VNC allows one to connect remotely to another computer and access all the same programs and environments that one can by sitting directly at the machine. This is useful if one would like to use some of the faster machines on the cluster (cdms1,cdms2, etc.) or if working remotely. This page gives some basic instructions on how to set up and access VNC sessions.

1. Create a VNC server on the machine you would like to work on.
   1. ssh to the machine. Run the command vncserver :89 -geometry 1600×1200 (where here 89 is a port of your choosing, and 1600×1200 is your screen's resolution) to establish the vnc session.
   2. You can have multiple such sessions running, as long as each one uses a different port.
   3. You can run vncserver -list to get a list of all your running sessions on a given machine.
2. To map that port to your local machine, open a new terminal on your local machine and type ssh -L 5989:localhost:5989 cdms2.spa.umn.edu where again, the 89 part of the command is the port and cdm2 is the machine you chose.
3. To view the vnc session, you need a VNC viewer.
   1. Linux: TigerVNC Viewer should be installed on all linux machines in PAN. To access this, open a terminal on your local machine and type vncviewer localhost:5989. When prompted, enter your regular password to connect to the VNC session on the remote machine. (Note: your vnc password can be changed with the command vncpasswd.)
   2. Mac: OSX has a built-in VNC viewer called Screen Sharing. To access it, just run open vnc://localhost:5989 in the terminal. Another popular option was Chicken of the VNC, though it has had mixed success lately.
   3. Windows: Don't know, don't care [image not archived: fun.svg]
4. Now you should have a window open that looks much like your normal login. You can do all the normal things here. When you close the VNC viewer or otherwise disconnect from the remote machine, the session will remain running until the vncserver session is killed or that computer is restarted. This can be useful because you can reconnect to the same session later and pick up where you left off.