VNC on Ivon's Blog

How to connect remotely to Termux's Linux desktop with VNC

infoivonblog.nkfjt@aleeas.com (Ivon Huang) — Thu, 10 Apr 2025 01:00:00 +0800

This article explains how to set up a VNC server so that we can access the Linux system desktop in Termux. It applies to Linux systems installed through proot or chroot.

Termux can run Linux on an Android phone. After setting up the environment, the next concern is how to connect to the desktop (graphical environment). To connect to Termux’s Linux system desktop, there are three methods: Termux X11, XSDL, and VNC.

The first two run an X server on the phone. The latter is the remote desktop concept: run a VNC server on the phone, start a virtual Xvnc server, then connect with a VNC client. This VNC client can be local or a client on another computer.

In terms of graphics performance, an X server is better than VNC, and it is easier to achieve 3D hardware acceleration.

When I first learned Termux, I saw many people using VNC, but as Termux X11 gradually matured, I gradually abandoned VNC.

If all three run on the same phone, since they are all localhost, there is no latency issue, and VNC really has no performance advantage over an X server.

VNC’s strength is remote access from other computers! Compared with SSH X server forwarding, VNC can lower image quality to reduce bandwidth, and can even start headlessly. Its performance advantages appear when viewing remotely.

So VNC is suitable for the scenario of “using a computer to connect to the phone’s Termux desktop”. You do not like staring at a tiny screen and typing commands like crazy, right? Then, besides text-only SSH access, graphical VNC is a good choice.

VNC and Termux X11 can coexist and should not affect each other.

1. Choose a VNC client
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On phones, I recommend AVNC or RealVNC Viewer. The latter has more features, but it is proprietary software.

On computers, I recommend Remmina

2. Configure the VNC server
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Choose one of the two.

Run the VNC server directly in Termux
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In fact, proot-distro is not required. Termux itself provides a native VNC server package. But if you want to open the desktop of a Linux distribution inside proot-distro, do not use this method.

Also, the desktop environment packages included in Termux are not as rich as those in proot-distro. The most complete one at present is XFCE.

Install the XFCE desktop for Termux, but do not install Termux X11.
Install the TigerVNC package. The current version is 1.13.0.

pkg install tigervnc

Set the VNC server password

vncpasswd

Add the program to execute after the VNC server starts by editing ~/.vnc/xstartup

mkdir ~/.vnc/

vim ~/.vnc/xstartup

Fill in the following content

#!/bin/bash
unset SESSION_MANAGER
unset DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADRESS

# Start the PulseAudio sound server; audio will come out from Termux
pulseaudio --start --exit-idle-time=-1
pacmd load-module module-native-protocol-tcp auth-ip-acl=127.0.0.1 auth-anonymous=1

# Run the desktop environment, XFCE here
exec startxfce4

Grant execute permission to xstartup

chmod +x ~/.vnc/xstartup

Define the VNC server configuration file. Edit ~/.vnc/tigervnc.conf

vim ~/.vnc/tigervnc.conf

Fill in the following content:

# Current session XFCE
$session="xfce-session";
# Resolution; higher values use more bandwidth
$geometry="1920x1080";
# Bit depth, values are 8/16/24/32; larger numbers look better but use more bandwidth
$depth="32";
# Allow external networks to connect
$localhost="no";

Run the VNC server inside proot-distro
#

First install Termux proot-distro, such as Debian. Then install a desktop environment inside proot-distro. XFCE uses the fewest resources, but KDE Plasma is also worth trying.

Install a graphical desktop environment and audio output in Termux

infoivonblog.nkfjt@aleeas.com (Ivon Huang) — Sun, 25 Aug 2024 13:00:00 +0800

Note: because the Termux filesystem differs from ordinary Linux and has fewer packages, I tend to install a Linux proot container and run the desktop environment there. Although it is slower, the experience is better.

By default, Termux only has a text interface. Users can install a desktop environment themselves, then connect through VNC or Termux X11 to get a desktop-computer-like experience.

At present, desktop environments included in the Termux package repository include XFCE, LXQT, MATE, OpenBox, i3wm, Weston, and so on.

Termux can also use Android GELS to output audio, so we can run a PulseAudio server for audio output in the desktop environment.

This article explains how to install the XFCE desktop and configure the PulseAudio server.

Termux running the XFCE desktop environment and desktop Firefox browser

1. Prerequisites
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To run a desktop environment, I recommend a phone with at least 6GB RAM.

Please install Termux first, and remember to disable Phantom Process Killing to prevent Termux from being terminated by the system in the background.

2. Install the XFCE desktop environment
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Termux does not package many desktop environments, so choose XFCE, which is lightweight but still sufficiently functional.

Install XFCE4, the Firefox browser, and the VIM editor:

pkg install x11-repo

pkg install xfce xfce4-goodies pulseaudio pavucontrol vim firefox

3. Connect to the graphical interface
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Choose one of the two; they can coexist. I recommend Termux X11, which performs better than VNC, but is less convenient for remote connections.

Termux X11
#

Configure Termux X11 and virglrenderer.
To make starting the desktop environment easier later, add a script

vim ~/startxfce4.sh

Fill in the following content:

#!/bin/bash

# Start GPU acceleration
virgl_test_server_android &

# Start audio server
pulseaudio --start --exit-idle-time=-1
pacmd load-module module-native-protocol-tcp auth-ip-acl=127.0.0.1 auth-anonymous=1

# Start desktop environment
termux-x11 :0 -xstartup "dbus-launch --exit-with-session xfce4-session" &

Grant execute permission

chmod +x ~/startxfce4.sh

Exit Termux.

exit

Start the Termux X11 app
Return to Termux and start the desktop environment. The XFCE4 desktop will appear in the Termux X11 app screen.

./startxfce4.sh

VNC server
#

Install the AVNC client on the phone
Install the TigerVNC package. The current version is 1.13.0.

pkg install tigervnc

Set the VNC server password

vncpasswd

Add the program to execute after the VNC server starts by editing ~/.vnc/xstartup

mkdir ~/.vnc/

vim ~/.vnc/xstartup

Fill in the following content

#!/bin/bash
unset SESSION_MANAGER
unset DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADRESS

# Start the PulseAudio sound server; audio will come out from Termux
pulseaudio --start --exit-idle-time=-1
pacmd load-module module-native-protocol-tcp auth-ip-acl=127.0.0.1 auth-anonymous=1

# Run the desktop environment, XFCE here
exec startxfce4

Grant execute permission to xstartup

chmod +x ~/.vnc/xstartup

Define the VNC server configuration file. Edit ~/.vnc/tigervnc.conf

vim ~/.vnc/tigervnc.conf

Fill in the following content:

# Current session XFCE
$session="xfce-session";
# Resolution; higher values use more bandwidth
$geometry="1920x1080";
# Bit depth, values are 8/16/24/32; larger numbers look better but use more bandwidth
$depth="32";
# Allow external networks to connect
$localhost="no";

Enter the tigervncserver or vncserver command in Termux to start the VNC server. Observe the port number output on the screen; it usually starts from 1. Since VNC server ports count from 5900, the port here is 5901.

VNC on Ivon's Blog

How to connect remotely to Termux's Linux desktop with VNC

1. Choose a VNC client #

2. Configure the VNC server #

Run the VNC server directly in Termux #

Run the VNC server inside proot-distro #

Install a graphical desktop environment and audio output in Termux

1. Prerequisites #

2. Install the XFCE desktop environment #

3. Connect to the graphical interface #

Termux X11 #

VNC server #