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To get started, download RealVNC to the computer you want to control, install it, and choose a license. Then, download VNC Viewer to the computer you wish to exercise control from. Note if you are. Having used RealVNC® remote access software on a daily basis for over 5 years, RealVNC® has significantly increased productivity and become our life-line. Maria Horne, Senior Support Analyst, San Diego Unified Port Authority - Maria Horne, Senior Support Analyst, San Diego Unified Port Authority.

Index

• Connecting to a VNC Server
• Configuring VNC Viewer
• The F8 Menu

Features

VNC Viewer Enterprise Edition provides a number of new featuresover VNC Viewer Free Edition, including:

• Authentication of VNC Servers for improved security.
• Integrated support for secure, encrypted VNC sessions.
• Scaling of server desktops.

Installation

VNC Viewer Enterprise Edition for Windows is supplied as acomponent of the VNC Enterprise Edition installation program. If theviewer has been installed in this way then it will be accessible via theStart Menu group created during the installationprocess (usually RealVNC/VNC Viewer 4).

The viewer executable may also be downloaded,either directly or Zipped. VNC Viewer for Windows is designed to runstand-alone, without requiring any other packages to be installed first.

Connecting to a VNC Server

If installed by the WinVNC setup package then VNC Viewer isaccessible from the Start Menu.

If downloaded directly, the VNC Viewer can be run either bydouble-clicking on the program icon, or from the command-line.

The VNC Viewer will present the ConnectionDetails dialog, allowing the IP address or name of the target VNC Serverto be specified.

If the VNC server's Display Number is non-zero then the displaynumber can be specified by adding a colon to the server's IP address orname, followed by the display number:

If the VNC server is using a non-standard port number to acceptconnections then this is specified by adding two colons to theserver's address or name, followed by the port number:

As well as specifying the server to connect to, you can specifywhether or not the session should be encrypted. By default, VNC Viewerwill decide whether or not to encrypt the session based on the server'spreference. It is possible, however, to override the server'spreference. The Connection Details dialog provides achoice of three preference settings, plus the option to let the serverchoose:

• Prefer Off - Use an unencrypted session, if the server allows it.
• Prefer On - Use encryption, if the server supports it.
• Always On - Use encryption, if the server supports it, otherwise abort the connection.

Once you have selected the VNC server to connect to, you cansimply click OK or press return to attempt to connectto it. If your connection attempt succeeds then the server's detailswill be added to the Connection Details drop-down menu,to save you typing next time.

Alternatively, you can select the Options...button, to override the default connection configuration, before youconnect. See the Configuring VNC Viewerdocumentation for more details.

Connecting using .vnc files

VNC Viewer Enterprise Edition supports loading and saving of .vncfiles, containing a set of connection options. Enterprise Edition canload .vnc files saved by itself, by VNC Viewer Free Edition, or by VNCViewer 3.

To use a connection options file from the command-line, simplyrun VNC Viewer with the -config command-line option, followedby the .vnc filename.

If you have installed VNC Viewer using the WinVNC setup packagethen .vnc files will have been automatically registered, so that you cansimply double-click on one to have VNC Viewer open it.

If you have not installed VNC Viewer using the WinVNC setuppackage then you can instead drag .vnc files and drop them on the VNCViewer executable icon in order to launch them.

Alternatively, if you have had VNC Viewer 3 installed and haveused .vnc files with it then it is likely that VNC Viewer 3 is alreadyregistered with Windows as the application responsible for .vnc files.VNC Viewer 4 supports the old /config form of the -configcommand-line option, so you should find that you can simply replace yourold VNC Viewer with the new one and have .vnc files continue to work.

When saving configuration options for connections to secureservers, note that the server identity will be included in the resulting.vnc file. The .vnc file can then be used later to verify the identityof a VNC server.

User Authentication

VNC Viewer Enterprise Edition supports several different securityschemes. When a server requires authentication, the security schemecurrently in use is displayed in square brackets to the right of the Authenticationdialog's title bar. The same information can also be obtained from the ConnectionInfo dialog.

Security schemes other than None and VNC Authentication willusually support a username as well as a password. How these are useddepends on the authentication method used by the server. They might, forexample, be used to authenticate the user against a Windows NT domain.

Server Authentication

When establishing a secure connection to a VNC Server, VNC ViewerEnterprise Edition attempts to verify that the server is the one thatthe user expected. This is achieved using by keeping a store of Identitiesof servers to which the user has previously connected.

When making a secure connection to a server for which an identityis not already cached, the user will be prompted to continue or cancelthe connection. If the connection is continued then the identity will beadded to the user's cache.

When making a secure connection to a server for which theidentity differs from the cache version, VNC Viewer warns the user ofthe problem and prompts them to decide whether or not to continueconnecting.

Configuring VNC Viewer

VNC Viewer provides a number of options allowing its behaviour tobe tailored to your needs. These are configured in one of three wayslisted below.

Changing the Default Options

VNC Viewer allows a set of options to be saved per-user, whichwill be used as the defaults for all connections that user makes to VNCServers. These Default Options can be overridden fromthe Connection Details dialog before making aconnection, or during a connection via the F8 Menu, orby specifying the options to override on the VNC Viewer command-line.

While the VNC Viewer is running in listening mode, itwill place an icon in the system tray. Right-clicking on this icon willcause a menu to be displayed, through which the DefaultOptions may be accessed. The Default Options are savedon a per-user basis, and are used for all subsequent VNC connections.

Changing the Options for a New/Current Connection

The Options dialog can be accessed from the ConnectionDetails dialog when making a new VNC connection, or from the F8Menu of an active connection. In either case, the dialog can be used tooverride any settings configured through the DefaultOptions dialog.

Specifying Command-Line Options

VNC Viewer allows any option to be specified on the command-linewhen it is launched. Options specified on the command-line overridethose specified in the Default Options dialog. However,options configured on the command-line can be changed once a connectionhas been made using the Connection Options dialog.

The Options

The Options dialog consists of a number of pagesof options, grouped according to their function. The followingdocumentation describes each option and the equivalent command-lineparameters.

Color & Encoding

The Auto select check-box controls whether or not VNC Viewer should attempt to automatically gauge the speed of the network connection to the VNC Server and adjust its behaviour accordingly. If selected, the viewer will take control of the graphical compression scheme used, and will only request full color updates if the network appears fast enough to support them. If not selected, then the user must select suitable encoding and format options manually.

The ZRLE, Hextile and Raw radio buttons allow the preferred graphical encoding used by VNC Viewer to be controlled by the user. The available encodings are arranged in order of increasing bandwidth requirements and decreasing processing requirements, so that ZRLE is most effective on slow networks such as dial-ups, while Raw is often most effective on fast LANs. The preferred encoding is determined automatically by VNC Viewer if the Auto select checkbox is ticked.

The Colour level box controls whether VNC Viewer should request as many colors as it and the server can handle, or one of a predefined set of lower-color, less bandwidth-intensive levels.

If Full Colour mode is selected then VNC Viewer will attempt to render colors as accurately as possible. Otherwise, a reduced number of colors will be used, to limit the required network bandwidth. The reduced color mode to use is determined by the LowColourLevel setting.

If Full Colour mode is not active then VNC Viewer will instead request one of a set of preset lower color modes. These modes range from Medium color, which requests 8bpp palettized pixel data from the server, to Very Low color, which requests pixel data in 3bpp true-color format, causing the entire desktop to be rendered in lurid primary colors.

Note that if the Auto select check-box is ticked then the automatic pixel format selection routines may override the user's selection and cause the connection to revert to Full Colour mode. However, it will not automatically select between the low color options.

Inputs

By default, any pointer actions within the VNC Viewer window will be sent to the VNC server. If this checkbox is unticked then pointer events will no longer be sent, allowing VNC Viewer to operate in a view-only mode.

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By default, any key presses within the VNC Viewer window will be sent to the VNC server. If this checkbox is unticked then key events will no longer be sent, allowing VNC Viewer to operate in a view-only mode.

By default, any text copied to the clipboard will be sent to the VNC server, so that the remote and local clipboards are synchronised. If this checkbox is unticked then clipboard data will no longer be sent, ensuring that clipboard actions made at the server are not affected by the viewer, and that sensitive data in the local clipboard cannot be leaked to the server.

By default, any text copied to the remote clipboard will be sent by the VNC Server to the VNC Viewer. If this checkbox is unticked then clipboard data sent by the server will be ignored, ensuring that clipboard actions made at the server cannot affect the local clipboard.

Misc

When connecting to a VNC Server, VNC Viewer can request that all other connected viewers are disconnected before the connection continues. If Shared connection is ticked then VNC Viewer will not request that other viewers be disconnected. Note that the server may choose to ignore or refuse VNC Viewer's request. Note that this option is only available when configuring the Default Options or when configuring a new connection, not when the connection is already active.

If the Full-screen mode checkbox is ticked then VNC Viewer will attempt to take over the entire local display in order to show the remote desktop. The full-screen setting can be set as a default, used for new connections, and changed once a connection is active. The F8 Menu also provides a shortcut to toggle full-screen mode.

VNC Viewer 4 supports rendering of the VNC Server's cursor locally, by the viewer. This means that the cursor responds more quickly to mouse movemements and makes VNC connections over slow networks appear faster. Over faster networks, or for personal preference, this local rendering may be disabled by unticking the Render cursor locally checkbox.

VNC Viewer 4 supports dynamic resizing of the VNC Server desktop. If dynamic resizing is not supported by both viewer and server then changes to the dimensions of the remote desktop may cause the VNC connection to be closed. Dynamic desktop resizing may be disabled if it causes problems on your system.

VNC Viewer 4 supports both the original VNC version 3.3 protocol, and the new VNC protocol version 3.7. Some third-party VNC software use non-standard version numbers which may cause incompatibility issues. VNC Viewer 4 can therefore be configure to only ever use the original VNC protocol version 3.3, ensuring compatibility even with non-standard VNC Servers. Note that this option may be set as a Default Option, or when making a new connection, but cannot be changed once a connection is active.

When an error occurs that causes the VNC connection to be closed, VNC Viewer can offer to reconnect to the server, using the same username and password. This option applies only to connections made from viewer to server, and not to reverse connections.

Identities

The Identities panel can be used to administer VNC Serveridentity data cached in the user's registry. This data allows VNC Viewerto verify that a server has not been tampered with when establishing asecure connection to it.

If no identity is cached for a particular server then user willbe prompted if they try to connect to that server, to determine whetheror not they wish to risk connecting.

Remove

Remove the selected server's identity from the cache.

Remove All

Clear the identity cache.

Add Current

Add the identity of the current connection to the cache.

Using F8 Menu

The so-called F8 Menu provides a quick way to access a set offrequently-used VNC Viewer functions. It is called the F8 Menu becauseit can be accessed most easily simply by pressing the F8 key in a VNCViewer window!

The F8 Menu can also be accessed by right-clicking on thetitlebar of a VNC Viewer window, or by left-clicking on the System Menubutton in the top left of the VNC Viewer window's titlebar.

Clicking anywhere outside the F8 Menu will cause it to go awayagain.

F8 Menu Functions

The F8 Menu provides the same set of available functions as theVNC Viewer window's normal System Menu, namely those allowing the windowto be minimized, maximized, moved or closed.

Additionally, some VNC-specific actions are available:

The Full screen menu item allows full-screen mode to be toggled on or off directly, without having to use the Options dialog. See the description of the Full screen setting in the Options page for more information.

Toggles the status of the Ctrl or Alt keys, respectively, on the VNC Server. This affects the interpretation by the server of keypress sent while either or both of these menu items is activated. For example, if the Alt menu item is selected, then pressing the Tab key in the VNC Viewer will cause the VNC Server to process an Alt+Tab. This can be useful to send keypresses that would otherwise be intercepted locally by the operating system.

Because the F8 key is used to access the F8 menu, it will not be sent to the VNC Server when it is pressed. To send an F8 keypress to the server, you can bring up the F8 Menu locally and select the Send F8 menu option.

The Ctrl-Alt-Del key sequence is intercepted by the operating system for use as a Secure Access Sequence and so cannot be captured by the VNC Viewer for transmission to a remote server. Instead, you can bring up the F8 Menu and select Send Ctrl-Alt-Del to achieve the same effect.

Note that on some versions of the operating system, pressing Alt Gr-Del will cause the Ctrl-Alt-Del sequence to be captured by VNC Viewer without the operating system intercepting it. This is available primarily on European versions of the operating system.

Note that on all versions tested, pressing Shift-Ctrl-Alt-Del could be used to cause Ctrl-Alt-Del to be received by a WinVNC Server without having the local operating system capture the it.

Requests a full screen update from the VNC Server. Use this if you experience any unexpected visual artifacts.

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The New Connection... option causes a new Connection Details dialog to be displayed, so that a connection can easily be made to another VNC Server.

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Note that a VNC Viewer started in this way actually shares the same process as the VNC Viewer window from which it was started. The VNC Viewer process will not quit until both windows have been closed. This may affect the behaviour of scripts which launch VNC Viewer.

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This causes the Connection Options dialog to be displayed, allowing the settings for the current connection to be modified. See the description of VNC Viewer Options for more details.

The Connection Info dialog displays information about the remote host, pixel format, line-speed estimate and protocol version. If you don't know what any of this means then don't worry - it's all safe to ignore! The main use of the Connection Info dialog is to help in diagnosing any problems you might encounter while using VNC Viewer.

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Displays program and version information.

Problems?

If you have difficulties which are not covered by this document,try reading the Knowledge Base. There arealso some pages to help with troubleshooting.