Tightvnc Server Password Reset
Sabel Kantah
After the setup program is finished, new "TightVNC" section will appear in the Start->Programs menu. If you would like to have TightVNC started automatically and run even while there is no user logged in, you should install it as a system service using the corresponding menu item from the TightVNC Administration section. Note that installing the WinVNC service is the only way to make Ctrl-Alt-Del work remotely (applicable only to Windows NT/2000/XP systems).
TightVNC defaults to install to the Program Files\TightVNC directory, but you can choose any other location during the installation. Note that TightVNC does not install anything in the system directory so an alternative way to install TightVNC is to just copy the executable and DLL files into any directory you like (but in this case you'll have to create shortcuts to the programs manually).
If you want to install TightVNC on a number of computers, and do not want to repeatedly enter the same password on each machine, install TightVNC once and set the password, then copy the registry settings to other computers. TightVNC settings can be found in the following sections in the registry:
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\ORL\WinVNC3
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ORL\WinVNC3
The TightVNC installer can work in silent mode and not ask questions during installation (but it's possible that it might show message boxes if there are any errors). In this mode TightVNC will be installed into the default directory, that is, the TightVNC subdirectory in the Program Files). Here is the command line to install TightVNC in silent mode: tightvnc-1.3.10-setup.exe /sp- /verysilent
TightVNC servers can be upgraded remotely. This means that you can perform the TightVNC installation working in an active TightVNC session. While the TightVNC service is running, it's impossible to replace its executable files in place, so the installer will copy new files into a temporary location, and these new files will replace older versions during the next reboot. The installer will prompt for reboot if it was not able to replace the executables.
TightVNC, like normal VNC, has two parts: the Server (also referred to as WinVNC), which shares the screen of the machine it's running on, and the Viewer which shows the remote screen received from the server. So to get started, you need to run a server on the machine you want to access remotely, and connect to it with a viewer. TightVNC distribution for Windows includes both the server and viewer parts.
In the application mode, the server can be running only during the current user session, and will close on the logout. To start WinVNC in the application mode, choose Start->Programs->TightVNC->Launch TightVNC Server.
To make a machine accessible even while there is no user logged in, and to make the server start automatically on reboot, the TightVNC Server should be running as a system service. To install it as a service, choose Start->Programs->TightVNC->Administration->Install VNC Service. In Windows 95/98/ME that will start the service immediately, while in Windows NT/2000/XP you'll have to start the service manually from the Control Panel or from the command line (net start winvnc). In any case, it will be started automatically on the next system reboot. Note that if the VNC service was started manually, you may have to run Start->Programs->TightVNC->Administration->Run Service Helper, to make WinVNC display its tray icon (see below).
Regardless of the way TightVNC Server was started, it will show the Properties window on the first startup, to let you enter the passwords you will use in the viewer to access the machine. Until a password is set, TightVNC will not accept incoming network connections.
In the default configuration, each user can have his/her own separate WinVNC password, bit also there is a special default password used when no user password is available (e.g when nobody is logged in, or if no user password was set). Note: there is no any predefined default password in TightVNC, machine-wide password is called "default" just because it's used when there are no user-specific passwords available.
To set the user password, just access the Properties dialog from the menu, as described below. If you would like to set the default password, run Start->Programs->TightVNC->Administration->Show Default Settings. Note: The caption of the Properties dialog shows either "Current User Properties" or "Default Local System Properties", depending on which set of settings is edited.
On successful startup, TightVNC will add a small icon to the tray in the system task bar (notification area). The icon has white background if there are no viewers connected, and inverted colors when at least one viewer accesses the desktop. Moving the mouse over this icon shows the IP address of the machine (which can be entered in the remote viewer to access the server).
To view and control a remote desktop where a TightVNC Server is running, you need to run the TightVNC Viewer. To run the viewer, choose Start->Programs->TightVNC->TightVNC Viewer. You will see a window allowing to choose which server to connect to.
After entering the host name or its IP address (and optionally a display number), choose "Connect". On successful connection, you will be prompted for your password, and if the entered password is correct, finally you should see the remote desktop.
Alternatively, you can start the viewer in the listening mode, by using the correspoding button in the "New Connection" window. In that mode, the viewer's icon will appear in the system tray, and it will accept reverse connections from TightVNC servers (see above the description of the WinVNC "Add New Client" menu item).
In the "New Connection" window, you can use built-in context help. To get help on using a particular control, first click small question button in the window title bar, then click on that control. Another way to obtain context help is to press F1 key while the keyboard focus is in the corresponding control.
The VNC servers also contain a small Web server. If you connect to it with a web browser, the Java version of the viewer will be downloaded automatically, allowing you to access the remote desktop. Obviously, your Web browser must support Java applets. Also, you should not use a proxy, to let the Java applet access the remote server directly.
The server listens for HTTP connections on port 5800 + display number. (Remember a WinVNC machine defaults to the display 0.) So to connect to the display 2 on machine "myhost", you would point your web browser at: :5802/ . The applet will prompt you for your password, and should then display the desktop.
TightVNC can be uninstalled using the Add/Remove Programs utility under the Control Panel, but it's also ok to remove the directory you have installed it into (typically, C:\Program Files\TightVNC). Note that the TightVNC installation program does not copy any files into the system directory. Before uninstalling TightVNC, make sure WinVNC is not running and not installed as a service.
Is it something regarding that I try as root? I think important is alsothat I have to login to remote Centos through port 6050 - none else portworks for me. Do I have to do something with other ports? I see thatvncserver is listening on 5901, 5902 if another added - and I considerconnection is established because from time to time (long time) the passwdprompt appears,... right?
If you must use VNC over the Internet, run it on a randomly chosen port number (not 5900) to avoid detection in port scans that cover only the common ports. Preferably, tunnel your VNC connection over SSH to protect yourself against eavesdropping and man-in-the-middle attacks. If you do this, you should set vncserver to not accept connections from the Internet, disable password-only authentication on the SSH service and use public-key authentication to protect against common brute-force password cracking attempts.
You are not mentioning this explicitly in your post but the description of your problem implies that you have been blocked after too many unsuccessful login attempts. I ran into this problem recently when a coworker couldn't log in after having tried an incorrect password too many times. I came across this post at SOLVEOPTIMIZED that explains how to solve it.
You have to define your firewall rules to allow incoming connections at the port that VNC server is using. VNC server uses port 5900+N where N stands for every new instance. So let's say your instance of VNC server runs at port 5901 you would have to allow incoming connections to this port in your firewall settings. You can find the port numbers for all instances with
Alternatively, if you do not want to wait or if you do not want to mess with your firewall settings you can restart the VNC server by killing all instances of it. That's different from restarting the service like you did. You do a hard restart by first grepping for VNC's PID
The Reset VNC Server Password Wizard allows you to reset the VNC server password on remote Windows-based computers. The Wizard is compatible with the following VNC distributions: RealVNC, TightVNC, and UltraVNC.
To start the VNC Server Password Wizard, select Wizards & Tools from the Computer Manager tab of the Registered Computers resource frame. Alternatively you can open a context menu on the registered computers list and select VNC Tasks -> VNC Server Password Wizard command.
Running a TightVNC server on machine "myServer" (WinXPsp2) set to display/port 1, one could use vncviewer on machine "myClient" to connect iff someone is locally logged in to myServer. So if I am logged in locally to the server, on my client I could connect with vncviewer. Logout of the server locally; vncviewer could not establish a connection. Log back in on the server, and vncviewer again connects from the client.
(1) When logged out on server, the VNC service reverts to display/port 0. When logged in on server, it honors the port set in the configuration.
(2) When logged out on server, the VNC service reverts to an unknown default password. When logged in on server, it honors the password set in the configuration.