UltraVNC - Help Requested
 

I saw UltraVNC was recommended in another thread by Kwag and others, and I was wondering if someone could give me a hand in setting it up.

I have a home PC that I would like to connect to remotely.

I set UltraVNC up on my desktop, but when I open the viewer remotely I can't log on. I didn't set up any "users" on the desktop, and I think that is the problem - how do I go about setting up authorized users (me, on my remote laptop!)?

I tried my local username and password on my laptop (viewer) but was rejected with an error message "VNC Authentication Failed".

So how do I set it up on the host to allow me to logon remotely?

Thanks!
Icarus

Hi Icarus,

You must have port 5900 open and forwarded to your server machine.
Are you behind a firewall on your home PC :?:

-kwag

Kwag:

Yes, I have firewall, but 5900 is open.

I think my question might be on a more simple (VNC for dummies) level... How do I set up a remote "user"? with name and password?

Thanks!
Icarus

I don't know what your configuration is.
First, is your firewall a software in your PC (MS version, Kerio, etc) :?:
If so, then you're already set after opening that port.
When you installed the VNC software, it asked you for a user/password combination.
Did you do that :?:

-kwag

I am running the Windows XP firewall, as well as firewall within my Dlink wireless router. But I checked that 5900 is open.

I think this is my problem. It didn't ask me for this anywhere. Lets say I wanted to allow you, Kwag, access to my server. How would I set you up as a user?

Either you choose to use the normal VNC logon and then the system is just protected by a passwd* that any user will use to logon. Or you choose to use the "MS Logon" implement in ultraVNC and then only a user that has an account on your PC will be abble to log on ultraVNC.

*the passwd can be set or changed in the server "administrator settings" after the installation.

Thanks Phil!

I unchecked the MS logon option, and now I can log on with the VNC password.

In fact, I am writing this from the client laptop, passing through the host PC right now :)

I guess I am still confused about how to set up user accounts on my PC. I do have 3 accounts set up at the moment - for me, my wife and my kids, but when I tried to logon using any of those accounts before it didn't work, but it was probably me doing something stupid!

UltraVNC have 2 MS Logon mode (1 and 2). If you select MSLogon2 then you have to type the domain user name.

That means that if your computer domain is "HOME" (used by default by winXP), and your account is "myself', then to log you have to use "HOME\myself" and your password.

This is also why I stopped using the MSLogon mode.

In a similar vein, I am trying to set up a VPN on my home PC. Again, I am totally lost on how to do this.

I installed OpenVPNGUI, but all that seemed to do (from what I can see) is add a little icon to my icon area on my toolbar.

When I try to log on from the remote PC, nothing happens. I tried different username/password combinations, including the domain name (which I think is "workgroup" - that's what is listed under the "Computer Name" tab of "My Computer").

Can someone give me the quick and dirty version of the simplest way to set up a VPN on my home PC so that I can access the files remotely when I'm out of the house?

Thanks,
Icarus

Could you not download a free dns redirection tool on your pc like the one at No-IP.com.

Once you have regged and setup the clien on your pc you could use the IP like Icarus.no-ip.com and use that IP for your connection.

No-ip will then re-route that to your home pc where you would have the No-Ip tool running in the background. This is what I would do as most ISPs assign a dynamic IP address and if the IP addy changes it can be a pain.

I use UltraVNC with no probs and if I get the time some time over the weekend I will post some pics of how I set it up. :)

Hi Michael,
That is useful and it might work but that is not a VPN.
A VPN is a routed or bridged encrypted (and sometimes compressed) IP tunnel that is not available to others on the internet and only to your PCs or your friends' PCs.
What you are talking about is a non-encrypted access available to anyone on the internet unless you use some firewall filtering ;-).
Icarus is trying a very good option of VPN :arrow: OpenVPN.
And my only advise to him is to try using it with monowall.
For that he would need an extra PC at home :?
Or a very small PC such as a Soekris router.

@Icarus3000,
Have you already configured the OpenVPN?
Can you ping from one LAN to the other LAN?
Have you configured the OVPN and set the certificates on both the local and remote PC?
If not try to take a look at http://openvpn.net/howto.html#config.
If you can ping from one LAN to the other LAN then it's most surely a problem related to xVNC.
Cheers

Thanks for the advice Zyphon and rds - I will work on it some more this evening and let you know how it turns out.

The no-ip thing sound interesting, but like rds pointed out if it is non-encrypted that seems a little dangerous to me.

Cheers!
Icarus