Provided by: tigervnc-viewer_1.15.0+dfsg-2_amd64 
NAME
xtigervncviewer - VNC viewer for X
SYNOPSIS
xtigervncviewer [options] [host][:display#]
xtigervncviewer [options] [host][::port]
xtigervncviewer [options] [unix socket]
xtigervncviewer [options] -listen [port]
xtigervncviewer [options] [.tigervnc file]
DESCRIPTION
xtigervncviewer is a viewer (client) for Virtual Network Computing. This manual page documents version 4
for the X window system.
If you run the viewer with no arguments it will prompt you for a VNC server to connect to.
Alternatively, specify the VNC server as an argument, e.g.:
xtigervncviewer snoopy:2
where 'snoopy' is the name of the machine, and '2' is the display number of the VNC server on that
machine. Either the machine name or display number can be omitted. So for example ":1" means display
number 1 on the same machine, and "snoopy" means "snoopy:0" i.e. display 0 on machine "snoopy".
As another quick way to start a connection to a VNC server, specify a .tigervnc configuration file as an
argument to the viewer, e.g.:
xtigervncviewer ./some.tigervnc
where './some.tigervnc' is an existing and valid TigerVNC configuration file. The file name needs to
include a path separator. Additional options may be given too, but the given configuration file will
overwrite any conflicting parameters.
If the VNC server is successfully contacted, you will be prompted for a password to authenticate you. You
can also add 'VNC_USERNAME' and 'VNC_PASSWORD' to environment variables. If the password is correct, a
window will appear showing the desktop of the VNC server.
AUTOMATIC PROTOCOL SELECTION
The viewer tests the speed of the connection to the server and chooses the encoding and pixel format
(color level) appropriately. This makes it much easier to use than previous versions where the user had
to specify arcane command line arguments.
The viewer normally starts out assuming the link is slow, using the encoding with the best compression.
If it turns out that the link is fast enough it switches to an encoding which compresses less but is
faster to generate, thus improving the interactive feel.
The viewer normally starts in full-color mode, but switches to low-color mode if the bandwidth is
insufficient. However, this only occurs when communicating with servers supporting protocol 3.8 or newer,
since many old servers do not support color mode changes safely.
Automatic selection can be turned off by setting the AutoSelect parameter to false, or from the options
dialog.
POPUP MENU
The viewer has a popup menu containing entries which perform various actions. It is usually brought up
by pressing F8, but this can be configured with the MenuKey parameter. Actions which the popup menu can
perform include:
* switching in and out of full-screen mode
* quitting the viewer
* generating key events, e.g. sending ctrl-alt-del
* accessing the options dialog and various other dialogs
By default, key presses in the popup menu get sent to the VNC server and dismiss the popup. So to get an
F8 through to the VNC server simply press it twice.
FULL-SCREEN MODE
A full-screen mode is supported. This is particularly useful when connecting to a remote screen which is
the same size as your local one. If the remote screen is bigger, you can scroll by bumping the mouse
against the edge of the screen.
OPTIONS (PARAMETERS)
You can get a list of parameters by giving -h as a command-line option to xtigervncviewer. Parameters
can be turned on with -param or off with -param=0. Parameters which take a value can be specified as
-param value. Other valid forms are param=value -param=value --param=value. Parameter names are case-
insensitive.
Many of the parameters can also be set graphically via the options dialog box. This can be accessed from
the popup menu or from the "Connection details" dialog box.
-AcceptClipboard
Accept clipboard changes from the server. Default is on.
-AlertOnFatalError
Display a dialog with any fatal error before exiting. Default is on.
-AlwaysCursor
Show a local cursor when the server sends an invisible cursor. Default is off.
-AutoSelect
Use automatic selection of encoding and pixel format (default is on). Normally the viewer tests
the speed of the connection to the server and chooses the encoding and pixel format appropriately.
Turn it off with -AutoSelect=0.
-CompressLevel level
Use specified lossless compression level. 0 = Low, 9 = High. Default is 2.
-CursorType type
Specify which cursor type to use when a local cursor is shown. It should be either "Dot", or
"System". Ignored if AlwaysCursor is off. The default is "Dot".
-CustomCompressLevel
Use custom compression level. Default if CompressLevel is specified.
-DesktopSize widthxheight
Instead of keeping the existing remote screen size, the client will attempt to switch to the
specified since when connecting. If the server does not support the SetDesktopSize message then
the screen will retain the original size.
-display Xdisplay
Specifies the X display on which the VNC viewer window should appear.
-DotWhenNoCursor (DEPRECATED)
Show the dot cursor when the server sends an invisible cursor. Replaced by -AlwaysCursor and
-CursorType=Dot
-EmulateMiddleButton
Emulate middle mouse button by pressing left and right mouse buttons simultaneously. Default is
off.
-FullColor, -FullColour
Tells the VNC server to send full-color pixels in the best format for this display. This is
default.
-FullScreen
Start in full-screen mode.
-FullScreenAllMonitors (DEPRECATED)
Use all local monitors and not just the current one when switching to full-screen mode. Replaced
by -FullScreenMode=all
-FullScreenMode mode
Specify which monitors to use when in full screen. It should be either "Current", "Selected"
(specified by -FullScreenSelectedMonitors) or "All". The default is "Current".
-FullScreenSelectedMonitors monitors
This option specifies the monitors to use with -FullScreenMode=selected. Monitors are ordered
according to the system configuration from left to right, and in case of a conflict, from top to
bottom. So, for example, "1,2,3" means that the first, second and third monitor counting from the
left should be used. The default is "1".
-FullscreenSystemKeys
Pass special keys (like Alt+Tab) directly to the server when in full-screen mode.
-geometry geometry
Initial position of the main VNC viewer window. The format is widthxheight+xoffset+yoffset , where
`+' signs can be replaced with `-' signs to specify offsets from the right and/or from the bottom
of the screen. Offsets are optional and the window will be placed by the window manager by
default.
-GnuTLSPriority priority
GnuTLS priority string that controls the TLS session’s handshake algorithms. See the GnuTLS
manual for possible values. Default is NORMAL.
-listen [port]
Causes xtigervncviewer to listen on the given port (default 5500) for reverse connections from a
VNC server. WinVNC supports reverse connections initiated using the 'Add new client' menu option
or the '-connect' command-line option. Xtigervnc supports reverse connections with a helper
program called tigervncconfig.
-Log logname:dest:level[, ...]
Configures the debug log settings. dest can currently be stderr or stdout, and level is between 0
and 100, 100 meaning most verbose output. logname is usually * meaning all, but you can target a
specific source file if you know the name of its "LogWriter". Default is *:stderr:30.
-LowColorLevel, -LowColourLevel level
Selects the reduced color level to use on slow links. level can range from 0 to 2, 0 meaning 8
colors, 1 meaning 64 colors (the default), 2 meaning 256 colors. Note that decision if reduced
color level is used is made by xtigervncviewer. If you would like to force xtigervncviewer to use
reduced color level use -AutoSelect=0 parameter.
-MaxCutText bytes
The maximum size of a clipboard update that will be accepted from a server. Default is 262144.
-Maximize
Maximize viewer window.
-MenuKey keysym-name
This option specifies the key which brings up the popup menu. The currently supported list is: F1,
F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, F7, F8, F9, F10, F11, F12, Pause, Scroll_Lock, Escape, Insert, Delete, Home,
Page_Up, Page_Down). Default is F8.
-NoJpeg
Disable lossy JPEG compression in Tight encoding. Default is off.
-passwd, -PasswordFile password-file
If you are on a filesystem which gives you access to the password file used by the server, you can
specify it here to avoid typing it in. It will usually be $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/tigervnc/passwd, or
~/.config/tigervnc/passwd if the former is unset.
-PointerEventInterval time
Time in milliseconds to rate-limit successive pointer events. Default is 17 ms (60 Hz).
-PreferredEncoding encoding
This option specifies the preferred encoding to use from one of "Tight", "ZRLE", "hextile" or
"raw".
-QualityLevel level
JPEG quality level. 0 = Low, 9 = High. May be adjusted automatically if -AutoSelect is turned on.
Default is 8.
-ReconnectOnError
Display a dialog with any error and offer the possibility to retry establishing the connection. In
case this is off no dialog to re-connect will be offered. Default is on.
-RemoteResize
Dynamically resize the remote desktop size as the size of the local client window changes. Note
that this may not work with all VNC servers.
-SecurityTypes sec-types
Specify which security schemes to attempt to use when authenticating with the server. Valid
values are a comma separated list of None, VncAuth, Plain, TLSNone, TLSVnc, TLSPlain, X509None,
X509Vnc, X509Plain, RA2, RA2ne, RA2_256 and RA2ne_256. Default is to attempt every supported
scheme.
-SendClipboard
Send clipboard changes to the server. Default is on.
-SendPrimary
Send the primary selection to the server as well as the clipboard selection. Default is on.
-SetPrimary
Set the primary selection as well as the clipboard selection. Default is on.
-Shared
When you make a connection to a VNC server, all other existing connections are normally closed.
This option requests that they be left open, allowing you to share the desktop with someone
already using it.
-UseIPv4
Use IPv4 for incoming and outgoing connections. Default is on.
-UseIPv6
Use IPv6 for incoming and outgoing connections. Default is on.
-via gateway
Automatically create encrypted TCP tunnel to the gateway machine before connection, connect to the
host through that tunnel (TigerVNC-specific). By default, this option invokes SSH local port
forwarding, assuming that SSH client binary can be accessed as /usr/bin/ssh. Note that when using
the -via option, the host machine name should be specified as known to the gateway machine, e.g.
"localhost" denotes the gateway, not the machine where xtigervncviewer was launched. The
environment variable VNC_VIA_CMD can override the default tunnel command of
/usr/bin/ssh -f -L "$L":"$H":"$R" "$G" sleep 20. The tunnel command is executed with the
environment variables L, H, R, and G taking the values of the local port number, the remote host,
the port number on the remote host, and the gateway machine respectively.
-ViewOnly
Specifies that no keyboard or mouse events should be sent to the server. Useful if you want to
view a desktop without interfering; often needs to be combined with -Shared.
-X509CA path
Path to CA certificate to use when authenticating remote servers using any of the X509 security
schemes (X509None, X509Vnc, etc.). Must be in PEM format. Default is
$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/tigervnc/x509_ca.pem, or ~/.config/tigervnc/x509_ca.pem.
-X509CRL path
Path to certificate revocation list to use in conjunction with -X509CA. Must also be in PEM
format. Default is $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/tigervnc/x509_crl.pem, or ~/.config/tigervnc/x509_crl.pem.
FILES
$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/tigervnc/default.tigervnc
$HOME/.config/tigervnc/default.tigervnc
Default configuration options. This file must have a "magic" first line of "TigerVNC Configuration
file Version 1.0" (without quotes), followed by simple <setting>=<value> pairs of your choosing.
The available settings are those shown in this man page.
$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/tigervnc/x509_ca.pem
$HOME/.config/tigervnc/x509_ca.pem
Default CA certificate for authenticating servers.
$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/tigervnc/x509_crl.pem
$HOME/.config/tigervnc/x509_crl.pem
Default certificate revocation list.
$XDG_DATA_HOME/tigervnc/x509_known_hosts
$HOME/.local/share/tigervnc/x509_known_hosts
Known hosts database for certificate-based authentication.
$XDG_STATE_HOME/tigervnc/vnc.history
$HOME/.local/state/tigervnc/vnc.history
History file for hostnames that have been recently connected to.
SEE ALSO
Xtigervnc(1), tigervncpasswd(1), tigervncconfig(1), tigervncsession(8)
https://www.tigervnc.org
AUTHOR
Tristan Richardson, RealVNC Ltd. and others.
VNC was originally developed by the RealVNC team while at Olivetti Research Ltd / AT&T Laboratories
Cambridge. TightVNC additions were implemented by Constantin Kaplinsky. Many other people have since
participated in development, testing and support. This manual is part of the TigerVNC software suite.
TigerVNC xtigervncviewer(1)