Connect between Windows 7 and Linux using TightVNC

Network administration - One of the most important aspects of computers, from a governance standpoint, is the ability to easily administer remotely. Almost all operating systems provide tools for this task, but what do you do when you want to connect cross-platform? The solution is still given as VNC (Virtual Network Computing). However, if you make a connection from a Windows Terminal Server, this is a simple task . but if you want to connect to a Windows desktop from a Linux client, you will have some trouble connecting to RDP. However, apart from VNC, we can use another software to perform this task well, namely TightVNC.

TightVNC is a free tool that provides both the viewer and server for Windows clients and servers for Linux clients. In this article we will show you how to set up the necessary servers on both operating systems so you can log in remotely.

Linux comes to Windows

As expected, the installation of TightVNC on Windows clients is quite simple. All you need to do is download the correct installation file from TightVNC, double-click the installation file and follow its instructions. The installation procedure is completely simple and easy to implement.

After installing TightVNC, to create a connection to that computer, the TightVNC server must be configured and launched. To do that, you must click Start | All Programs | TightVNC | TightVNC Server (Application Mode) | TightVNC Server - Offline Configuration. From this window, click the Server tab (see Figure A) and configure the TightVNC server to suit your needs.

Connect between Windows 7 and Linux using TightVNC Picture 1
Figure A: You need to set a password for inbound connections, not accepting blank

The minimum thing you need to set is the password. Once you've set up your password, it's time to start the server. To start the server, click Start | All Programs | TightVNC | TightVNC Server (Application Mode) | Run TightVNC Server. You will not see any programs launching because this job is done in the background.

From the Linux computer, open the default remote desktop observer, enter the IP address of the Windows VNC server and connect. You will now be prompted to enter the password to complete the connection.

If you are not sure what VNC viewer to use, you can use a program like Vinagre, an easy-to-use VNC viewer for the GNOME desktop.

Windows comes to Linux

This step is a little easier. We will show you how to set up this connection on an Ubuntu 10.10 computer. The first step is to install tightvncserver . To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open Ubuntu Software Center

2. Type the keyword tightvncserver search (without quotes)

3. Click the Install button to install tightvncserver

4. Enter the sudo password

When you're done with this, you're ready to connect. The following steps will launch the server.

1. Open a terminal window

2. Enter tightvncserver command.

3. You will be prompted to enter the password.

4. Enter a visual password if needed.

Now you're ready to connect to your Linux computer using TightVNC Viewer. To open this tool, click Start | All Programs | TightVNC | TightVNC Viewer. When the new window is opened, you need to enter the IP address with port 5901 attached. So the location to enter will be 192.168.100.21:5901. If you do not enter the port, the Windows version of TightVNC Viewer will acknowledge the value of the port will be 5900 and the system cannot connect.

Before connecting successfully, you will receive a prompt to enter the password when initializing the server on a Linux computer. When the authentication process is successful, you will receive a connection (see Figure B).

Connect between Windows 7 and Linux using TightVNC Picture 2
Figure B: TightVNC Viewer allows easy remote administration of Linux computers from Windows servers.