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How to change your Unix VNC password

Updated on

Audience: Students, staff, faculty

Introduction

Learn how to change your Unix VNC password.

Steps

Your VNC password is not the same as your UNIX password. Your VNC password must be set yourself. Your VNC password is encrypted within the passwd file in your .vnc directory. You can try to decrypt it (not recommended), or you can replace it (recommended).

Your VNC password and Unix logon password are two separate entities, so it's recommended to choose a VNC password that is different than your Unix password. You can use the pwhelp command on Unix to generate a secure password for the VNC server.

To change the VNC password you must first delete the existing password file. From your home directory on Unix use the rm .vnc/passwd command to do this. Once you've accomplished that all you need to do is restart your Unix VNC session (use vncserver). The VNC server will recognize that you don't have a password set and prompt you for a new password. This enables you to keep an existing session active without having to restart the VNC server.

hostname% rm .vnc/passwd

remove .vnc/passwd? y

hostname% vncserver

You will require a password to access your desktops.

Password: ********

Verify: ********

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