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Created September 6, 2022 23:03
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VNC Server setup
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vnc.md

VNC Server

NOTE: I randomly chose display number :99 for this demo. If you are working on a shared machine, you should choose a random number so that you do not conflict with other users.

Installation

  1. Install TigerVNC: 
    sudo apt install tigervnc-standalone-server -y
  2. Start the VNC server: 
    # create a virtual display (#99) for ai2thor to use
vncserver -localhost no -httpPort 5999 :99
    This will require you to set a password. The final output should be something like: 
    New 'MACHINE:99 (USER)' desktop at :99 on machine MACHINE
    Once the display is created, you AI2thor should have somthing to connect to. 3. Set the DISPLAY environment variable to the corresponding screen number :99. The conda environment should have this set by default. If not, run the following command to update the conda environment variable: 
    conda activate <env_name>
conda env config vars set DISPLAY=:99
    • In any python code, you may also need to set the DISPLAY environment variable to the corresponding display number to get it to run correctly (e.g. os.environ['DISPLAY'] = ':99').
  3. Fixing issues with the virtual screen
    • See the status by running 
      vncserver -list
      The following is an example of the output with a stale screen: 
      TigerVNC server sessions:

X DISPLAY #	PROCESS ID
:99		30309 (stale)
    • Kill the screen using the following command: 
      vncserver -kill :99
      Now repeat step 2!
VNC help:
  • You can use vncserver -kill :99 to kill the server if you want.
  • viewing the display:
    • there are various VNC viewers. I use the built in one on Mac. Instructions below:

Mac VNC Viewer:

You need to forward the port of the VNC server (5999 above) to your local machine over SSH, and have a stable connection open. Then you can open the viewer with:

open vnc://localhost:5999

Headless VNC Server

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