kanaka/noVNC — Issue #121: Multiuser VNC Idea
Author: dmonty2
Created: 2012-01-26 05:22:24+00:00
State: open

School District 73 deploys Linux desktops for Students/Staff at about 50 schools. We offer them NX access to their desktops. NX is proven very useful for home use as well as in-school mobile Windows and Mac devices. However some users have difficulty getting the NX Client to work so I've always wondered about a web-based VNC type solution. Below is the general idea for a multi-user vnc server:

1. End user browses to a web site ( like noVNC page ) and enters their username and password.
2. End user Is presented with their Linux desktop fitting nicely within the browser window.

## Back-end implementation.

1. Client Browser sends - username, password, and window dimensions to server.
2. Server (vnclauncher or vncdm):
* Authenticates & logs in as that user.
* Launches headless vncserver as that user using the client browser's dimensions.
* Captures the listening port for their vnc session.
3. Server & Client negotiate the encrypted vnc session ( just like noVNC does already )
4. Cleanup/kill vncserver after user logs out or disconnects.

vnclauncher is like a display manager except instead of negotiating X sessions it negotiates vncserver sessions. (vncdm like a headless kdm gdm)

So far it is only an idea - I'm just happy to see noVNC code already does over half of what is needed to make it work.