# What has changed

The previous Tigervnc versions had a wrapper script called `vncserver` which 

could be run as a user manually to start *Xvnc* process. The usage was quite 

simple as you just run

```

$ vncserver :x [vncserver options] [Xvnc options]

```

and that was it. While this was working just fine, there were issues when users

wanted to start a Tigervnc server using *systemd*. For these reasons things were 

completely changed and there is now a new way how this all is supposed to work.

 # How to start Tigervnc server

## Add a user mapping

With this you can map a user to a particular port. The mapping should be done in 

`/etc/tigervnc/vncserver.users` configuration file. It should be pretty 

straightforward once you open the file as there are some examples, but basically

the mapping is in form

```

:x=user

```

For example you can have

```

:1=test

:2=vncuser

```

## Configure Xvnc options

To configure Xvnc parameters, you need to go to the same directory where you did

the user mapping and open `vncserver-config-defaults` configuration file. This 

file is for the default Xvnc configuration and will be applied to every user 

unless any of the following applies:

* The user has its own configuration in `$HOME/.vnc/config`

* The same option with different value is configured in 

  `vncserver-config-mandatory` configuration file, which replaces the default 

  configuration and has even a higher priority than the per-user configuration.

  This option is for system administrators when they want to force particular 

  *Xvnc* options.

Format of the configuration file is also quite simple as the configuration is

in form of

```

option=value

option

```

for example

```

session=gnome

securitytypes=vncauth,tlsvnc

desktop=sandbox

geometry=2000x1200

localhost

alwaysshared

```

### Note:

There is one important option you need to set and that option is the session you

want to start. E.g when you want to start GNOME desktop, then you have to use

```

session=gnome

```

which should match the name of a session desktop file from `/usr/share/xsessions`

directory.

## Set VNC password

You need to set a password for each user in order to be able to start the 

Tigervnc server. In order to create a password, you just run

```

$ vncpasswd

```

as the user you will be starting the server for. 

### Note:

If you were using Tigervnc before for your user and you already created a 

password, then you will have to make sure the `$HOME/.vnc` folder created by 

`vncpasswd` will have the correct *SELinux* context. You either can delete this 

folder and recreate it again by creating the password one more time, or 

alternatively you can run

```

$ restorecon -RFv /home/<USER>/.vnc

```

## Start the Tigervnc server

Finally you can start the server using systemd service. To do so just run

```

$ systemctl start vncserver@:x

```

as root or

```

$ sudo systemctl start vncserver@:x

```

as a regular user in case it has permissions to run `sudo`. Don't forget to 

replace the `:x` by the actual number you configured in the user mapping file. 

Following our example by running

```

$ systemctl start vncserver@:1

```

you will start a Tigervnc server for user `test` with a GNOME session.

### Note:

If you were previously using Tigervnc and you were used to start it using 

*systemd* then you will need to remove previous *systemd* configuration files,

those you most likely copied to `/etc/systemd/system/vncserver@.service`, 

otherwise this service file will be preferred over the new one installed with

latest Tigervnc.

# Limitations

You will not be able to start a Tigervnc server for a user who is already

logged into a graphical session. Avoid running the server as the `root` user as

it's not a safe thing to do. While running the server as the `root` should work 

in general, it's not recommended to do so and there might be some things which

are not working properly.