CentOS - Feb 2013 - VNC server not reponding to external requests

Hello everyone:

I tried following the instructions on this page to set up a VNC
server:
http://wiki.centos.org/HowTos/VNC-Server

I can telnet to port 5901 from the machine itself:
# telnet 127.0.0.1 5901
Trying 127.0.0.1...
Connected to 127.0.0.1.
Escape character is '^]'.
RFB 003.008

But, when I try to connect to it from the outside world, I get a connection
timeout.

My /etc/sysconfig/vncservers file does not have the -nolisten tcp nor the
-localhost
options so it should be configured to accept outside connections.

Is there some default setting in the vncserver that I need to change to
allow outside
connections?

Thanks,
  Neil

--
Neil Aggarwal, (972)834-1565, http://UnmeteredVPS.net/centos
Virtual private server with CentOS 6 preinstalled
Unmetered bandwidth = no overage charges

On 02/25/2013 11:33 AM, Neil Aggarwal wrote:
> Hello everyone:
>
> I tried following the instructions on this page to set up a VNC
> server:
> http://wiki.centos.org/HowTos/VNC-Server
>
> I can telnet to port 5901 from the machine itself:
> # telnet 127.0.0.1 5901
> Trying 127.0.0.1...
> Connected to 127.0.0.1.
> Escape character is '^]'.
> RFB 003.008
>
> But, when I try to connect to it from the outside world, I get a connection
> timeout.
>
> My /etc/sysconfig/vncservers file does not have the -nolisten tcp nor the
> -localhost
> options so it should be configured to accept outside connections.
>
> Is there some default setting in the vncserver that I need to change to
> allow outside
> connections?
And what about iptables?

>> Is there some default setting in the vncserver that I need to change to
>> allow outside
>> connections?
> And what about iptables?
I have iptables and selinux turned off currently.
It still will not connect.

Any other ideas?

Thanks,
 Neil


--
Neil Aggarwal, (972)834-1565, http://UnmeteredVPS.net/centos
Virtual private server with CentOS 6 preinstalled
Unmetered bandwidth = no overage charges

On 02/25/2013 01:15 PM, Neil Aggarwal wrote:
>>> Is there some default setting in the vncserver that I need to
change to
>>> allow outside
>>> connections?
>> And what about iptables?
> I have iptables and selinux turned off currently.
> It still will not connect.
>
> Any other ideas?
All I ever do is install vncserver, run vncpasswd on the account(s) I 
will configure in it, add to /etc/sysconfig/vncserver

VNCSERVERS="1:user1 2:user2"

then enable 5901 and 5902 in iptables and it works.  I also tend to 
replace twn with exec gnome-session in the ~/.vnc/xstart file.

Then all you have are network firewall and transport security issues.


Last I looked, vncpasswd only accepted the first 8 characters and 
ignored the rest.

> Is there some default setting in the vncserver that I need to change to
> allow outside
> connections?
Hi, what is output of following commands on root access:

getenforce

netstat -tupln

iptables -L -v

--
Eero

On Mon, Feb 25, 2013 at 11:33 AM, Neil Aggarwal <neil at
jammconsulting.com> wrote:
> Hello everyone:
>
> I tried following the instructions on this page to set up a VNC
> server:
> http://wiki.centos.org/HowTos/VNC-Server
>
> I can telnet to port 5901 from the machine itself:
> # telnet 127.0.0.1 5901
> Trying 127.0.0.1...
> Connected to 127.0.0.1.
> Escape character is '^]'.
> RFB 003.008
>
> But, when I try to connect to it from the outside world, I get a connection
> timeout.
>
so it listens on the localhost, but is it also listening on the other
(eth0,1,2...) interfaces?are there possibly outbound network ACLs from
your outside host?   is there a firewall rule (I think later you said
iptables is off, but there could well be others, speculating about
your network topology)?   what do you get when you use telnet from
$outside to $ip_you_really_intend_to_use 5901?  and if that's not an
option have you considered tunneling X over ssh and just using that?
-- 
Even the Magic 8 ball has an opinion on email clients: Outlook not so good.

Hey everyone:

I got it working.  I set it up under a user account.
I was trying to set it up with the root account.
It is working with the user account.

Will the VNC server allow remote logins as root?

Thanks,
  Neil

--
Neil Aggarwal, (972) 834-1565
We lend money to investors to buy or refinance single family rent houses.
No origination fees, quick approval, no credit check.

-----Original Message-----
From: centos-bounces at centos.org [mailto:centos-bounces at centos.org] On
Behalf
Of Neil Aggarwal
Sent: Monday, February 25, 2013 10:33 AM
To: centos at centos.org
Subject: [CentOS] VNC server not reponding to external requests

Hello everyone:

I tried following the instructions on this page to set up a VNC
server:
http://wiki.centos.org/HowTos/VNC-Server

I can telnet to port 5901 from the machine itself:
# telnet 127.0.0.1 5901
Trying 127.0.0.1...
Connected to 127.0.0.1.
Escape character is '^]'.
RFB 003.008

But, when I try to connect to it from the outside world, I get a connection
timeout.

My /etc/sysconfig/vncservers file does not have the -nolisten tcp nor the
-localhost
options so it should be configured to accept outside connections.

Is there some default setting in the vncserver that I need to change to
allow outside
connections?

Thanks,
  Neil

--
Neil Aggarwal, (972)834-1565, http://UnmeteredVPS.net/centos
Virtual private server with CentOS 6 preinstalled
Unmetered bandwidth = no overage charges



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CentOS at centos.org
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On Tue, Feb 26, 2013 at 9:55 AM, Neil Aggarwal <neil at
jammconsulting.com>wrote:
> Hey everyone:
>
> I got it working.  I set it up under a user account.
> I was trying to set it up with the root account.
> It is working with the user account.
>
> Will the VNC server allow remote logins as root?
>
> Thanks,
>   Neil
>
> Well, once you VNC to the system, you can simply change to the root use if
you have the credentials to do so.

> Well, once you VNC to the system, you can simply change to the root use if
> you have the credentials to do so.
I was hoping to connect to the remote session directly as root as opposed to
doing su.

  Neil

--
Neil Aggarwal, (972)834-1565, http://UnmeteredVPS.net/centos
Virtual private server with CentOS 6 preinstalled
Unmetered bandwidth = no overage charges

On 02/26/2013 01:19 PM, Neil Aggarwal wrote:
>>> Will the VNC server allow remote logins as root?
>>  From root did you run vncpasswd to create the needed /root.vnc/ files?
> Yes, I did.  I see a /root/.vnc directory with a log, pid, passwd, and
> xstartup
> files.
>
> Any suggestions?
And your /etc/sysconfig/vncserver has something like;

VNCSERVERS="1:foo 2:root"

and you are attempting to connect to 5902 for the root user (compared to 
5901 for user foo)?

Robert:
> And your /etc/sysconfig/vncserver has something like;
> VNCSERVERS="1:foo 2:root"
> and you are attempting to connect to 5902 for the root user (compared to 
> 5901 for user foo)?
Yes.

This is strange.  I just ran vncpasswd as root again and I can connect
now.  Weird, but I guess the problem is solved.

Thanks,
  Neil

--
Neil Aggarwal, (972)834-1565, http://UnmeteredVPS.net/centos
Virtual private server with CentOS 6 preinstalled
Unmetered bandwidth = no overage charges