Cant VNC into Google Compute Engine

Question

I have spent a couple days trying to install software on Google Compute Engine (GCE) and then remotely access it from either my windows pc or local linux machine.

I can install software, like Google Chrome, etc. but can't open the applications as I keep getting display issues (understandably because GCE is headless). So I'm trying to VNC into the GCE instance.

I have tried installing the following on the server: (Instance Name is "talend")

vnc4server: I get output saying the server is running and everything looks good. Only error I get is a Language error like the following:

steven@talend:~$ vnc4server -geometry 1440x900 :1 perl: warning: Setting locale failed. perl: warning: Please check that your locale settings:LANGUAGE = (unset),LC_ALL = (unset),LANG = "en_ZA.UTF-8"are supported and installed on your system. perl: warning: Falling back to the standard locale ("C"). A VNC server is already running as :1

and

steven@talend:~$ vnc4server -geometry 1440x900 :2 perl: warning: Setting locale failed. perl: warning: Please check that your locale settings:LANGUAGE = (unset),LC_ALL = (unset),LANG = "en_ZA.UTF-8"are supported and installed on your system. perl: warning: Falling back to the standard locale ("C"). New 'talend:2 (steven)' desktop is talend:2 Starting applications specified in /home/steven/.vnc/xstartup Log file is /home/steven/.vnc/talend:2.log

Remote Access: Using TightVNC client via Windows

I get the following message:

No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it.

Remote Access: Using Vinagre via Linux

Connection to host 8.34.210.67::5902 was closed.

Via Google Compute Engine Web Console:

Tried changing to static ip > No Difference

Tried adding tcp:80 with Source: 0.0.0.0/0 > No Difference

I'm sure there is a simple solution to this but I can't seem to find it. Any help will be appreciated and then will post a link to the final solution.

Thanks.

Answer 1

You will need to configure three settings to all agree on the same port:

• The port vnc4server is listening on.
• A Compute Engine firewall rule to allow traffic on that port.
• The port TightVNC is attempting to connect to.

From the error message "Connection to host 8.34.210.67::5902 was closed.", it looks like TightVNC is trying to connect to 5902. Assuming that vnc4server is also listening on that port, you should add a Compute Engine firewall rule to allow that port.

Visit the Console at https://cloud.google.com/console, click on your project, then Compute Engine, then Networks. Click the "Create new" next to "Firewalls" and add a new rule with tcp:5902 set in the Ports/Protocols field.

If you're running on Centos, there is an additional step to disable the local firewall as well: CentOS Firewall Issues on GCE