How to VNC into active session in Ubuntu from Mac's Screen Sharing

1

I have setup my ubuntu machine to allow remote connections (with a PIN), and then I used Mac's VNC viewer Share Screens to connect to it, and it works. However, it always connects to a new session, meaning that I can't see/use the windows that I already have open. Some apps like Firefox won't even let me start them, since they say an instance of the program is already open.

Is there a way to VNC directly into the existing session?

bangoker

Posted 2016-04-15T17:07:50.240

Reputation: 419

I don't have a Mac to check how your viewer works, but I use VNC a lot between Ubuntu and Windows. When I access Ubuntu from Windows (UltraVNC) it logs me into the currently logged-in desktop. Is your Ubuntu post-12.04? If so you need to set up vino correctly. In particular vino-server should be running in your current session. You should check this by running ps -efl|grep vino from a terminal. If this is correct, see what happens if you try to connect from a Windows system, assuming you can get access to one. – AFH – 2016-04-16T17:00:51.633

Answers

1

This is old, but I have run into the problem before. The fix for me, is when telling the client to connect to the Ubuntu machine, instead of:

1.2.3.4 as the IP address,

1.2.3.4:1

The :1 specifies which existing instance to use, instead of creating a new instance. Instance 1 is the regular everyday user instance.

Phillip Smith

Posted 2016-04-15T17:07:50.240

Reputation: 26

Asked: 2016-04-15T17:07:50.240

Viewed: 843 times

Active: 2018-05-01T16:18:46.273