vncpasswd(1) - Linux man page

Name

vncpasswd - change the VNC password

Synopsis

vncpasswd [passwd-file]
vncpasswd -f

Description

vncpasswd allows you to set the password used to access VNC desktops. Its default behavior is to prompt for a VNC password and then store an obfuscated version of this password to passwd-file (or to $HOME/.vnc/passwd if no password file is specified.) The vncserver script runs vncpasswd the first time you start a VNC desktop, and it invokes Xvnc with the appropriate -rfbauth option. vncviewer can also be given a password file to use via the -passwd option.

The password must be at least six characters long (unless the -f command-line option is used-- see below), and only the first eight characters are significant. Note that the stored password is not encrypted securely - anyone who has access to this file can trivially find out the plain-text password, so vncpasswd always sets appropriate permissions (read and write only by the owner.) However, when accessing a VNC desktop, a challenge-response mechanism is used over the wire making it hard for anyone to crack the password simply by snooping on the network.

Options

-f: Filter mode. Read a plain-text password from stdin and write an encrypted version to stdout. Note that in filter mode, short or even empty passwords will be silently accepted.

Files

$HOME/.vnc/passwd: Default location of the VNC password file.

Authors

Tristan Richardson, RealVNC Ltd.
Antoine Martin
D. R. Commander

VNC was originally developed by the RealVNC team while at Olivetti Research Ltd / AT&T Laboratories Cambridge. TightVNC additions were implemented by Constantin Kaplinsky. Many other people participated in development, testing and support.

Referenced By

vncconnect(1), x0vncserver(1), x11vnc(1)