Setup VNC on Nvidia Jetson

Enable the VNC server to start each time you log in

1. If you have a Jetson Nano 2GB Developer Kit (running LXDE)

mkdir -p ~/.config/autostart
cp /usr/share/applications/vino-server.desktop ~/.config/autostart/.

For all other Jetson developer kits (running GNOME)

cd /usr/lib/systemd/user/graphical-session.target.wants
sudo ln -s ../vino-server.service ./.

2. Configure the VNC server

gsettings set org.gnome.Vino prompt-enabled false
gsettings set org.gnome.Vino require-encryption false

3. Set a password to access the VNC server (Replace thepassword with your desired password)

gsettings set org.gnome.Vino authentication-methods "['vnc']"
gsettings set org.gnome.Vino vnc-password $(echo -n 'thepassword'|base64)

4. Reboot the system so that the settings take effect

sudo reboot

The VNC server is only available after you have logged in to Jetson locally. If you wish VNC to be available automatically, use the system settings application on your developer kit to enable automatic login.

Connecting to VNC service from another computer via gvncviewer

The example below is using gvncviewer, however any of your favourite vnc clients should work as well. One popular alternative is remmina.

1. Install gvncviewer by executing following commands:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install gvncviewer

2. Launch gvncviewer

gvncviewer

3. If you have configured the VNC server for authentication, provide the VNC password and you will be able to access Jetson remotely.

Connecting to VNC service from another computer via Remmina

1. Find the IP of your Jetson nano board using ifconfig command. I found mine in the wlan0 as 192.168.0.106
2. Use this command to check whether your VNC server is running or not.

ps -ef|grep vnc

It should show something like this which means vnc server is running.

ecl      22462 22435  0 03:39 pts/0    00:00:00 grep --color=auto vnc

3. Once you know your IP and also confirm the VNC server is up and running, its time to connect to your Jetson via any VNC client app.
4. Open Remmina click the add button on the top left, then select VNC as the protocol, then click the (…)button which is in the right end of the server IP address entering bar. This (…) button should automatically scan and show the name of your jetson Nano (choose IPv6 conneciton). Now just click, enter your username, password and connect.

Enable auto-login and Disable / Turn Off Lock Screen (optional)

1. The VNC server starts only after the user logs in. In an ideal headless setup, we need a keyboard and monitor to log in, doing this is at every login in tiring. So I usually enable auto-login and disable the lock screen.
2. Open the Activities overview and start typing Users.
3. Click Users to open the panel, select the user account that you want to log in to automatically at startup, Press Unlock in the top right corner and type in your password when prompted, Switch the Automatic Login switch to on.

Jetson Display Size During VNC usage

Add the following line inside /etc/X11/xorg.conf to use the display resolution of jetson that you desire.

Section "Screen"
    Identifier "Default Screen"
    Monitor "Configured Monitor"
    Device "Tegra0"
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth 24
        Virtual 1920 1080
    EndSubSection
EndSection