UltraVNC Guide: Overview and Setup

UltraVNC is remote administration software, programmed by UltraVNC Team. Unfortunately, there is no information on the team origin, except WHOIS data, which gives us clue that project initiated from Belgium.

UltraVNC uses RealVNC based RFB protocol. Default port is 5900, but depending on your configuration, you might also ensure forwarding of ports: 443 (SSL or repeater_ssl), 5500 (vncviewer listening mode/reverse connection), 5800 (vnc over http; web browser as vncviewer) and 5901 (repeater).

Setup

To setup UltraVNC, you need to go to http://www.uvnc.com and select “Download” from top menu. You’ll see a page like this:

Now this can be somewhat confusing for first time users. Please, find very first caption saying “Download UltraVNC 1.0.8 (stable)” (NOTE: Version number might vary, choose top-most one), and click “Update 1.0.8.2” under it.

Next page is where you can choose whether you need full application – that is server AND client in one package – or viewer only. Viewer is client side application, normally used to connect to a Server computer, which is to be controlled.
We’ll install both, so we choose “1.0.8.2 Full”. Now choose architecture to run it on – win32 (for processors running in 32 bit mode) or X64 (for 64-bit mode), and click download. NOTE: Choose between two top-most links, as others are ZIP compressed binaries, not really installer.

Installer itself is pretty straight forward:

1. Click Next
2. Accept GPL License, click Next
3. Click Next
4. Click Next
5. Choose “Full installation” from install options and click Next
6. Click Next
7. If you plan to use UltraVNC often, under Microsoft Windows Vista or higher, please, select so it would “Download Vista addons files now”. Click Next
8. You might also agree to install “Optional non-GPL Mirror Driver”, which is claimed to provide higher screen refresh speed and reduce CPU load by 10 times.
9. If you plan to use UltraVNC often, and to run it in “Service mode” (that is Microsoft Service, like other services that can be found under Control Panel > Administration Services), please check “Register UltraVNC Server as a system service” and “Start or restart UltraVNC service”.

Here you can also choose whether to create UltraVNC icon on your desktop, associate *.vnc files with UltraVNC application and whether to install “UltraVNC Server driver” (this is to be used on machines that are to be controlled).

Click Next

10. Final review and click Next.
11. Application is now installing. It will try to automatically configure Microsoft Windows Firewall, so if it is the only firewall in your system configuration, consider everything is ready. (If you have router or some other kind of firewall, you will need to open above-mentioned ports on it, for UltraVNC to function properly).
12. Click Next and Finish.

Congratulations! UltraVNC is now successfully installed. If you have chosen to install additional drivers during installation, it might be good idea to perform system restart, before we continue.

Continue to "UltraVNC Server Configuration"