I installed x11vnc on Mint and it works fine as long as I have a monitor plugged into the server. I want to run the server without a monitor though. That apparently doesn’t work with Cinnamon. I already bought a dummy plug to simulate a monitor but that seems clunky. Is there a better way? I’m also open to using a different VNC server or even a different distro (as long as it’s not Ubuntu or Arch).
According to The arch wiki, x11vnc operates differently than some other servers and is not capable of going headless. You’d need the dummy plug.
On that same page, though, it lists the alternative to x11vnc as Xvnc, and links to TigerVNC which is capable of going headless, and has an example config for going headless.
I haven’t tested tigerVNC specifically, but it’s known, so I expect this is the solution to your problem.
I tried to install TigerVNC but I got nowhere with it. Do you know any good guide or tutorial for seeing it up?
I found this. Hope it helps:
https://www.server-world.info/en/note?os=Debian_12&p=desktop&f=6
Using a dummy plug is perfectly normal for a lot of use cases, even in the enterprise. Generally if you can’t do virtual rendering (like RDP) then using a dummy plug is totally fine
that’s because x11vnc is an extension to an Xserver. what you need is either a standalone vncserver or a framebuffer Xserver that runs headless with x11vnc.
Care to elaborate? I have looked at various VNC servers but i haven’t found usable documentation on setting them up.
oh. i don’t have mint, so i don’t know the specifics, but usually you would install tigervnc (or tightvnc), set up a password, allow users, set up a per user startup file (containing a desktop environment or window manager to start) and start the systemd service (maybe you have to create a textfile service definition if mint didn’t install one automatically).
Thanks. I’ve had some problems with TigerVNC. Do you know any good guide on setting it up?
What problems do you have ? From the top of my head it is something like this :
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Install the tigervnc-standalone-server deb package on your server
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ssh in your server as your user and type :
vncpasswd -
Continue and type :
vncserver -
On your client connect via a vnc viewer software
This https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/TigerVNC doesn’t read like an easy howto but could be useful.
Cool. I’ll try that tonight.
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Not sure if it fits your use case, but I’ve been meaning to try this on my servers.
xrdp
