Chapter 25. Using VNC
The graphical installation interface is the recommended method of installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux. However, in some cases, accessing the graphical interface directly is difficult or impossible. Many enterprise systems, notably servers (IBM Power Systems and IBM Z), lack the capability to connect a display and a keyboard, making VNC a necessity for manual (non-Kickstart) installations.
To allow manual installations on headless systems (systems without a directly connected display, keyboard and mouse), the Anaconda installation program includes a Virtual Network Computing (VNC) installation which allows the graphical mode of the installation program to run locally, but display on a system connected to the network. The VNC installation provides you with the full range of installation options, even in situations where the system lacks a display or input devices.
This chapter provides instructions on activating VNC mode on the installation system and connecting to it using a VNC viewer.
25.1. Installing a VNC Viewer
Performing a VNC installation requires a VNC viewer running on your workstation or another terminal computer. VNC viewers are available in the repositories of most Linux distributions; free VNC viewers are also available for other operating systems such as Windows. On Linux systems, use your package manager to search for a viewer for your distribution.
The following VNC viewers are available in Red Hat Enterprise Linux:
- TigerVNC - A basic viewer independent of your desktop environment. Installed as the tigervnc package.
- Vinagre - A viewer for the GNOME desktop environment. Installed as the vinagre package.
- KRDC - A viewer integrated with the KDE desktop environment. Installed as the kdenetwork-krdc package.
To install any of the viewers listed above, execute the following command as
root:
#yum install package
Replace package with the package name of the viewer you want to use (for example, tigervnc).
Note
Procedures in this chapter assume you are using TigerVNC as your VNC viewer. Specific instructions for other viewers can differ, but the general principles still apply.
