VNC on Polaris
Overview
VNC (Virtual Network Computing) is available on Polaris to run graphics applications. To avoid slowing down login nodes, please run VNC on compute nodes.
Password for VNC
Create a unique password for VNC and store it in a secure directory.
Setting the password:
Omitting [file]
will save the password to ~/.vnc/passwd
.
VNC Launch Script
Create a script for your preferred shell (e.g., Bash) with the following commands:
#!/bin/bash
Xvnc -PasswordFile ~/.vnc/passwd -geometry 1920x1080 :0 &
sleep 2
icewm --display=:0 &
xterm -display :0 &
Launching the Script
- Start an interactive session using
qsub
with the-I
option. - Run the VNC launch script on the compute node.
Establishing an SSH Tunnel
On another terminal type:
ssh -v -N -L 5900:x3005c0s7b0n0:5900 [email protected]
where x3005c0s7b0n0
is the name of your Polaris compute node. The default TCP port for VNC is 5900. Edit as needed.
Connecting to Your VNC Server
- Install a VNC client on your local computer.
- Run the client and connect to
localhost:5900
. - Enter your VNC password.
- Launch your graphics application from the xterm
Tips
- Keep the SSH tunnel terminal open during your session.
- Adjust the SSH tunnel command as needed for your setup.
- If for any reason you need to restart the VNC server and get error messages, try: