Hi there
I can’t find RealVNC Server in the softwarelist, after installing the latest DietPi.
On dietpi.com it is still listed as v139 …?
https://dietpi.com/forum/t/dietpi-software-details-for-all-installation-options/22/81
But not in the software-list, even when I search for software, only TigerVNC shows up …
What’s the best way to install RealVNC Server now? Was so handy via dietpi-software before … 
Hi,
RealVNC is still available on dietpi-software catalogue and it’s working quite well. However it’s deactivated for some systems. You can check it on your device running the following:
dietpi-software list|grep realvnc
running this on my VM will return the following 
root@DietPiVM1:~# dietpi-software list|grep realvnc
id 120 | =0 | realvnc server: desktop for remote connection | +desktop disabled for virtual machine (x86_64)
thx Joulinar
So it‘s because for the first time I did not install Dietpi on a Raspi or PC, but an „Apu Board“
https://www.pcengines.ch/apu2.htm
which isn‘t on the list of supported devices yet.
Gonna try that grep 
meh … 
dietpi-software list|grep realvnc
id 120 | =0 | realvnc server: desktop for remote connection | +desktop disabled for generic device (x86_64)
tried it anyways:
dietpi-software install 120
[FAILED] DietPi-Software | Software title (RealVNC Server) is not supported for Generic Device (x86_64).
is there a way to re-activate it?
offcourse one could just install it “by hand”, but I prefer dietpi handling the software install/uninstall.
RealVNC is only enabled for RPi since Raspbian respectively the RPi repo ships packages for it while Debian does not. On non-RPi use TigerVNC instead which should work just fine as well with any desktop.
Thx MichaIng
Well, with TigerVNCyou need to portforward and whatdoIknow … while RealVNC just punches its holes and doesn‘t require the Router to be fiddled with …
I‘ll try to setup RealVNC on the Dietpi without using dietpi-software.
Hope that‘ll work …
I’m playing with it for a while now. However you would need a RealVNC account using home subscription. On RPi it’s not needed because of:
If you have a Raspberry Pi, VNC Connect is pre-installed and pre-licensed
On all other systems you need to connect to RealVNC Account
https://help.realvnc.com/hc/en-us/articles/360003474572#setting-up-your-account-0-0
Thx Joulinar
I‘m gonna check out those links an try installing realvnc that way 
I was able to connect my x86 VM to the RealVNC Account but just got a black screen while trying to connect. Still need to check whats wrong.
Ah that license thing is a good reason .
Hmm RealVNC does not need port forwarding? It should of course since it is an incoming connection as well? Probably they have some UPnP postinst step to auto-enable forwarding of the required port in the router?
No clue how they do it … But I prefer that over tinkering with the router.
another option is remote.it … doesn‘t need portforwarding either
I was able to get it working without PortForwarding or other Stuff on my router. Just you need to use a RealVNC account. Downside at the moment, you need to have an active desktop session running. Otherwise I just get the back screen. So I setup 23 LXDE: ultra lightweight desktop and put it to autostart. I guess it’s not perfect as on RPi this is not needed. There the RealVNC Service is working without additional desktop being set to autostart.
Ah, probably with the account, RealVNC keeps a connection open via some RealVNC relay server or or what? Although this was not something I would want… Could you check which ports it uses and if it keeps any network connection up even when no VNC client is connected? E.g. via iptraf-ng or such. Also probably in router you find the used port forwarded now if RealVNC install uses UPnP to open it automatically.
The thing with the active session is that by default it obviously uses shared desktop for VNC. There is a dedicated RealVNC virtual desktop service that is not enabled/running by default but can be enabled. Then, when connecting, it spawns a new virtial desktop instead of attaching to an existing session.
it keeps an active connection open
root@DietPiVM1:~# lsof -i -P -n | grep vnc
vncserver 522 root 14u IPv4 15492 0t0 TCP 192.168.0.13:51084->165.254.191.194:443 (ESTABLISHED)
root@DietPiVM1:~#
one more. Connecting the VNC Server to RealVNC Account is quite a challenge as you already need a running xServer/Gui session. So you definitely need to install a desktop first to be able to configure the VNC Server. Buhhhh
Please read my edit above about shared desktop vs virtual desktop services. However yeah a desktop or Xserver application is of course required in every case. It should be possible to define the exact x application to start, by default most likely it is “startx”, hence the default desktop or LightDM login mask if installed.
well you need to have a desktop environment to be able to login to your RealVNC account. On command line it’s not possible for RealVNC Home subscription. There you would need a Enterprise Version. Maybe I will check later with a 30 days trail period if it’s working without desktop.
So it really keeps a connection up to a public RealVNC IP, just checked 165.254.191.194. I guess you can then only connect via RealVNC client and not any other VNC client, can you? I mean any other VNC client requires a port (or uses the default), hence it must be open, of course for non-local network connections only.
On RPi this is all not required AFAIK. The RealVNC server behaves like any other VNC server, one simply connect through any VNC client with given port and required forwarding for non-local connections.
MichaIng
It all depends on your license type. I was testing the Enterprise subscription now and I’m able to run it same way as on RPi (local without Cloud connection).
root@DietPiVM1:~# echo $G_HW_MODEL_DESCRIPTION
Virtual Machine (x86_64)
root@DietPiVM1:~#
root@DietPiVM1:~# lsof -i -P -n | grep vnc
vncserver 518 root 6u IPv6 13516 0t0 TCP *:5999 (LISTEN)
vncserver 518 root 7u IPv4 13517 0t0 TCP *:5999 (LISTEN)
vncserver 518 root 8u IPv4 13518 0t0 UDP *:5999
vncserver 518 root 9u IPv6 13519 0t0 UDP *:5999
vncserver 522 root 10u IPv6 13579 0t0 TCP *:5900 (LISTEN)
vncserver 522 root 11u IPv4 13580 0t0 TCP *:5900 (LISTEN)
vncserver 522 root 12u IPv4 13581 0t0 UDP *:5900
vncserver 522 root 13u IPv6 13582 0t0 UDP *:5900
Xvnc-core 713 root 0u IPv6 14903 0t0 TCP *:6001 (LISTEN)
Xvnc-core 713 root 1u IPv4 14904 0t0 TCP *:6001 (LISTEN)
Xvnc-core 713 root 6u IPv6 14916 0t0 TCP *:5901 (LISTEN)
Xvnc-core 713 root 7u IPv4 14917 0t0 TCP *:5901 (LISTEN)
Xvnc-core 713 root 8u IPv4 14918 0t0 UDP *:5901
Xvnc-core 713 root 9u IPv6 14919 0t0 UDP *:5901
Xvnc-core 713 root 28u IPv4 15432 0t0 TCP 127.0.0.1:59130->127.0.0.1:37387 (ESTABLISHED)
vncserver 771 root 8u IPv4 15585 0t0 TCP 127.0.0.1:37387->127.0.0.1:59130 (ESTABLISHED)
root@DietPiVM1:~#
If you are not running Enterprise version, you need to have your VNC server connected to RealVNC Cloud, leading to the permanent connection. However, even on Enterprise you can use the Cloud connection to be able to connect without opening ports. But yeah it’s working.
Ah cloud connection, that is it: https://www.realvnc.com/en/news/what-vnc-cloud/
Explained very well, however I personally would always prefer to connect to my server directly without any cloud service in the middle, for privacy reasons at least, and to not have a permanent network connection open. Forwarding that port is required then but not that hard that such a service has any benefit IMO. However it makes sense when they want to sell their software/service to include authentication against their licenses/subscriptions. Free plan than means you pay with your data via forced cloud connection.