Update requirements. Note WS added to libvncserver.

[mirror_novnc.git] / README.md

## noVNC: HTML5 VNC Client


### Description

noVNC is a VNC client implemented using HTML5 technologies,
specifically Canvas and WebSockets (supports 'wss://' encryption).
noVNC is licensed under the
[LGPLv3](http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl.html).

Special thanks to [Sentry Data Systems](http://www.sentryds.com) for
sponsoring ongoing development of this project (and for employing me).

There are many companies/projects that have integrated noVNC into
their products including: [Sentry Data Systems](http://www.sentryds.com), [Ganeti Web Manager](http://code.osuosl.org/projects/ganeti-webmgr), [Archipel](http://archipelproject.org), [openQRM](http://www.openqrm.com/), [OpenNode](http://www.opennodecloud.com/), [OpenStack](http://www.openstack.org), [Broadway (HTML5 GDK/GTK+ backend)](http://blogs.gnome.org/alexl/2011/03/15/gtk-html-backend-update/), [OpenNebula](http://opennebula.org/), [CloudSigma](http://www.cloudsigma.com/), [Zentyal (formerly eBox)](http://www.zentyal.org/), and [SlapOS](http://www.slapos.org). See [this wiki page](https://github.com/kanaka/noVNC/wiki/ProjectsCompanies-using-noVNC) for more info and links.

Notable commits, announcements and news are posted to
@<a href="http://www.twitter.com/noVNC">noVNC</a>


### Screenshots

Running in Chrome before and after connecting:

<img src="http://kanaka.github.com/noVNC/img/noVNC-5.png" width=400>&nbsp;<img src="http://kanaka.github.com/noVNC/img/noVNC-7.jpg" width=400>

See more screenshots <a href="http://kanaka.github.com/noVNC/screenshots.html">here</a>.


### Browser Requirements

* HTML5 Canvas (with createImageData): Chrome, Firefox 3.6+, iOS
  Safari, Opera 11+, Internet Explorer 9+, etc.

* HTML5 WebSockets: For browsers that do not have builtin
  WebSockets support, the project includes
  <a href="http://github.com/gimite/web-socket-js">web-socket-js</a>,
  a WebSockets emulator using Adobe Flash. iOS 4.2+ has built-in
  WebSocket support.

* Fast Javascript Engine: this is not strictly a requirement, but
  without a fast Javascript engine, noVNC might be painfully slow.

* I maintain a more detailed browser compatibility list <a
  href="https://github.com/kanaka/noVNC/wiki/Browser-support">here</a>.


### Server Requirements

Unless you are using a VNC server with support for WebSockets
connections (such as [x11vnc/libvncserver](http://libvncserver.sourceforge.net/)),
you need to use a WebSockets to TCP socket proxy. There is
a python proxy included ('websockify'). One advantage of using the
proxy is that it has builtin support for SSL/TLS encryption (i.e.
"wss://").


### Quick Start

* Use the launch script to start a mini-webserver and the WebSockets
  proxy (websockify). The `--vnc` option is used to specify the location of
  a running VNC server:

    `./utils/launch.sh --vnc localhost:5901`

* Point your browser to the cut-and-paste URL that is output by the
  launch script. Enter a password if the VNC server has one
  configured. Hit the Connect button and enjoy!


### Other Pages

* [Advanced Usage](https://github.com/kanaka/noVNC/wiki/Advanced-usage). Generating an SSL
  certificate, starting a VNC server, advanced websockify usage, etc.

* [Integrating noVNC](https://github.com/kanaka/noVNC/wiki/Integration) into existing projects.

* [Troubleshooting noVNC](https://github.com/kanaka/noVNC/wiki/Troubleshooting) problems.