rfbproxy

This is a record/replay proxy for RFB (used by VNC).  It can be used
as a proxy between a VNC viewer and a VNC server to permit recording
into a file, or it can record from a server independently of a client.
It can also be used as a pseudo-VNC server to play back a recorded
session, and can convert a recorded VNC session into various video
formats.

See the man page and comments in rfbproxy.c for more information.

During a proxy record, rfbproxy acts this way:

VNC server <---> rfbproxy <---> VNC viewer
                    |
		    v
		/some/file.rfb

During a shared-session record, rfbproxy acts this way:

VNC viewer(s) <---> VNC server <---> rfbproxy
                                        |
                                        v
                                    /some/file.rfb

During playback, the concept is much simpler:

rfbproxy <---> VNC viewer

rfbproxy then reads a file to present it to the VNC viewer.


RECORDING

To record a session (from a running XFree86 server):

1. XFree86 version 4 supports VNC's RFB protocol directly.  You can
   record directly from a running X server; no additional VNC server
   is needed.  Insure VNC support is available by verifying that
   the following line is present in your XF86Config file's "Module"
   section:

      Load "vnc"

   You'll also want to add Option lines to the "Screen" section, at least:

      Option "passwordFile" "/home/baccala/.vnc/passwd"

   If these lines are not present, you'll need to add them and restart X.

2. Run 'rfbproxy --record --shared rfb.log'
   You will be prompted for display's VNC password.
3. Once rfbproxy has connected, your display is being recorded.
4. When finished, kill rfbproxy (either 'kill PID' or CNTL-C should work)

To record a session (from a running non-XFree86 X server):

"x0vncserver" and "x11vnc" are programs that connect to an X server as
ordinary X clients and function as VNC servers.  Techniques such as
polling or shared memory are used to determine the contents of the X
desktop.  Although slower and less reliable than an X server with
built-in VNC support, these programs require no support beyond the
core X protocol.  Also, "x11vnc" is capable of exporting a single X
window instead of the entire desktop.  Use them in place of XFree86's
"vnc" module in the above instructions.

To record a session (from Microsoft Windows):

1. Start the Windows VNC server (available from www.realvnc.com)
   on the Microsoft system
2. Run 'rfbproxy --record --shared --server SERVER:0 rfb.log' on Linux
   Replace SERVER with the DNS or IP address of the Microsoft system.
   You will be prompted for the display's VNC password.
3. Once rfbproxy has connected, your display is being recorded.
4. When finished, kill rfbproxy (either 'kill PID' or CNTL-C should work)

To record a session (from the command line, in proxy mode):

1. Start a VNC server on the same host as the rfbproxy will be running on.
2. Run rfbproxy in record mode (--record).  This will create a VNC proxy
   server running on display :10 (port 5910).
3. Run a VNC viewer, connecting to the VNC proxy server now running as
   display :10.
4. Once the viewer has connected, your display is being recorded.
5. When finished, quit the VNC viewer.  The VNC proxy server will then
   quit also; the VNC server should be unaffected.

To record a session (using xinetd, in proxy mode):

1. Configure /etc/xinetd.conf to use rfbproxy in record mode:

service rfbproxy-record1
{
	port		= 5911
	socket_type	= stream
	protocol	= tcp
	wait		= no
	user		= nobody
	server		= /usr/bin/rfbproxy
	server_args     = --server=:1 --stdout --record /tmp/record:1.rfb
}

The port is the display number + 5900 (this example uses display :11).
The --server option specifies which server is controlling the display which
is being recorded.

For convenience sake, use displays :11 (5911) through :19 (5909) for
servers on displays :1 (5901) through :9 (5909).  Makes it easy to remember,
and still leaves display :10 (5910) open for playback.

2. Use a VNC viewer, connecting to the display specified; in this case,
   display :11.

3. When done, quit the viewer.

To record a session (in shared-session mode):

1. Start a VNC server as normal, on localhost:1
2. Run 'rfbproxy --record --shared rfb.log'
3. Once rfbproxy has connected, your display is being recorded.
4. Run VNC viewer(s), connecting directly to the VNC server
5. When finished, kill rfbproxy (either 'kill PID' or CNTL-C should work)


PLAYBACK

To play back a session, there are three possibilities:

A) Use rfbproxy, this time in playback mode (--playback).  This does
   not require X; only a VNC viewer somewhere on the network.
   Use a command like:

   rfbproxy --playback /pub/bugzilla.rfb

B) Use rfbproxy (like A) but from xinetd:

service rfbproxy
{
	port		= 5910
	socket_type	= stream
	protocol	= tcp
	wait		= no
	user		= nobody
	server		= /usr/bin/rfbproxy
	server_args     = --stdout --playback /pub/bugzilla.rfb
}

This example uses display :10 (that is, port 5910 - 5900).

C) Use xrfbviewer, available from www.hexonet.de.  This requires X to run,
   but also comes with x0rfbserver, a very nice package to allow remote
   control of a local standard X11 server display.


RECORDING TO VIDEO

You probably need to record in shared-session mode for --export to
work.  See the comments at the beginning of rfbproxy.c to understand
why.  There are several different video codecs you can use, though I
think mjpegtools and ffmpeg are the main ones, and many different ways
to combine the various options.  Look at the man page and the Makefile
for additional possibilities.

About the simplest video conversion is to convert a recorded session
to MPEG using the mjpegtools package, doing something like (for DVD
format):

rfbproxy --export rfb.log \
	| ppmtoy4m \
	| yuvscaler -n ntsc -O DVD \
	| mpeg2enc -f 8 -o video.mpg

It is possible to record audio simultaneously.  I use the 'vrec'
program from sndkit to record raw audio, then use 'lame' to convert
this to mpeg audio, then 'mplex' (also from mjpegtools) to multiplex
this with the video into an MPEG program stream.  The only part at all
tricky is getting the video and audio synchronized.  I use a shell
script (see man page) to start and stop rfbproxy and 'vrec'
simultaneously.

Then lame is used like this:

	lame -m m -x -r -s 48 -h audio audio.mp3

And mplex like this:

	mplex -f 8 -o program.mpg audio.mp3 video.mpg

Now you've got a DVD-compatible MPEG program stream with both video
and audio in it.


Have fun.

NOTES

  If you intend to use the --loop or --cycle options when playing back,
  you CANNOT use the ZRLE encoding when recording.  This is because the
  zlib state cannot be maintained.

  DO NOT suspend (CNTL-Z) rfbproxy (or the record script) when recording
  in shared session mode, as this can freeze all sessions attached to
  the VNC server.