vnc-ssh-tunnel.sh: Script to connect to server over ssh tunnel by ckorn · Pull Request #67 · any1/wlvncc

ckorn · 2025-08-17T20:43:04Z

It is recommended the server only allowed connections from localhost. Therefore a ssh port forwarding connection to the local port on the server is required. This script opens a port forwarding connection to the server via ssh. wlvncc then connects to this local port. When the script terminates the ssh connection is closed.

Thanks to @any1 for the initial script.

Closes: #32

any1

In the style of commit messages used for this project and many others, people would normally write something like "Add script for connecting over ssh tunnel".

It's also customary to wrap git messages to 72 characters.

any1 · 2025-08-18T09:54:29Z

scripts/vnc-ssh-tunnel.sh

+
+show_help()
+{
+    echo "usage: $(basename $BASH_SOURCE) [-p|--ssh-port port] host vnc_port"


Did you know about heredoc? Instead of repeating the echos, you can do this:

cat <<END_OF_TEXT usage: do-a-thing [options] <whatever> This command does a thing with some options and whatnot. Options: --stuff Do stuff --help Get help! END_OF_TEXT

Thanks. Changed the code accordingly.

any1 · 2025-08-18T09:56:03Z

scripts/vnc-ssh-tunnel.sh

+    exit 1
+}
+
+free_port()


Nit: better call this find_free_port

Thanks. Changed the code accordingly.

any1 · 2025-08-18T09:57:36Z

scripts/vnc-ssh-tunnel.sh

+    local start=49152
+    local range=5000
+    while true; do
+        local port=$[$start + ($RANDOM % $range)]


Why randomise?

Just c/p. Changed it to incrementaly.

any1 · 2025-08-18T09:59:52Z

scripts/vnc-ssh-tunnel.sh

+    local host="$1"
+    local port="$2"
+
+    if [ -z "$host" ]; then


Those ifs can be one

Thanks. Changed the code accordingly.

any1 · 2025-08-18T10:01:34Z

scripts/vnc-ssh-tunnel.sh

+    fi
+    shift; shift
+
+    master_file="$(mktemp -d)/wlvncc"


These should be local.

The cleanup is missing for the temp directory.

locals added.

The cleanup seems to be done automatically.
Also the trap code outputs "Control socket connect(/tmp/tmp.n89FXnzOHT/wlvncc): No such file or directory" so I added 2>/dev/null

The cleanup seems to be done automatically

The ssh process might clean up the control socket, but I find it very unlikely that it would remove this directory for you. That would be very dangerous.

Yeah, I can no longer reproduce this. Added rm -rf for the temp dir in the trap.

any1 · 2025-08-18T20:38:22Z

scripts/vnc-ssh-tunnel.sh

+{
+    POSITIONAL_ARGS=()
+    local remote_port="22"
+    while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do


It's better to use getopt(1) or no option parsing at all. Home brew solutions almost always behave in surprising ways. E.g. here you would expect --ssh-port=1337 to behave the same way as --ssh-port 1337.

Thanks. Used getopt here. Took the example code from: /usr/share/doc/util-linux/getopt-example.bash

ckorn · 2025-08-19T17:21:20Z

Hopefully the script is fine now.

My usual bash scripts are not longer than three lines but wanted to give it a try anyways ^^

Should I rebase my branch to delete the first commit?

any1

Yes, fixup commits should always be squashed into whatever commit it is that they're fixing.

any1 · 2025-08-21T21:02:38Z

scripts/vnc-ssh-tunnel.sh

+    local start=49152
+    local range=5000
+    local i=0
+    while true; do


A simpler way to iterate over a range would look like this:

let start=49152 let range=5000 for ((i = start; i < start + range; ++i)); do

any1 · 2025-08-21T21:14:23Z

scripts/vnc-ssh-tunnel.sh

+
+main()
+{
+    TEMP=$(getopt -o 'hp:' --long 'help,ssh-port:' -n "$(basename $BASH_SOURCE)" -- "$@")


Isn't option parsing overkill for this? Also, I believe that TEMP could really be a local.

Generally, I would just keep a shell script like this simple and just use environment variables for options. I.e. if you wanted a different port, you would have to call SSH_PORT=2200 vnc-ssh-tunnel.sh.

That is what I wanted to ask anyway. Because with the current solution I can no longer forward options like -e raw to the actual process.

Will rewrite it with environment variables.

It is recommended the server only allowed connections from localhost. Therefore a ssh port forwarding connection to the local port on the server is required. This script opens a port forwarding connection to the server via ssh. wlvncc then connects to this local port. When the script terminates the ssh connection is closed. Closes: any1#32

ckorn · 2025-08-22T17:40:04Z

Ok, finally I think to have fixed everything.

any1 reviewed Aug 18, 2025

View reviewed changes

any1 reviewed Aug 21, 2025

View reviewed changes

ckorn force-pushed the patch-1 branch 2 times, most recently from 0623287 to 577543d Compare August 22, 2025 17:20

ckorn force-pushed the patch-1 branch from 577543d to 7d247b3 Compare August 22, 2025 17:38

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ckorn commented Aug 17, 2025

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ckorn commented Aug 19, 2025

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ckorn commented Aug 22, 2025

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