TightVNC technical notes

this is the second time around that i am configuring TightVNC for remote administration and management of my home computer. last time it was for my trip back home and this time it's for being able to do stuff on my home computer from work. yes, that means that my computer will be on all day long and that is not good because the poor thing runs loud and gets hots and is about to crap out on me (please hang on until i get an external HD to back up my stuff, *note to self: get an external HD at earliest monetary convenience*). so this time around i'm documenting the process of setting up TightVNC. i left myself no crumbs from last time, only an email to my friend saying, "yeah, i did it and it was easy" ~~ LOL but couldn't replicate the process this time around (not so easy after all, or easy to forget more like it). anyway, the basic steps to remotely access a target machine using TightVNC are:

1. install TightVNC on home (target) and work (viewer) machines, and
2. create a domain name on www.DynDns.com for the IP of the network that serves the target machine and
3. configure the wireless router behind which the target sits
1. fix an IP address for the target machine
2. map the domain name to the fixed IP address
3. forward ports for TightVNC Server
4. run a TightVNC Viewer to connect to the TightVNC Server

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These are the expanded instructions (images are missing cause i can't be bothered with it right now; they exist within the Word document i created).

1. Download and install from http://www.tightvnc.com/download.html on the target and source machines.

Install the TightVNC Server as a service on the target machine so that it will always be running. TightVNC Server will not run until a password is set. It gets the password from the OS profile logged in when the TightVNC was installed, I think, and if one does not exist then it will prompt the user to enter one into the TightVNC Server interface. This is the password that will have to be supplied when connecting to the TightVNC Server running on the target machine.

2. Create a host on DynDns.com (It's free.)

From the target machine (the one running TightVNC Server) I went to www.dyndns.com and created an account, logged on, and then created a free host name, soo.dyndns.org, and used the auto detect IP address option to get the IP address of the network which services the target machine and then saved changes.

To test that the host name was set up correctly, exists and is reachable, ping it. The network IP address specified during the host name set up will be returned confirming that host name resolves to the IP address and that the destination is reachable.

3. Configure the wireless router.

a. fix an IP address for the target machine

Need to know the MAC address of the wireless adapter of the target machine which can be found by using the "ipconfig /all" command at the command prompt, while the wireless adapter is enabled and connected. Then within the wireless router's configuration screen, click on "Lan Setup" from the left menu and then click the first tab, "Lan Setup", and in the section called "Assigned Address" enter the MAC address and the IP address, and save changes.

b. map the domain name to the fixed IP address

Go to the DDNS Setup page of the wireless router's interface. DDNS allows you to map the domain name to an IP address. Enter the host name and the user name and password that was registered at www.DynDns.com and then save changes. The Information section will confirm successful detection of host name.

c. forward ports for TightVNC Server

You should enable "port forwarding" in your router's configuration. Port forwarding allows passing external connections to computers in the internal network. For example, to access TightVNC Server running on default ports, a router can be configured such way that TCP connections to ports 5900 and 5800 would be passed to the same ports of a particular machine with a specified private IP address (typically 192.168.x.x). Here is an example of configuring port forwarding, assuming that TightVNC Server is running on default ports 5900 and 5800, on the machine with IP 192.168.10.3:

Application | Start port | End port | Protocol | IP Address | Enable
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
TightVNC | 5900 | 5900 | TCP | 192.168.10.3 | yes

TightVNC | 5800 | 5800 | TCP | 192.168.10.3 | yes
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

When port forwarding is set up, you can connect to the router's IP address such way as if it was your target machine's IP address, but you should specify those port numbers on which port forwarding was activated.

To do port forwarding, go to the NAT page of the interface. Click on the Port Forward tab and for the IP address of the machine running TightVNC Server, add two port forward for ports 5800 and 5900 labeled in any way that you want, for the TCP protocol.

4. Run a Viewer

If everything is configured correctly, from the remote location, connect to the TightVNC Server using the instructions provided below (taken from here: http://www.tightvnc.com/winst.html)

To view and control a remote desktop where a TightVNC Server is running, you need to run the TightVNC Viewer. To run the viewer, choose Start->Programs->TightVNC->TightVNC Viewer. You will see a window allowing to choose which server to connect to.

After entering the host name or its IP address (and optionally a display number), choose "Connect". On successful connection, you will be prompted for your password. , and if the entered password is correct, finally you should see the remote desktop.

This is the user password of the user profile under which TightVNC Server was installed and is running. The password can be configured to something else in the TightVNC Server configuration GUI.

If the entered password is correct, finally you should see the remote desktop. This is the VNC connection info once connected to the TightVNC Server from the Viewer.

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bonus note: to do a "remote screen capture" (the image quality is better when doing a screen capture on the computer with the screen to be captured than doing a screen capture of a screen on TightVNC Server from the Viewer) enable the MS Windows On-Screen Keyboard on the TightVNC Server (from Start menu: All Programs // Accessories // Accessibility // On-Screen Keyboard) and activate the screen to be captured and then click the "psc" key on the virtual keyboard taking special care to first move the virtual keyboard window in a place that does not cover the contents of the window/screen to be capture because it too will be captured in the screen capture (it's a full screen capture, not active window, which would only capture the virtual keyboard). then save the screen image on the TightVNC Server and then transfer the image to the TightVNC Viewer.