Remote Desktop via VNC in Ubuntu 11.10
Mark outlined a few remote desktop methods here . The method that has worked for me is to use x11vnc with a simple script to start it when I want to connect: $ cat ~/bin/start-vnc.sh #!/bin/sh x11vnc -nopw -once -display :0 > ~/.vnc.log 2>&1 & Then the sequence of events is to start a session is: Connect to my pc via ssh (and tunnel the vnc port 5900) Run start-vnc.sh Connect with vnc client (I use UltraVnc - it seems to work well) The -once flag tells x11vnc to exit after you've disconnected. If you need to connect before anyone is logged into the system, you'll need to use the -auth option to provide the correct authentication for the login screen. In Ubuntu 11.10 this seems to work: sudo x11vnc -nopw -once -display :0 -auth /var/run/lightdm/root/:0