VNC

If you need a visual environment to work in, for example because you want to use the Matlab development software, you can connect to Ponyland using VNC.

Warning The information below might be outdated since the 2022 OS upgrade!

Step 1. Starting the VNC Server

First, connect to one of the servers on Ponyland, and run the following script on Applejack:

/vol/customopt/config/scripts/vnc/vncstart

The first time

• You will be assigned a Display number. The display number will be assigned to you permanently.
• The script will pause for you to give a password (without explicitly saying so) and then again so you can repeat it (again, without explicitly saying so).

Step 2. Connecting with the VNC client

Download and install your favorite VNC client ('VNC viewer' would be a good choice), and connect to the server using the display number it indicated. When working from home, you always need a VPN.

To use the terminal:

• Use the program called Konsole, not terminal

• Tab completion won't work out of the box, because the tab key is used for switching windows. To override this, in file ~/.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/xfce4-keyboard-shortcuts.xml change

  <property name="&lt;Super&gt;Tab" type="string" value="switch_window_key"/>

  to

  <property name="&lt;Super&gt;Tab" type="empty"/>

Troubleshooting

1. Is the VNC server really running? You can use htop -u yourusername to see if it's in the list.
2. Are you using the correct display number? The one assigned to you when you start the server.
3. Did everything go okay when creating the password (see the section The first time above).
4. If working from home, do you have a VPN running?