnc.com , .IR http://www.realvnc.com , .IR http://www.karlrunge.com/x11vnc/ , .IR http://www.karlrunge.com/x11vnc/#faq .SH AUTHORS x11vnc was written by Karl J. Runge , it is part of the LibVNCServer project . This manual page is based one the one written by Ludovic Drolez , for the Debian project (both may be used by others).