VNC (remote desktop) on Ubuntu

Server-side setup

Official Ubuntu help on VNC here : https://help.ubuntu.com/community/VNC/Servers

There are many flavours of VNC (server-side) in Linux, and the default one used by Ubuntu's Remote Desktop is vino (get it here https://apps.ubuntu.com/cat/applications/precise/vino/ if it is not installed)

Another option would be x11vnc, which offers more customizable options, if you need any.

sudo apt-get install x11vnc

x11vnc -usepw

Which will then give you the port to connect to on the client side.

e2@e2-ubuntu:~$ x11vnc -usepw
18/02/2014 08:55:41 -usepw: found /home/e2/.vnc/passwd
18/02/2014 08:55:41 x11vnc version: 0.9.12 lastmod: 2010-09-09  pid: 37014
18/02/2014 08:55:41 Using X display :0
18/02/2014 08:55:41 rootwin: 0x150 reswin: 0x5200001 dpy: 0x1641590
18/02/2014 08:55:41 
18/02/2014 08:55:41 ------------------ USEFUL INFORMATION ------------------
18/02/2014 08:55:41 X DAMAGE available on display, using it for polling hints.
18/02/2014 08:55:41   To disable this behavior use: '-noxdamage'
18/02/2014 08:55:41 
18/02/2014 08:55:41   Most compositing window managers like 'compiz' or 'beryl'
18/02/2014 08:55:41   cause X DAMAGE to fail, and so you may not see any screen
18/02/2014 08:55:41   updates via VNC.  Either disable 'compiz' (recommended) or
18/02/2014 08:55:41   supply the x11vnc '-noxdamage' command line option.
18/02/2014 08:55:41 
18/02/2014 08:55:41 Wireframing: -wireframe mode is in effect for window moves.
18/02/2014 08:55:41   If this yields undesired behavior (poor response, painting
18/02/2014 08:55:41   errors, etc) it may be disabled:
18/02/2014 08:55:41    - use '-nowf' to disable wireframing completely.
18/02/2014 08:55:41    - use '-nowcr' to disable the Copy Rectangle after the
18/02/2014 08:55:41      moved window is released in the new position.
18/02/2014 08:55:41   Also see the -help entry for tuning parameters.
18/02/2014 08:55:41   You can press 3 Alt_L's (Left "Alt" key) in a row to 
18/02/2014 08:55:41   repaint the screen, also see the -fixscreen option for
18/02/2014 08:55:41   periodic repaints.
18/02/2014 08:55:41 
18/02/2014 08:55:41 XFIXES available on display, resetting cursor mode
18/02/2014 08:55:41   to: '-cursor most'.
18/02/2014 08:55:41   to disable this behavior use: '-cursor arrow'
18/02/2014 08:55:41   or '-noxfixes'.
18/02/2014 08:55:41 using XFIXES for cursor drawing.
18/02/2014 08:55:41 GrabServer control via XTEST.
18/02/2014 08:55:41 
18/02/2014 08:55:41 Scroll Detection: -scrollcopyrect mode is in effect to
18/02/2014 08:55:41   use RECORD extension to try to detect scrolling windows
18/02/2014 08:55:41   (induced by either user keystroke or mouse input).
18/02/2014 08:55:41   If this yields undesired behavior (poor response, painting
18/02/2014 08:55:41   errors, etc) it may be disabled via: '-noscr'
18/02/2014 08:55:41   Also see the -help entry for tuning parameters.
18/02/2014 08:55:41   You can press 3 Alt_L's (Left "Alt" key) in a row to 
18/02/2014 08:55:41   repaint the screen, also see the -fixscreen option for
18/02/2014 08:55:41   periodic repaints.
18/02/2014 08:55:41 
18/02/2014 08:55:41 XKEYBOARD: number of keysyms per keycode 7 is greater
18/02/2014 08:55:41   than 4 and 51 keysyms are mapped above 4.
18/02/2014 08:55:41   Automatically switching to -xkb mode.
18/02/2014 08:55:41   If this makes the key mapping worse you can
18/02/2014 08:55:41   disable it with the "-noxkb" option.
18/02/2014 08:55:41   Also, remember "-remap DEAD" for accenting characters.
18/02/2014 08:55:41 
18/02/2014 08:55:41 X FBPM extension not supported.
18/02/2014 08:55:41 X display is capable of DPMS.
18/02/2014 08:55:41 --------------------------------------------------------
18/02/2014 08:55:41 
18/02/2014 08:55:41 Default visual ID: 0x21
18/02/2014 08:55:41 Read initial data from X display into framebuffer.
18/02/2014 08:55:41 initialize_screen: fb_depth/fb_bpp/fb_Bpl 24/32/7680
18/02/2014 08:55:41 
18/02/2014 08:55:41 X display :0 is 32bpp depth=24 true color
18/02/2014 08:55:41 
18/02/2014 08:55:41 Autoprobing TCP port 
18/02/2014 08:55:41 Autoprobing selected port 5903
18/02/2014 08:55:41 Listening also on IPv6 port 5903 (socket 11)
18/02/2014 08:55:41 
18/02/2014 08:55:41 Xinerama is present and active (e.g. multi-head).
18/02/2014 08:55:41 Xinerama: number of sub-screens: 1
18/02/2014 08:55:41 Xinerama: no blackouts needed (only one sub-screen)
18/02/2014 08:55:41 
18/02/2014 08:55:42 fb read rate: 64 MB/sec
18/02/2014 08:55:42 The X server says there are 16 mouse buttons.
18/02/2014 08:55:42 screen setup finished.
18/02/2014 08:55:42 

The VNC desktop is:      e2-ubuntu:3
PORT=5903

Client-side setup

to be continued