Autostart Raspberry pi VNC and server

Hi!
Last week i finally configured my Rpi, and had it setup as a server to get 24/7 access to all the gadgets in my apartment. I'm not very familiar with linux, and therefore it is probably a good ide to write down how i managed to do so, for future setups =)

First of all i wanted to get access to the Rpi from my main computer. I had two options, either just by a terminal (SSH), which is probably best for speed, or configure a remote desktop (VNC) to mirror the pi on my main computers screen. Since i'm not to familiar with the linux terminal, i figured i'd start off with the VNC like this...

Setting up remote desktop (VNC) on the Rpi using the program TightVNC according to this guide (skipped the SSH-part in the beginning):

Install the TightVNCServer on the Rpi like this:

$sudo apt-get install tightvncserver #When prompted press 'y'

Then try and start the server by entering: (change the resolution to the screen res where you are going to view the desktop) $vncserver :1 -geometry 1600×900 -depth 16 -pixelformat rgb565
The "1" is an ID, (you can start several different servers)
The program will now prompt for you to enter a password to get access to the remote desktop, set one!

There might be an permission issue, so to make sure that wont happen, do this:  (where "pi" is the username) $sudo chown pi /home/pi/.Xauthority

The VNC-server nr "1" can later be closed by typing: $vncserver –kill :1

Install TightVNC on Windows machine

Now that you have your VNC-server up and running, it is time to install the TightVNC-program on you main computer from there website:

When done, startup the TightVNC-Viewer (not the server), type in the IP-address and the ID that you specified on the pi and press "Connect". A good ide is to configure your router so that the ip of the Rpi never changes...

If the server is running, a prompt for the password will show up, enter it and a window with the Rpi-desktop will popup =)

If you make it full-screen, the way of getting out is by pressing alt+ctrl+shift+F.

Autostart VNC-server when Rpi boots

Next step is to get the server to start automatically when the Rpi starts up. There is no point of having a remote desktop if I every time the rpi starts have to have a keyboard, mouse and a screen attached to it to startup the server...

Create a file named tightvnc in the init.d folder, and open it in nano to edit its content:
$sudo nano /etc/init.d/tightvnc

Enter the following: #!/bin/sh ### BEGIN INIT INFO # Provides: tightvncserver # Required-Start: # Required-Stop: # Default-Start: 2 3 4 5 # Default-Stop: 0 1 6 # Short-Description: start vnc server # Description: ### END INIT INFO case "$1" in start) su pi -c 'vncserver :1 -geometry 1920x1080 -depth 16 -pixelformat rgb565:' echo "VNC Started" ;; stop) pkill Xtightvnc echo "VNC Terminated" ;; *) echo "Usage: /etc/init.d/tightvnc {start|stop}" exit 1 ;; esac
Press ctrl+x and y to exit and save.

Now we need to set permissions to the file to make it executable: $sudo chmod 755 /etc/init.d/tightvnc

And the last thing we’re going to make is to update the rc.d file (which tracks which initilization scripts are in the /init.d/ folder): $sudo update-rc.d tightvnc defaults

Now it is time to test it: Reboot the Rpi:
$sudo reboot

And try connecting the ThightVNC-program on the main computer.

Autorun other scripts when Rpi boots

To autorun a script that doesn't need permissions when Rpi starts is a little easier. Take my nRF-server for instance:
Create (if not allready created) the folder
$mkdir ~/.config/autostart

Then add a file with the ending ".desktop"  and edit it in nano:
$sudo nano ~/.config/autostart/NRFServer.desktop

Edit the file like this:[Desktop Entry] Version=1.0 Type=Application Terminal=false StartupNotify=true Name=NRF-server Comment=Starts NRF-server Exec=lxterminal --command "sh /home/pi/a.sh" Categories=Application;
Where the importent stuff is the terminal=false (we want to start lxterminal), and the "Exec" that executes the script "sh /home/pi/a.sh" in the lxterminal, which is the script that starts the server...
Exit nano with ctrl+x and save (press y)

Now to make the .desktopfile executable:
$sudo chmod +x ~/.config/autostart/NRFServer.desktop

Reboot the Rpi, and you can see that the lxterminal has started the NRF-server in an open terminal!