Knowledgebase

This guide is for installing and setting up a VNC-Server on the servers installed with Centos 7. 

1. Log in to the server as root

2. Run the following commands:

yum update -y
yum groupinstall "GNOME Desktop" -y
yum install tigervnc-server -y

3. Once the above packages are fully installed, we need to add a normal user for using VNC

useradd jack

You need to use your own username here.

4. In CentOS 7 OS there is a change in the vncserver configuration file and its location. In Centos 6 OS, it was  /etc/sysconfig/vncservers and now it has been changed to /lib/systemd/system/[email protected]. Next, we need to copy the original file and create a new configuration file as shown below:

cp /lib/systemd/system/[email protected] /etc/systemd/system/vncserver@:1.service

5. Edit the file as below:

vi /etc/systemd/system/vncserver@:1.service
Remember to replace the username with your own.

[...]
[Service]
Type=forking
# Clean any existing files in /tmp/.X11-unix environment
ExecStartPre=/bin/sh -c '/usr/bin/vncserver -kill %i > /dev/null 2>&1 || :'
#ExecStart=/sbin/runuser -l jack -c "/usr/bin/vncserver %i"
#PIDFile=/home/<USER>/.vnc/%H%i.pid
ExecStart=/sbin/runuser -l jack -c "/usr/bin/vncserver %i"
PIDFile=/home/jack/.vnc/%H%i.pid
ExecStop=/bin/sh -c '/usr/bin/vncserver -kill %i > /dev/null 2>&1 || :'

If you wish to add more users you can simply create a new user and then add a new vncserver@:#.service file and change the <USER> string to the new users accordingly.

6. Do the following firewall settings:

firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=public --add-service vnc-server
firewall-cmd --reload

7. Switch to the VNC user and start the vnc server as below:

# su - jack
# vncserver

You will get a result as below:

[jack@server1 ~]$ vncserver

You will require a password to access your desktops.

Password:<--yourvncpassword
Verify:<--yourvncpassword

Provide a password for VNC.

8. Now make the service enabled on after every reboot with root credentials:

su -
systemctl daemon-reload

systemctl enable vncserver@:1.service

reboot
systemctl start vncserver@:1.service

Now you are done with the server side setup and you will be able to connect to the server with the default port 5901.
eg: 192.168.1.17:5901

Provide the VNC username and password to access the same.