How to Create Virtual Display, When No Screen Is Connected? (X11Vnc)

For an installation I need to have access to the current running screen on a Ubuntu 20 machine. I want to be able to remotely access it, which I got to work using x11vnc. But I also want to be able to connect a screen locally, when needed.

Currently if no display is connected the VNC stream is black. When using xserver-xorg-video-dummy it works, but the local screen does not get recognized anymore. Is there a way to have both running?

I feel like the -create option in x11vnc should do what I am looking for, but I can not get it to work. Here's a snippet from the manual: -create

-create

First try to find the user's display using FINDDISPLAY, if that doesn't succeed create an X session via the FINDCREATEDISPLAY method. This is an alias for "-display WAIT:cmd=FINDCREATEDISPLAY-Xvfb".

1 Answer

I ended up buying an HDMI dummy, which fakes a display on hardware level.

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Sarah Jenkins

Sarah Jenkins

Senior Technology Editor & AI Specialist

Sarah Jenkins is a veteran tech journalist with over 12 years of experience covering artificial intelligence, mobile innovations, and digital ethics. Her insights have appeared in leading technology publications worldwide.

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