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KasmVNC/doc/rfbproto.rst
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================
The RFB Protocol
================
This document is based on "The RFB Protocol" by Tristan Richardson of
RealVNC Ltd (formerly of Olivetti Research Ltd / AT&T Labs Cambridge).
This document has been modified by Kasm Technologies Corp in order to
document KasmVNC's deviations from the original specification.
.. sectnum::
.. contents::
Introduction
============
RFB ("remote framebuffer") is a simple protocol for remote access to
graphical user interfaces. Because it works at the framebuffer level it
is applicable to all windowing systems and applications, including X11,
Windows and Macintosh. RFB is the protocol used in VNC (Virtual Network
Computing).
The remote endpoint where the user sits (i.e. the display plus keyboard
and/or pointer) is called the RFB client or viewer. The endpoint where
changes to the framebuffer originate (i.e. the windowing system and
applications) is known as the RFB server.
RFB is truly a "thin client" protocol. The emphasis in the design of
the RFB protocol is to make very few requirements of the client. In
this way, clients can run on the widest range of hardware, and the task
of implementing a client is made as simple as possible.
The protocol also makes the client stateless. If a client disconnects
from a given server and subsequently reconnects to that same server,
the state of the user interface is preserved. Furthermore, a different
client endpoint can be used to connect to the same RFB server. At the
new endpoint, the user will see exactly the same graphical user
interface as at the original endpoint. In effect, the interface to the
user's applications becomes completely mobile. Wherever suitable
network connectivity exists, the user can access their own personal
applications, and the state of these applications is preserved between
accesses from different locations. This provides the user with a
familiar, uniform view of the computing infrastructure wherever they
go.
Display Protocol
================
The display side of the protocol is based around a single graphics
primitive: "put a rectangle of pixel data at a given x,y position". At
first glance this might seem an inefficient way of drawing many user
interface components. However, allowing various different encodings for
the pixel data gives us a large degree of flexibility in how to trade
off various parameters such as network bandwidth, client drawing speed
and server processing speed.
A sequence of these rectangles makes a *framebuffer update* (or simply
*update*). An update represents a change from one valid framebuffer
state to another, so in some ways is similar to a frame of video. The
rectangles in an update are usually disjoint but this is not
necessarily the case.
The update protocol is demand-driven by the client. That is, an update
is only sent from the server to the client in response to an explicit
request from the client. This gives the protocol an adaptive quality.
The slower the client and the network are, the lower the rate of
updates becomes. With typical applications, changes to the same area of
the framebuffer tend to happen soon after one another. With a slow
client and/or network, transient states of the framebuffer can be
ignored, resulting in less network traffic and less drawing for the
client.
Screen Model
++++++++++++
In its simplest form, the RFB protocol uses a single, rectangular
framebuffer. All updates are contained within this buffer and may not
extend outside of it. A client with basic functionality simply presents
this buffer to the user, padding or cropping it as necessary to fit
the user's display.
More advanced RFB clients and servers have the ability to extend this
model and add multiple screens. The purpose being to create a
server-side representation of the client's physical layout.
Applications can use this information to properly position themselves
with regard to screen borders.
In the multiple-screen model, there is still just a single framebuffer
and framebuffer updates are unaffected by the screen layout. This
assures compatibility between basic clients and advanced servers.
Screens are added to this model and act like viewports into the
framebuffer. A basic client acts as if there is a single screen
covering the entire framebuffer.
The server may support up to 255 screens, which must be contained fully
within the current framebuffer. Multiple screens may overlap partially
or completely.
The client must keep track of the contents of the entire framebuffer,
not just the areas currently covered by a screen. Similarly, the server
is free to use encodings that rely on contents currently not visible
inside any screen. For example it may issue a *CopyRect* rectangle from
any part of the framebuffer that should already be known to the client.
The client can request changes to the framebuffer size and screen
layout. The server is free to approve or deny these requests at will,
but must always inform the client of the result. See the
`SetDesktopSize`_ message for details.
If the framebuffer size changes, for whatever reason, then all data in
it is invalidated and considered undefined. The server must not use
any encoding that relies on the previous framebuffer contents. Note
however that the semantics for *DesktopSize* are not well-defined and
do not follow this behaviour in all server implementations. See the
`DesktopSize Pseudo-encoding`_ chapter for full details.
Changing only the screen layout does not affect the framebuffer
contents. The client must therefore keep track of the current
framebuffer dimensions and compare it with the one received in the
*ExtendedDesktopSize* rectangle. Only when they differ may it discard
the framebuffer contents.
Input Protocol
==============
The input side of the protocol is based on a standard workstation model
of a keyboard and multi-button pointing device. Input events are simply
sent to the server by the client whenever the user presses a key or
pointer button, or whenever the pointing device is moved. These input
events can also be synthesised from other non-standard I/O devices. For
example, a pen-based handwriting recognition engine might generate
keyboard events.
If you have an input source that does not fit this standard workstation
model, the General Input Interface (gii) protocol extension provides
possibilities for input sources with more axes, relative movement and
more buttons.
Representation of Pixel Data
============================
Initial interaction between the RFB client and server involves a
negotiation of the *format* and *encoding* with which pixel data will
be sent. This negotiation has been designed to make the job of the
client as easy as possible. The bottom line is that the server must
always be able to supply pixel data in the form the client wants.
However if the client is able to cope equally with several different
formats or encodings, it may choose one which is easier for the server
to produce.
Pixel *format* refers to the representation of individual colours by
pixel values. The most common pixel formats are 24-bit or 16-bit "true
colour", where bit-fields within the pixel value translate directly to
red, green and blue intensities, and 8-bit "colour map" where an
arbitrary mapping can be used to translate from pixel values to the RGB
intensities.
*Encoding* refers to how a rectangle of pixel data will be sent on the
wire. Every rectangle of pixel data is prefixed by a header giving the
X,Y position of the rectangle on the screen, the width and height of
the rectangle, and an *encoding type* which specifies the encoding of
the pixel data. The data itself then follows using the specified
encoding.
Protocol Extensions
===================
There are a number of ways in which the protocol can be extended:
New encodings
A new encoding type can be added to the protocol relatively easily
whilst maintaining compatibility with existing clients and servers.
Existing servers will simply ignore requests for a new encoding
which they don't support. Existing clients will never request the
new encoding so will never see rectangles encoded that way.
Pseudo encodings
In addition to genuine encodings, a client can request a "pseudo-
encoding" to declare to the server that it supports a certain
extension to the protocol. A server which does not support the
extension will simply ignore the pseudo-encoding. Note that this
means the client must assume that the server does not support the
extension until it gets some extension-specific confirmation from
the server. See `Pseudo-encodings`_ for a description of current
pseudo-encodings.
New security types
Adding a new security type gives the ultimate flexibility in
modifying the behaviour of the protocol without sacrificing
compatibility with existing clients and servers. A client and
server which agree on a new security type can effectively talk
whatever protocol they like after that, it doesn't necessarily have
to be anything like the RFB protocol.
**Under no circumstances should you use a different protocol version
number**. If you use a different protocol version number then you are
not RFB / VNC compatible.
All three mechanisms for extensions are handled by RealVNC Ltd. To
ensure that you stay compatible with the RFB protocol it is important
that you contact RealVNC Ltd to make sure that your encoding types and
security types do not clash. Please see the RealVNC website at
http://www.realvnc.com for details of how to contact them.
String Encodings
================
The encoding used for strings in the protocol has historically often
been unspecified, or has changed between versions of the protocol. As a
result, there are a lot of implementations which use different,
incompatible encodings. Commonly those encodings have been ISO 8859-1
(also known as Latin-1) or Windows code pages.
It is strongly recommended that new implementations use the UTF-8
encoding for these strings. This allows full unicode support, yet
retains good compatibility with older RFB implementations.
New protocol additions that do not have a legacy problem should mandate
the UTF-8 encoding to provide full character support and to avoid any
issues with ambiguity.
All clients and servers should be prepared to receive invalid UTF-8
sequences at all times. These can occur as a result of historical
ambiguity or because of bugs. Neither case should result in lost
protocol synchronization.
Handling an invalid UTF-8 sequence is largely dependent on the role
that string plays. Modifying the string should only be done when the
string is only used in the user interface. It should be obvious in that
case that the string has been modified, e.g. by appending a notice to
the string.
Protocol Messages
=================
The RFB protocol can operate over any reliable transport, either byte-
stream or message-based. Conventionally it is used over a TCP/IP
connection. There are three stages to the protocol. First is the
handshaking phase, the purpose of which is to agree upon the protocol
version and the type of security to be used. The second stage is an
initialisation phase where the client and server exchange *ClientInit*
and *ServerInit* messages. The final stage is the normal protocol
interaction. The client can send whichever messages it wants, and may
receive messages from the server as a result. All these messages begin
with a *message-type* byte, followed by any message-specific data.
The following descriptions of protocol messages use the basic types
``U8``, ``U16``, ``U32``, ``S8``, ``S16``, ``S32``. These represent
respectively 8, 16 and 32-bit unsigned integers and 8, 16 and 32-bit
signed integers. All multiple byte integers (other than pixel values
themselves) are in big endian order (most significant byte first).
However, some protocol extensions use protocol messages that have types
that may be in little endian order. These endian agnostic types are
``EU16``, ``EU32``, ``ES16``, ``ES32``, with some extension specific
indicator of the endianness.
The type ``PIXEL`` is taken to mean a pixel value of *bytesPerPixel*
bytes, where 8 * *bytesPerPixel* is the number of *bits-per-pixel* as
agreed by the client and server, either in the *ServerInit* message
(`ServerInit`_) or a *SetPixelFormat* message (`SetPixelFormat`_).
Handshaking Messages
++++++++++++++++++++
ProtocolVersion
---------------
Handshaking begins by the server sending the client a *ProtocolVersion*
message. This lets the client know which is the highest RFB protocol
version number supported by the server. The client then replies with a
similar message giving the version number of the protocol which should
actually be used (which may be different to that quoted by the server).
A client should never request a protocol version higher than that
offered by the server. It is intended that both clients and servers may
provide some level of backwards compatibility by this mechanism.
The only published protocol versions at this time are 3.3, 3.7, 3.8
(version 3.5 was wrongly reported by some clients, but this should be
interpreted by all servers as 3.3). Addition of a new encoding or
pseudo-encoding type does not require a change in protocol version,
since a server can simply ignore encodings it does not understand.
The *ProtocolVersion* message consists of 12 bytes interpreted as a
string of ASCII characters in the format "``RFB xxx.yyy\n``" where
``xxx`` and ``yyy`` are the major and minor version numbers, padded
with zeros.
============= =========================================================
No. of bytes Value
============= =========================================================
12 "``RFB 003.003\n``"
(hex 52 46 42 20 30 30 33 2e 30 30 33 0a)
============= =========================================================
or
============= =========================================================
No. of bytes Value
============= =========================================================
12 "``RFB 003.007\n``"
(hex 52 46 42 20 30 30 33 2e 30 30 37 0a)
============= =========================================================
or
============= =========================================================
No. of bytes Value
============= =========================================================
12 "``RFB 003.008\n``"
(hex 52 46 42 20 30 30 33 2e 30 30 38 0a)
============= =========================================================
Security
--------
Once the protocol version has been decided, the server and client must
agree on the type of security to be used on the connection.
Version 3.7 onwards
The server lists the security types which it supports:
========================== ============= ==========================
No. of bytes Type Description
========================== ============= ==========================
1 ``U8`` *number-of-security-types*
*number-of-security-types* ``U8`` array *security-types*
========================== ============= ==========================
If the server listed at least one valid security type supported by
the client, the client sends back a single byte indicating which
security type is to be used on the connection:
========================== ============= ==========================
No. of bytes Type Description
========================== ============= ==========================
1 ``U8`` *security-type*
========================== ============= ==========================
If *number-of-security-types* is zero, then for some reason the
connection failed (e.g. the server cannot support the desired
protocol version). This is followed by a string describing the
reason (where a string is specified as a length followed by that
many ASCII characters):
========================== ============= ==========================
No. of bytes Type Description
========================== ============= ==========================
4 ``U32`` *reason-length*
*reason-length* ``U8`` array *reason-string*
========================== ============= ==========================
The server closes the connection after sending the *reason-string*.
Version 3.3
The server decides the security type and sends a single word:
========================== ============= ==========================
No. of bytes Type Description
========================== ============= ==========================
4 ``U32`` *security-type*
========================== ============= ==========================
The *security-type* may only take the value 0, 1 or 2. A value of 0
means that the connection has failed and is followed by a string
giving the reason, as described above.
The security types defined in this document are:
=========== ===========================================================
Number Name
=========== ===========================================================
0 Invalid
1 `None`_
2 `VNC Authentication`_
5 `RSA-AES Security Type`_
6 `RSA-AES Unencrypted Security Type`_
13 `RSA-AES Two-step Security Type`_
16 `Tight Security Type`_
19 `VeNCrypt`_
22 `xvp Authentication`_
30 `Diffie-Hellman Authentication`_
129 `RSA-AES-256 Security Type`_
130 `RSA-AES-256 Unencrypted Security Type`_
133 `RSA-AES-256 Two-step Security Type`_
=========== ===========================================================
Other registered security types are:
=========== ===========================================================
Number Name
=========== ===========================================================
3-4 RealVNC
7-12 RealVNC
14-15 RealVNC
17 Ultra
18 TLS
20 SASL
21 MD5 hash authentication
23 Secure Tunnel
24 Integrated SSH
31-35 Apple Inc.
128 RealVNC
131-132 RealVNC
134-255 RealVNC
=========== ===========================================================
The official, up-to-date list is maintained by IANA [#reg]_.
.. [#reg] http://www.iana.org/assignments/rfb/rfb.xml
Once the *security-type* has been decided, data specific to that
*security-type* follows (see `Security Types`_ for details). At the end
of the security handshaking phase, the protocol normally continues with
the *SecurityResult* message.
Note that after the security handshaking phase, it is possible that
further protocol data is over an encrypted or otherwise altered
channel.
SecurityResult
--------------
The server sends a word to inform the client whether the security
handshaking was successful.
=============== ======= =========== ===================================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ======= =========== ===================================
4 ``U32`` status:
.. 0 OK
.. 1 failed
.. 2 failed, too many attempts [#]_
=============== ======= =========== ===================================
.. [#] Only valid if the `Tight Security Type`_ is enabled.
If successful, the protocol passes to the initialisation phase
(`Initialisation Messages`_).
Version 3.8 onwards
If unsuccessful, the server sends a string describing the reason
for the failure, and then closes the connection:
========================== ============= ==========================
No. of bytes Type Description
========================== ============= ==========================
4 ``U32`` *reason-length*
*reason-length* ``U8`` array *reason-string*
========================== ============= ==========================
Version 3.3 and 3.7
If unsuccessful, the server closes the connection.
Security Types
++++++++++++++
None
----
No authentication is needed and protocol data is to be sent
unencrypted.
Version 3.8 onwards
The protocol continues with the *SecurityResult* message.
Version 3.3 and 3.7
The protocol passes to the initialisation phase
(`Initialisation Messages`_).
VNC Authentication
------------------
VNC authentication is to be used and protocol data is to be sent
unencrypted. The server sends a random 16-byte challenge:
=============== ======= ===============================================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== ======= ===============================================
16 ``U8`` *challenge*
=============== ======= ===============================================
The client encrypts the challenge with DES, using a password supplied
by the user as the key. A password longer than the 64 bits required by
DES is simply truncated. If the password is shorter than required then
the key shall be padded with zeroes.
Note: The lowest bit of each byte is considered the first bit and the
highest discarded as parity. This is the reverse order of most
implementations of DES so the key may require adjustment to give the
expected result.
Each 8 bytes of the challenge is encrypted independently (i.e. ECB
mode) and sent back to the server:
=============== ======= ===============================================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== ======= ===============================================
16 ``U8`` *response*
=============== ======= ===============================================
The protocol continues with the *SecurityResult* message.
Tight Security Type
-------------------
The Tight security type is a generic protocol extension that allows for
three things:
Tunneling of data
A tunnel can be e.g. encryption, or indeed a no-op tunnel.
Authentication
The Tight security type allows for flexible authentication of the
client, which is typically one of the other security types.
Server capabilities
As a last step the Tight security type extends the `ServerInit`_
message and enables the server to let the client know about the
server capabilities in terms of encodings and supported message
types.
The Tight security type is under the control of the TightVNC project,
and any new numbers must be registered with that project before they
can be added to any of the lists of Tight capabilities. It is strongly
recommended that any messages and security types registered with
RealVNC are also registered with the TightVNC project (register
security types as Tight authentication capabilities) in order to
eliminate clashes as much as is possible. Same thing with new
encodings, but in that case the problem is not as severe as the
TightVNC project are not using any encodings that are not registered
with RealVNC. Please see the TightVNC website at
http://www.tightvnc.com/ for details on how to contact the project.
After the Tight security type has been selected, the server starts by
sending a list of supported tunnels, in order of preference:
=============== =============================== =======================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== =============================== =======================
4 ``U32`` *number-of-tunnels*
=============== =============================== =======================
followed by *number-of-tunnels* repetitions of the following:
=============== =============================== =======================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== =============================== =======================
16 ``CAPABILITY`` *tunnel*
=============== =============================== =======================
where ``CAPABILITY`` is
=============== =============================== =======================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== =============================== =======================
4 ``S32`` *code*
4 ``U8`` array *vendor*
8 ``U8`` array *signature*
=============== =============================== =======================
Note that the *code* is not the only thing identifying a capability.
The client must ensure that all members of the structure match before
using the capability. Also note that *code* is ``U32`` in the original
Tight documentation and implementation, but since *code* is used to
hold encoding numbers we have selected ``S32`` in this document.
The following tunnel capabilities are registered:
======= =========== =============== ===================================
Code Vendor Signature Description
======= =========== =============== ===================================
0 "``TGHT``" "``NOTUNNEL``" No tunneling
======= =========== =============== ===================================
If *number-of-tunnels* is non-zero, the client has to request a tunnel
from the list with a tunneling method request:
=============== =============================== =======================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== =============================== =======================
4 ``S32`` *code*
=============== =============================== =======================
If *number-of-tunnels* is zero, the client must make no such request,
instead the server carries on with sending the list of supported
authentication types, in order of preference:
=============== =============================== =======================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== =============================== =======================
4 ``U32`` *number-of-auth-types*
=============== =============================== =======================
followed by *number-of-auth-types* repetitions of the following:
=============== =============================== =======================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== =============================== =======================
16 ``CAPABILITY`` *auth-type*
=============== =============================== =======================
The following authentication capabilities are registered:
======= =========== =============== ===================================
Code Vendor Signature Description
======= =========== =============== ===================================
1 "``STDV``" "``NOAUTH__``" `None`_
2 "``STDV``" "``VNCAUTH_``" `VNC Authentication`_
19 "``VENC``" "``VENCRYPT``" `VeNCrypt`_
20 "``GTKV``" "``SASL____``" Simple Authentication and Security
Layer (SASL)
129 "``TGHT``" "``ULGNAUTH``" `Tight Unix Login Authentication`_
130 "``TGHT``" "``XTRNAUTH``" External Authentication
======= =========== =============== ===================================
Note that the codes used here are independent from the standard
security types and cannot be used interchangeably.
If *number-of-auth-types* is non-zero, the client has to request an
authentication type from the list with an authentication scheme
request:
=============== =============================== =======================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== =============================== =======================
4 ``S32`` *code*
=============== =============================== =======================
For *code* 1, the protocol the proceeds at security type `None`_ and
for *code* 2 it proceeds at security type `VNC Authentication`_.
If *number-of-auth-types* is zero, the protocol the proceeds directly
at security type `None`_.
Note that the `ServerInit`_ message is extended when the Tight security
type has been activated.
Tight Unix Login Authentication
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tight Unix Login Authentication is to be used and the client sends a
username and password in the following form:
================= ============= ========================================
No. of bytes Type Description
================= ============= ========================================
4 ``U32`` *username-length*
4 ``U32`` *password-length*
*username-length* ``U8`` array *username*
*password-length* ``U8`` array *password*
================= ============= ========================================
The text encoding used for username and password are historically
undefined but it is strongly recommended to use UTF-8 (see
`String Encodings`_ for more details).
After receiving the credentials, the server verifies if they are correct
and continues with the `SecurityResult`_ message.
VeNCrypt
--------
The VeNCrypt security type is a generic authentication method which
encapsulates multiple authentication subtypes.
After VeNCrypt security type is selected server sends the highest
version of VeNCrypt it can support. Although two versions exist, 0.1
and 0.2, this document describes only newer version 0.2.
=============== ======= ======= =======================================
No. of bytes Type Value Description
=============== ======= ======= =======================================
1 ``U8`` 0 Major version number
1 ``U8`` 2 Minor version number
=============== ======= ======= =======================================
Then client sends back the highest VeNCrypt version it can support, up
to version that it received from the server.
=============== ======= ===============================================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== ======= ===============================================
1 ``U8`` Major version number
1 ``U8`` Minor version number
=============== ======= ===============================================
After that server sends one byte response which indicates if everything
is OK. Non-zero value means failure and connection will be closed. Zero
value means success.
=============== ======= ===============================================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== ======= ===============================================
1 ``U8`` Ack
=============== ======= ===============================================
Then server sends list of supported VeNCrypt subtypes.
=============== =============== =======================================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== =============== =======================================
1 ``U8`` subtypes length
subtypes length ``U32`` array subtypes
=============== =============== =======================================
Following VeNCrypt subtypes are defined in this document:
=============== =============== =======================================
Code Name Description
=============== =============== =======================================
256 Plain Plain authentication (should be never used)
257 TLSNone TLS encryption with no authentication
258 TLSVnc TLS encryption with VNC authentication
259 TLSPlain TLS encryption with Plain authentication
260 X509None X509 encryption with no authentication
261 X509Vnc X509 encryption with VNC authentication
262 X509Plain X509 encryption with Plain authentication
263 TLSSASL TLS encryption with SASL authentication
264 X509SASL X509 encryption with SASL authentication
=============== =============== =======================================
In addition, any of the normal VNC security types (except VeNCrypt) may
be sent.
After that client selects one VeNCrypt subtype and sends back the
number of that type.
=============== ======= ===============================================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== ======= ===============================================
1 ``U32`` Selected VeNCrypt subtype
=============== ======= ===============================================
If client supports none of the VeNCrypt subtypes it terminates
connection.
For TLS and X509 subtypes, the server then sends a one byte response
which indicates if everything is OK. Non-one value means failure and
connection will be closed. One value means success.
=============== ======= ===============================================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== ======= ===============================================
1 ``U8`` Ack
=============== ======= ===============================================
When subtype is selected authentication continues as written in
particular VeNCrypt subtype description.
Subtypes with TLS or X509 prefix
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All those subtypes use TLS-encrypted stream and server use anonymous
X509 certificate (subtypes with the TLS prefix) or valid X509
certificate (subtypes with the X509 prefix). When session is negotiated,
all further traffic is send via this encrypted channel.
After receiving the U32 confirmation of the VeNCrypt subtype,
the TLS handshake is performed between the client and server.
If the handshake is unsuccessful the connection must be closed
and no further RFB protocol messages attempted.
Note about TLS parameters, like algorithm and key length. VeNCrypt
doesn't enforce any restriction, setting should be determined by local
security policy on client, respective server, side. This also applies
for validity of the server certificate, client side can decide if it
wants to accept invalid server certificate.
In case TLS handshake is not successful, detailed information of failure
can be obtained from underlying TLS stream and both sides must close the
connection.
In case TLS handshake is successful and TLS channel is estabilished,
VeNCrypt authentication can continue.
Subtypes with None suffix
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After TLS handshake, authentication is successful and both sides
can continue with the `SecurityResult`_ message.
Subtypes with Vnc suffix
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Authentication continues with the `VNC Authentication`_ method when
TLS handshake is completed.
Plain subtype
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Client sends the username and password in the following form:
================= ============= ========================================
No. of bytes Type Description
================= ============= ========================================
4 ``U32`` *username-length*
4 ``U32`` *password-length*
*username-length* ``U8`` array *username*
*password-length* ``U8`` array *password*
================= ============= ========================================
After that server verifies if supplied credentials are correct and
continues with the `SecurityResult`_ message.
Subtypes with Plain suffix
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Authentication continues with the `Plain subtype`_ method when TLS
handshake is completed.
Subtypes with SASL suffix
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Authentication continues with the SASL method when TLS handshake is
completed.
..
XXX: Correct link to the SASL method when it gets accepted.
RSA-AES Security Type
---------------------
After this security type is selected, the server sends its RSA
public key. The public key, i.e., the modulus and the public exponent,
are big-endian unsigned integers. If the key length is too small or too
big, the client will disconnect.
============================= ============ ============================
No. of bytes Type Description
============================= ============ ============================
4 ``U32`` *server-key-length*
*ceil(server-key-length / 8)* ``U8`` array modulus
*ceil(server-key-length / 8)* ``U8`` array public exponent
============================= ============ ============================
The client should verify the server's public key to ensure that it is
trustworthy. Then the client also sends its public key.
============================= ============ ============================
No. of bytes Type Description
============================= ============ ============================
4 ``U32`` *client-key-length*
*ceil(client-key-length / 8)* ``U8`` array modulus
*ceil(client-key-length / 8)* ``U8`` array public exponent
============================= ============ ============================
Note that *client-key-length* can be different from
*server-key-length*.
If the key length is too small or too big, the server will disconnect.
The server generates a random number of 16 bytes and encrypts it with
the client's public key. The EME-PKCS1-v1_5 padding algorithm is used.
Then the server sends the encrypted random number.
=============== ============ ==========================================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== ============ ==========================================
2 ``U16`` *length*
*length* ``U8`` array encrypted random number
=============== ============ ==========================================
The *length* of the encrypted random number equals to
*ceil(client-key-length / 8)*.
The client also generates a random number of 16 bytes, encrypts it with
the server's public key and then sends it.
=============== ============ ==========================================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== ============ ==========================================
2 ``U16`` *length*
*length* ``U8`` array encrypted random number
=============== ============ ==========================================
The *length* of the encrypted random number equals to
*ceil(server-key-length / 8)*.
The server's random number is decrypted with the client's private key.
At the same time, the client's random number is decrypted with the
server's private key. Now both random numbers are known by both sides.
The client session key and server session key can be derived
as follows::
ClientSessionKey = the first 16 bytes of SHA1(ServerRandom || ClientRandom)
ServerSessionKey = the first 16 bytes of SHA1(ClientRandom || ServerRandom)
where ``||`` means concatenation.
The client session key is used to encrypted the messages from the
client to the server. The server session key is used to encrypted the
messages from the server to the client.
After that, all the messages will be encrypted with the AES-EAX mode,
which involves AES-CTR and CMAC. For each message, there is a message
header of a 2-byte big-endian integer, which stands for the length of
the message and is also the associated data of the AES-EAX mode. Also,
a 16-byte little-endian message index increments from zero as the
nonce of the AES-EAX mode. The size of MAC is 16 bytes. An encrypted
message looks like:
================= ============ ========================================
No. of bytes Type Description
================= ============ ========================================
2 ``U16`` *message-length*
*message-length* ``U8`` array encrypted message
16 ``U8`` array MAC generated by the AES-EAX mode
================= ============ ========================================
The server computes and sends the encrypted server hash::
ServerHash = SHA1(ServerPublicKey || ClientPublicKey)
Note that *ServerPublicKey* is of *ceil(server-key-length / 8) * 2 + 4*
bytes and *ClientPublicKey* is of *ceil(client-key-length / 8) * 2 + 4*
bytes.
=============== ============ ======= ==================================
No. of bytes Type Value Description
=============== ============ ======= ==================================
2 ``U16`` 20 length of the server hash
20 ``U8`` array encrypted server hash
16 ``U8`` array MAC
=============== ============ ======= ==================================
The client computes and sends the encrypted client hash::
ClientHash = SHA1(ClientPublicKey || ServerPublicKey)
=============== ============ ======= ==================================
No. of bytes Type Value Description
=============== ============ ======= ==================================
2 ``U16`` 20 length of the client hash
20 ``U8`` array encrypted client hash
16 ``U8`` array MAC
=============== ============ ======= ==================================
After decrypting the client hash, the server should compare the
received client hash with the one it computes itself. Vice versa.
The server sends the subtype to let client know what credentials are
needed.
=============== ============ ======= ==================================
No. of bytes Type Value Description
=============== ============ ======= ==================================
2 ``U16`` 1 length of subtype
1 ``U8`` array encrypted subtype
16 ``U8`` array MAC
=============== ============ ======= ==================================
If the subtype is 1, both username and password are needed. If the
subtype is 2, only password is needed. Other values are invalid.
The client sends the login credentials.
===================== ============ ====================================
No. of bytes Type Description
===================== ============ ====================================
2 ``U16`` *length-crendentials*
*length-crendentials* ``U8`` array encrypted crendentials
16 ``U8`` array MAC
===================== ============ ====================================
The plaintext message of the credentials is:
==================== ============ ====================================
No. of bytes Type Description
==================== ============ ====================================
1 ``U8`` *length-username* (is 0 if subtype=2)
*length-username* ``U8`` array username (can be empty)
1 ``U8`` *length-password*
*length-password* ``U8`` array password
==================== ============ ====================================
The username and password should be UTF-8 encoded.
After that the server continues with the encrypted SecurityResult
message.
Note that an RA2 encrypted message is not necessarily a single RFB
message, vice versa. That is to say the RA2 encryption layer is an
independent layer between the TCP layer and the RFB layer, which is
similar to the function of TLS.
RSA-AES Unencrypted Security Type
---------------------------------
The RA2ne security type is identical to the RA2 security type (RSA-AES
Security Type), except that only the security handshake is
encrypted. The SecurityResult message and all following data remains
unencrypted.
RSA-AES Two-step Security Type
------------------------------
The RA2r security type is identical to the RA2 security type (RSA-AES
Security Type) , except that after the server receives the credentials
the server and client will have another round of key derivation by
sending two new random numbers and generate a new pair of session keys
for the following encryption. Different from the first round, the
random numbers are encrypted by AES-EAX instead of by RSA. Also, the
16-byte message index will be reset to zero.
RSA-AES-256 Security Type
-------------------------
The RA2_256 security type is identical to the RA2 security type
(RSA-AES Security Type), except that::
ClientSessionKey = SHA256(ServerRandom || ClientRandom)
ServerSessionKey = SHA256(ClientRandom || ServerRandom)
ServerHash = SHA256(ServerPublicKey || ClientPublicKey)
ClientHash = SHA256(ClientPublicKey || ServerPublicKey)
RSA-AES-256 Unencrypted Security Type
-------------------------------------
The RA2ne_256 security type is identical to the RA2ne security type
(RSA-AES Unencrypted Security Type), except that::
ClientSessionKey = SHA256(ServerRandom || ClientRandom)
ServerSessionKey = SHA256(ClientRandom || ServerRandom)
ServerHash = SHA256(ServerPublicKey || ClientPublicKey)
ClientHash = SHA256(ClientPublicKey || ServerPublicKey)
RSA-AES-256 Two-step Security Type
----------------------------------
The RA2r_256 security type is identical to the RA2r security type
(RSA-AES Two-step Security Type),
except that::
ClientSessionKey = SHA256(ServerRandom || ClientRandom)
ServerSessionKey = SHA256(ClientRandom || ServerRandom)
ServerHash = SHA256(ServerPublicKey || ClientPublicKey)
ClientHash = SHA256(ClientPublicKey || ServerPublicKey)
xvp Authentication
------------------
The xvp security type extends the standard `VNC Authentication`_ with a
username and a target system that the client wishes to connect to.
After the xvp security type is selected the server sends out the
username and the target system name:
================= ============= ========================================
No. of bytes Type Description
================= ============= ========================================
1 ``U8`` *username-length*
1 ``U8`` *target-length*
*username-length* ``U8`` array *username*
*target-length* ``U8`` array *target*
================= ============= ========================================
Both *username* and *target* should be encoded using UTF-8.
After that the communication continues as if `VNC Authentication`_ had
been selected.
Diffie-Hellman Authentication
-----------------------------
The Diffie-Hellman security type allows authentication using a username
and password with protection from eavesdropping.
After the Diffie-Hellman security type is selected the server sends over
a set of Diffie-Hellman parameters:
================= ============= ========================================
No. of bytes Type Description
================= ============= ========================================
2 ``U16`` *generator*
2 ``U16`` *key-size*
*key-size* ``U8`` array *prime-modulus*
*key-size* ``U8`` array *public-value*
================= ============= ========================================
The client can then generate a shared secret from these values using the
Diffie-Hellman algorithm. An AES encryption key is then derived from
this shared secret by generating a MD5 digest of the shared secret.
The client should encrypt the username and password using AES in ECB
mode. Both fields should be encoded using UTF-8, NULL terminated and
padded with random data so the length of each is 64 bytes. I.e. the
total plain text message should be 128 bytes.
The client then sends the encrypted data, and it's public value to the
server as such:
================= ============= ========================================
No. of bytes Type Description
================= ============= ========================================
128 ``U8`` array *encrypted-credentials*
*key-size* ``U8`` array *public-value*
================= ============= ========================================
After that the server verifies if supplied credentials are correct and
continues with the `SecurityResult`_ message.
Initialisation Messages
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Once the client and server are sure that they're happy to talk to one
another using the agreed security type, the protocol passes to the
initialisation phase. The client sends a *ClientInit* message followed
by the server sending a *ServerInit* message.
ClientInit
----------
=============== ======= ===============================================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== ======= ===============================================
1 ``U8`` *shared-flag*
=============== ======= ===============================================
*Shared-flag* is non-zero (true) if the server should try to share the
desktop by leaving other clients connected, zero (false) if it should
give exclusive access to this client by disconnecting all other
clients.
ServerInit
----------
After receiving the *ClientInit* message, the server sends a
*ServerInit* message. This tells the client the width and height of the
server's framebuffer, its pixel format and the name associated with the
desktop:
=============== =================== ===================================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== =================== ===================================
2 ``U16`` *framebuffer-width*
2 ``U16`` *framebuffer-height*
16 ``PIXEL_FORMAT`` *server-pixel-format*
4 ``U32`` *name-length*
*name-length* ``U8`` array *name-string*
=============== =================== ===================================
The text encoding used for *name-string* is historically undefined but
it is strongly recommended to use UTF-8 (see `String Encodings`_ for
more details).
``PIXEL_FORMAT`` is defined as:
=============== =================== ===================================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== =================== ===================================
1 ``U8`` *bits-per-pixel*
1 ``U8`` *depth*
1 ``U8`` *big-endian-flag*
1 ``U8`` *true-colour-flag*
2 ``U16`` *red-max*
2 ``U16`` *green-max*
2 ``U16`` *blue-max*
1 ``U8`` *red-shift*
1 ``U8`` *green-shift*
1 ``U8`` *blue-shift*
3 *padding*
=============== =================== ===================================
*Server-pixel-format* specifies the server's natural pixel format. This
pixel format will be used unless the client requests a different format
using the *SetPixelFormat* message (`SetPixelFormat`_).
*Bits-per-pixel* is the number of bits used for each pixel value on the
wire. This must be greater than or equal to *depth*, which is the
number of useful bits in the pixel value. Currently *bits-per-pixel*
must be 8, 16 or 32. Less than 8-bit pixels are not yet supported.
*Big-endian-flag* is non-zero (true) if multi-byte pixels are
interpreted as big endian. Of course this is meaningless for 8
bits-per-pixel.
*Depth* should be the sum of bits used according to *red-max*,
*green-max*, and *blue-max*, or the number of bits needed for indices
in the colour map, depending on the value of *true-color-flag*. Note
that some servers will send a *depth* that is identical to
*bits-per-pixel* for historical reasons.
If *true-colour-flag* is non-zero (true) then the last six items
specify how to extract the red, green and blue intensities from the
pixel value. *Red-max* is the maximum red value (= 2^n - 1 where *n* is
the number of bits used for red). Note this value is always in big
endian order. *Red-shift* is the number of shifts needed to get the red
value in a pixel to the least significant bit. *Green-max*,
*green-shift* and *blue-max*, *blue-shift* are similar for green and
blue. For example, to find the red value (between 0 and *red-max*) from
a given pixel, do the following:
- Swap the pixel value according to *big-endian-flag* (e.g. if
*big-endian-flag* is zero (false) and host byte order is big endian,
then swap).
- Shift right by *red-shift*.
- AND with *red-max* (in host byte order).
If *true-colour-flag* is zero (false) then the server uses pixel values
which are not directly composed from the red, green and blue
intensities, but which serve as indices into a colour map. Entries in
the colour map are set by the server using the *SetColourMapEntries*
message (`SetColourMapEntries`_).
If the `Tight Security Type`_ is activated, the server init message is
extended with an interaction capabilities section:
=============== =========== ========== ================================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== =========== ========== ================================
2 ``U16`` *number-of-server-messages*
2 ``U16`` *number-of-client-messages*
2 ``U16`` *number-of-encodings*
2 ``U16`` 0 *padding*
=============== =========== ========== ================================
followed by *number-of-server-messages* repetitions of the following:
=============== =============================== =======================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== =============================== =======================
16 ``CAPABILITY`` *server-message*
=============== =============================== =======================
followed by *number-of-client-messages* repetitions of the following:
=============== =============================== =======================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== =============================== =======================
16 ``CAPABILITY`` *client-message*
=============== =============================== =======================
followed by *number-of-encodings* repetitions of the following:
=============== =============================== =======================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== =============================== =======================
16 ``CAPABILITY`` *encoding*
=============== =============================== =======================
The following *server-message* capabilities are registered:
======= =========== =============== ===================================
Code Vendor Signature Description
======= =========== =============== ===================================
130 "``TGHT``" "``FTS_LSDT``" File List Data
131 "``TGHT``" "``FTS_DNDT``" File Download Data
132 "``TGHT``" "``FTS_UPCN``" File Upload Cancel
133 "``TGHT``" "``FTS_DNFL``" File Download Failed
150 "``TGHT``" "``CUS_EOCU``" `EndOfContinuousUpdates`_
253 "``GGI_``" "``GII_SERV``" `gii Server Message`_
======= =========== =============== ===================================
The following *client-message* capabilities are registered:
======= =========== =============== ===================================
Code Vendor Signature Description
======= =========== =============== ===================================
130 "``TGHT``" "``FTC_LSRQ``" File List Request
131 "``TGHT``" "``FTC_DNRQ``" File Download Request
132 "``TGHT``" "``FTC_UPRQ``" File Upload Request
133 "``TGHT``" "``FTC_UPDT``" File Upload Data
134 "``TGHT``" "``FTC_DNCN``" File Download Cancel
135 "``TGHT``" "``FTC_UPFL``" File Upload Failed
136 "``TGHT``" "``FTC_FCDR``" File Create Directory Request
150 "``TGHT``" "``CUC_ENCU``" `EnableContinuousUpdates`_
151 "``TGHT``" "``VRECTSEL``" Video Rectangle Selection
253 "``GGI_``" "``GII_CLNT``" `gii Client Message`_
======= =========== =============== ===================================
The following *encoding* capabilities are registered:
======= =========== =============== ===================================
Code Vendor Signature Description
======= =========== =============== ===================================
0 "``STDV``" "``RAW_____``" `Raw Encoding`_
1 "``STDV``" "``COPYRECT``" `CopyRect Encoding`_
2 "``STDV``" "``RRE_____``" `RRE Encoding`_
4 "``STDV``" "``CORRE___``" `CoRRE Encoding`_
5 "``STDV``" "``HEXTILE_``" `Hextile Encoding`_
6 "``TRDV``" "``ZLIB____``" `ZLib Encoding`_
7 "``TGHT``" "``TIGHT___``" `Tight Encoding`_
8 "``TRDV``" "``ZLIBHEX_``" `ZLibHex Encoding`_
-32 "``TGHT``" "``JPEGQLVL``" `JPEG Quality Level
Pseudo-encoding`_
-223 "``TGHT``" "``NEWFBSIZ``" `DesktopSize Pseudo-encoding`_ (New
FB Size)
-224 "``TGHT``" "``LASTRECT``" `LastRect Pseudo-encoding`_
-232 "``TGHT``" "``POINTPOS``" Pointer Position
-239 "``TGHT``" "``RCHCURSR``" `Cursor Pseudo-encoding`_ (Rich
Cursor)
-240 "``TGHT``" "``X11CURSR``" `X Cursor Pseudo-encoding`_
-256 "``TGHT``" "``COMPRLVL``" `Compression Level
Pseudo-encoding`_
-305 "``GGI_``" "``GII_____``" `gii Pseudo-encoding`_
-512 "``TRBO``" "``FINEQLVL``" `JPEG Fine-Grained Quality Level
Pseudo-encoding`_
-768 "``TRBO``" "``SSAMPLVL``" `JPEG Subsampling Level
Pseudo-encoding`_
-870 "``KASM``" "``VIDEOTIM``" `Video time level`
-971 "``KASM``" "``VIDEOARE``" `Video area level`
-981 "``KASM``" "``DYNMAX__``" `Dynamic quality max level`
-991 "``KASM``" "``DYNMIN__``" `Dynamic quality min level`
-992 "``KASM``" "``PREFERBW``" `Prefer bandwidth over quality`
-1003 "``KASM``" "``TREATLOS``" `Treat lossless level`
-1013 "``KASM``" "``WEBPVIDQ``" `WEBP video quality level`
-1023 "``KASM``" "``JPEGVIDQ``" `JPEG video quality level`
-1024 "``KASM``" "``WEBP____``" `WEBP support`
-1986 "``KASM``" "``VIDEOOTI``" `Video out time level`
-1996 "``KASM``" "``VIDEOSCA``" `Video scaling level`
-1997 "``KASM``" "``MAXVIDRE``" `Max video resolution support`
-2048 "``KASM``" "``FRAMERAT``" `Framerate level`
======= =========== =============== ===================================
Note that the server need not (but it may) list the "``RAW_____``"
capability since it must be supported anyway.
Client to Server Messages
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
The client to server message types that all servers must support are:
=========== ===========================================================
Number Name
=========== ===========================================================
0 `SetPixelFormat`_
2 `SetEncodings`_
3 `FramebufferUpdateRequest`_
4 `KeyEvent`_
5 `PointerEvent`_
6 `ClientCutText`_
=========== ===========================================================
Optional message types are:
=========== ===========================================================
Number Name
=========== ===========================================================
7 FileTransfer
8 SetScale
9 SetServerInput
10 SetSW
11 TextChat
12 KeyFrameRequest
13 KeepAlive
14 Possibly used in UltraVNC
15 SetScaleFactor
16-19 Possibly used in UltraVNC
20 RequestSession
21 SetSession
80 NotifyPluginStreaming
127 VMware
128 Car Connectivity
150 `EnableContinuousUpdates`_
178 Kasm request stats
179 Kasm request frame stats
180 Kasm binary clipboard
248 `ClientFence`_
249 OLIVE Call Control
250 `xvp Client Message`_
251 `SetDesktopSize`_
252 tight / Kasm override as max video resolution
253 `gii Client Message`_
254 VMware
255 `QEMU Client Message`_
=========== ===========================================================
The official, up-to-date list is maintained by IANA [#reg]_.
Note that before sending a message with an optional message type a
client must have determined that the server supports the relevant
extension by receiving some extension-specific confirmation from the
server.
SetPixelFormat
--------------
Sets the format in which pixel values should be sent in
*FramebufferUpdate* messages. If the client does not send a
*SetPixelFormat* message then the server sends pixel values in its
natural format as specified in the ServerInit message (`ServerInit`_).
If *true-colour-flag* is zero (false) then this indicates that a
"colour map" is to be used. The server can set any of the entries in
the colour map using the *SetColourMapEntries* message
(`SetColourMapEntries`_). Immediately after the client has sent this
message the colour map is empty, even if entries had previously been
set by the server.
Note that a client must not have an outstanding
*FramebufferUpdateRequest* when it sends *SetPixelFormat* as it would
be impossible to determine if the next *FramebufferUpdate* is using the
new or the previous pixel format.
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 0 *message-type*
3 *padding*
16 ``PIXEL_FORMAT`` *pixel-format*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
where ``PIXEL_FORMAT`` is as described in `ServerInit`_:
=============== =================== ===================================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== =================== ===================================
1 ``U8`` *bits-per-pixel*
1 ``U8`` *depth*
1 ``U8`` *big-endian-flag*
1 ``U8`` *true-colour-flag*
2 ``U16`` *red-max*
2 ``U16`` *green-max*
2 ``U16`` *blue-max*
1 ``U8`` *red-shift*
1 ``U8`` *green-shift*
1 ``U8`` *blue-shift*
3 *padding*
=============== =================== ===================================
SetEncodings
------------
Sets the encoding types in which pixel data can be sent by the server.
The order of the encoding types given in this message is a hint by the
client as to its preference (the first encoding specified being most
preferred). The server may or may not choose to make use of this hint.
Pixel data may always be sent in *raw* encoding even if not specified
explicitly here.
In addition to genuine encodings, a client can request
"pseudo-encodings" to declare to the server that it supports certain
extensions to the protocol. A server which does not support the
extension will simply ignore the pseudo-encoding. Note that this means
the client must assume that the server does not support the extension
until it gets some extension-specific confirmation from the server.
See `Encodings`_ for a description of each encoding and
`Pseudo-encodings`_ for the meaning of pseudo-encodings.
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 2 *message-type*
1 *padding*
2 ``U16`` *number-of-encodings*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
followed by *number-of-encodings* repetitions of the following:
=============== =============================== =======================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== =============================== =======================
4 ``S32`` *encoding-type*
=============== =============================== =======================
FramebufferUpdateRequest
------------------------
Notifies the server that the client is interested in the area of the
framebuffer specified by *x-position*, *y-position*, *width* and
*height*. The server usually responds to a *FramebufferUpdateRequest*
by sending a *FramebufferUpdate*. Note however that a single
*FramebufferUpdate* may be sent in reply to several
*FramebufferUpdateRequests*.
The server assumes that the client keeps a copy of all parts of the
framebuffer in which it is interested. This means that normally the
server only needs to send incremental updates to the client.
However, if for some reason the client has lost the contents of a
particular area which it needs, then the client sends a
*FramebufferUpdateRequest* with *incremental* set to zero (false). This
requests that the server send the entire contents of the specified area
as soon as possible. The area will not be updated using the *CopyRect*
encoding.
If the client has not lost any contents of the area in which it is
interested, then it sends a *FramebufferUpdateRequest* with
*incremental* set to non-zero (true). If and when there are changes to
the specified area of the framebuffer, the server will send a
*FramebufferUpdate*. Note that there may be an indefinite period
between the *FramebufferUpdateRequest* and the *FramebufferUpdate*.
In the case of a fast client, the client may want to regulate the rate
at which it sends incremental *FramebufferUpdateRequests* to avoid
hogging the network.
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 3 *message-type*
1 ``U8`` *incremental*
2 ``U16`` *x-position*
2 ``U16`` *y-position*
2 ``U16`` *width*
2 ``U16`` *height*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
A request for an area that partly falls outside the current framebuffer
must be cropped so that it fits within the framebuffer dimensions.
Note that an empty area can still solicit a *FramebufferUpdate* even
though that update will only contain pseudo-encodings.
KeyEvent
--------
A key press or release. *Down-flag* is non-zero (true) if the key is
now pressed, zero (false) if it is now released. The key itself is
specified using the "keysym" values defined by the X Window System.
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 4 *message-type*
1 ``U8`` *down-flag*
2 *padding*
4 ``U32`` *key*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
Auto repeating of keys when a key is held down should be handled on the
client. The rationale being that high latency on the network can make
it seem like a key is being held for a very long time, yet the problem
is that the *KeyEvent* message releasing the button has been delayed.
The client should send only repeated "down" *KeyEvent* messages, no
"up" messages, when a key is automatically repeated. This allows the
server to tell the difference between automatic repeat and actual
repeated entry by the user.
For most ordinary keys, the "keysym" is the same as the corresponding
ASCII value. For full details, see The Xlib Reference Manual, published
by O'Reilly & Associates, or see the header file ``<X11/keysymdef.h>``
from any X Window System installation. Some other common keys are:
=================== ===================================================
Key name Keysym value
=================== ===================================================
BackSpace 0xff08
Tab 0xff09
Return or Enter 0xff0d
Escape 0xff1b
Insert 0xff63
Delete 0xffff
Home 0xff50
End 0xff57
Page Up 0xff55
Page Down 0xff56
Left 0xff51
Up 0xff52
Right 0xff53
Down 0xff54
F1 0xffbe
F2 0xffbf
F3 0xffc0
F4 0xffc1
... ...
F12 0xffc9
Shift (left) 0xffe1
Shift (right) 0xffe2
Control (left) 0xffe3
Control (right) 0xffe4
Meta (left) 0xffe7
Meta (right) 0xffe8
Alt (left) 0xffe9
Alt (right) 0xffea
=================== ===================================================
The interpretation of keysyms is a complex area. In order to be as
widely interoperable as possible the following guidelines should be
used:
- The "shift state" (i.e. whether either of the Shift keysyms are down)
should only be used as a hint when interpreting a keysym. For
example, on a US keyboard the '#' character is shifted, but on a UK
keyboard it is not. A server with a US keyboard receiving a '#'
character from a client with a UK keyboard will not have been sent
any shift presses. In this case, it is likely that the server will
internally need to "fake" a shift press on its local system, in order
to get a '#' character and not, for example, a '3'.
- The difference between upper and lower case keysyms is significant.
This is unlike some of the keyboard processing in the X Window System
which treats them as the same. For example, a server receiving an
uppercase 'A' keysym without any shift presses should interpret it as
an uppercase 'A'. Again this may involve an internal "fake" shift
press.
- Servers should ignore "lock" keysyms such as CapsLock and NumLock
where possible. Instead they should interpret each character-based
keysym according to its case. Note that some applications directly
examine the state of CapsLock and NumLock and an extension such as
`QEMU LED State Pseudo-encoding`_ or `VMware LED State Pseudo-encoding`_
could be needed for correct behaviour.
- Unlike Shift, the state of modifier keys such as Control and Alt
should be taken as modifying the interpretation of other keysyms.
Note that there are no keysyms for ASCII control characters such as
ctrl-a; these should be generated by viewers sending a Control press
followed by an 'a' press.
- On a viewer where modifiers like Control and Alt can also be used to
generate character-based keysyms, the viewer may need to send extra
"release" events in order that the keysym is interpreted correctly.
For example, on a German PC keyboard on Windows, ctrl-alt-q generates
the '@' character. In this case, the viewer needs to send "fake"
release events for Control and Alt in order that the '@' character is
interpreted correctly (ctrl-alt-@ is likely to mean something
completely different to the server).
- There is no universal standard for "backward tab" in the X Window
System. On some systems shift+tab gives the keysym "ISO Left Tab", on
others it gives a private "BackTab" keysym and on others it gives
"Tab" and applications tell from the shift state that it means
backward-tab rather than forward-tab. In the RFB protocol the latter
approach is preferred. Viewers should generate a shifted Tab rather
than ISO Left Tab. However, to be backwards-compatible with existing
viewers, servers should also recognise ISO Left Tab as meaning a
shifted Tab.
Note that extensions such as `QEMU Extended Key Event Message`_ provide
alternative behaviours for keyboard events that do not follow what is
described here.
PointerEvent
------------
Indicates either pointer movement or a pointer button press or release.
The pointer is now at (*x-position*, *y-position*), and the current
state of buttons 1 to 8 are represented by bits 0 to 7 of *button-mask*
respectively, 0 meaning up, 1 meaning down (pressed).
On a conventional mouse, buttons 1, 2 and 3 correspond to the left,
middle and right buttons on the mouse. On a wheel mouse, each step of
the wheel is represented by a press and release of a certain button.
Button 4 means up, button 5 means down, button 6 means left and
button 7 means right.
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 5 *message-type*
1 ``U8`` *button-mask*
2 ``U16`` *x-position*
2 ``U16`` *y-position*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
The `QEMU Pointer Motion Change Pseudo-encoding`_ allows for the
negotiation of an alternative interpretation for the *x-position*
and *y-position* fields, as relative deltas.
ClientCutText
-------------
The client has new ISO 8859-1 (Latin-1) text in its cut buffer. Ends of
lines are represented by the linefeed / newline character (value 10)
alone. No carriage-return (value 13) is needed.
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 6 *message-type*
3 *padding*
4 ``U32`` *length*
*length* ``U8`` array *text*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
See also `Extended Clipboard Pseudo-Encoding`_ which modifies the
behaviour of this message.
EnableContinuousUpdates
-----------------------
This message informs the server to switch between only sending
`FramebufferUpdate`_ messages as a result of a
`FramebufferUpdateRequest`_ message, or sending ``FramebufferUpdate``
messages continuously.
The client must establish that the server supports this message before
sending it. The client can do so using either the
`Tight Security Type`_ authentication, or using the
`ContinuousUpdates Pseudo-encoding`_.
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 150 *message-type*
1 ``U8`` *enable-flag*
2 ``U16`` *x-position*
2 ``U16`` *y-position*
2 ``U16`` *width*
2 ``U16`` *height*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
If *enable-flag* is non-zero, then the server can start sending
``FramebufferUpdate`` messages as needed for the area specified by
*x-position*, *y-position*, *width*, and *height*. If continuous
updates are already active, then they must remain active and the
coordinates must be replaced with the last message seen.
If *enable-flag* is zero, then the server must only send
``FramebufferUpdate`` messages as a result of receiving
``FramebufferUpdateRequest`` messages. The server must also immediately
send out a `EndOfContinuousUpdates`_ message. This message must be sent
out even if continuous updates were already disabled.
The server must ignore all incremental update requests
(``FramebufferUpdateRequest`` with *incremental* set to non-zero) as
long as continuous updates are active. Non-incremental update requests
must however be honored, even if the area in such a request does not
overlap the area specified for continuous updates.
ClientFence
-----------
A client supporting the *Fence* extension sends this to request a
synchronisation of the data stream.
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 248 *message-type*
3 *padding*
4 ``U32`` *flags*
1 ``U8`` *length*
*length* ``U8`` array *payload*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
The *flags* byte informs the server if this is a new request, or a
response to a server request sent earlier, as well as what kind of
synchronisation that is desired. The server should not delay the
response more than necessary, even if the synchronisation requirements
would allow it.
=============== =======================================================
Bit Description
=============== =======================================================
0 **BlockBefore**
1 **BlockAfter**
2 **SyncNext**
3-30 Currently unused
31 **Request**
=============== =======================================================
The server should respond with a `ServerFence`_ with the **Request**
bit cleared, as well as clearing any bits it does not understand. The
remaining bits should remain set in the response. This allows the
client to determine which flags the server supports when new ones are
defined in the future.
**BlockBefore**
All messages preceding this one must have finished processing and
taken effect before the response is sent.
Messages following this one are unaffected and may be processed in
any order the protocol permits, even before the response is sent.
**BlockAfter**
All messages following this one must not start processing until the
response is sent.
Messages preceding this one are unaffected and may be processed in
any order the protocol permits, even being delayed until after the
response is sent.
**SyncNext**
The message following this one must be executed in an atomic manner
so that anything preceding the fence response **must not** be
affected by the message, and anything following the fence response
**must** be affected by the message.
Anything unaffected by the following message can be sent at any
time the protocol permits.
The primary purpose of this synchronisation is to allow safe usage
of stream altering commands such as `SetPixelFormat`_, which would
impose strict ordering on `FramebufferUpdate`_ messages even with
asynchrounous extensions such as the
`ContinuousUpdates Pseudo-encoding`_.
If **BlockAfter** is also set then the interaction between the two
flags can be ambiguous. In this case we relax the requirement for
**BlockAfter** and allow the following message (the one made atomic
by **SyncNext**) to be processed before a response is sent. All
messages after that first one are still subjected to the semantics
of **BlockAfter** however. The behaviour will be similar to the
following series of messages:
1. *ClientFence* with **SyncNext**
2. *message made atomic*
3. *ClientFence* with **BlockAfter**
**Request**
Indicates that this is a new request and that a response is
expected. If this bit is cleared then this message is a response to
an earlier request.
The client can also include a chunk of data to differentiate between
responses and to avoid keeping state. This data is specified using
*length* and *payload*. The size of this data is limited to 64 bytes in
order to minimise the disturbance to highly parallel clients and
servers.
xvp Client Message
------------------
A client supporting the *xvp* extension sends this to request that the
server initiate a clean shutdown, clean reboot or abrupt reset of the
system whose framebuffer the client is displaying.
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 250 *message-type*
1 *padding*
1 ``U8`` 1 *xvp-extension-version*
1 ``U8`` *xvp-message-code*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
The possible values for *xvp-message-code* are: 2 - XVP_SHUTDOWN,
3 - XVP_REBOOT, and 4 - XVP_RESET. The client must have already
established that the server supports this extension, by requesting the
`xvp Pseudo-encoding`_.
SetDesktopSize
--------------
Requests a change of desktop size. This message is an extension and
may only be sent if the client has previously received an
*ExtendedDesktopSize* rectangle. This message also enables clients
to handle configuration of a multi head screen layout within the
framebuffer extents, as described in `Screen Model`_.
The server must send an *ExtendedDesktopSize* rectangle for every
*SetDesktopSize* message received. Several rectangles may be
sent in a single *FramebufferUpdate* message, but the rectangles must
not be merged or reordered in any way. Note that rectangles sent for
other reasons may be interleaved with the ones generated as a result
of *SetDesktopSize* messages.
Upon a successful request the server must send an *ExtendedDesktopSize*
rectangle to the requesting client with the exact same information the
client provided in the corresponding *SetDesktopSize* message.
*x-position* must be set to 1, indicating a client initiated event, and
*y-position* must be set to 0, indicating success.
The server must also send an *ExtendedDesktopSize* rectangle to all
other connected clients, but with *x-position* set to 2, indicating a
change initiated by another client.
If the server can not or will not satisfy the request, it must send
an *ExtendedDesktopSize* rectangle to the requesting client with
*x-position* set to 1 and *y-position* set to the relevant error code.
All remaining fields are undefined, although the basic structure must
still be followed. The server must not send an *ExtendedDesktopSize*
rectangle to any other connected clients.
All *ExtendedDesktopSize* rectangles that are sent as a result of a
*SetDesktopSize* message should be sent as soon as possible.
======================== ================= ======= ====================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
======================== ================= ======= ====================
1 ``U8`` 251 *message-type*
1 *padding*
2 ``U16`` *width*
2 ``U16`` *height*
1 ``U8`` *number-of-screens*
1 *padding*
*number-of-screens* * 16 ``SCREEN`` array *screens*
======================== ================= ======= ====================
The *width* and *height* indicates the framebuffer size requested. This
structure is followed by *number-of-screens* number of ``SCREEN``
structures, which is defined in `ExtendedDesktopSize Pseudo-encoding`_:
=============== =============================== =======================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== =============================== =======================
4 ``U32`` *id*
2 ``U16`` *x-position*
2 ``U16`` *y-position*
2 ``U16`` *width*
2 ``U16`` *height*
4 ``U32`` *flags*
=============== =============================== =======================
The *id* field must be preserved upon modification as it determines the
difference between a moved screen and a newly created one. The client
should make every effort to preserve the fields it does not wish to
modify, including any unknown *flags* bits.
gii Client Message
------------------
This message is an extension and may only be sent if the client has
previously received a `gii Server Message`_ confirming that the server
supports the General Input Interface extension.
Version
~~~~~~~
The client response to a *gii* Version message from the server is the
following response:
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 253 *message-type*
1 ``U8`` 1 or 129 *endian-and-sub-type*
2 ``EU16`` 2 *length*
2 ``EU16`` 1 *version*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
*endian-and-sub-type* is a bit-field with the leftmost bit indicating
big endian if set, and little endian if cleared. The rest of the bits
are the actual message sub type.
*version* is set by the client and ultimately decides the version of
*gii* protocol extension to use. It should be in the range given by the
server in the *gii* Version message. If the server doesn't support any
version that the client supports, the client should instead stop using
the *gii* extension at this point.
Device Creation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After establishing the *gii* protocol extension version, the client
proceeds by requesting creation of one or more devices.
===================== =============== ========================== ======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
===================== =============== ========================== ======================
1 ``U8`` 253 *message-type*
1 ``U8`` 2 or 130 *endian-and-sub-type*
2 ``EU16`` 56 + *num-valuators* * 116 *length*
31 ``U8`` array *device-name*
1 ``U8`` 0 *nul-terminator*
4 ``EU32`` *vendor-id*
4 ``EU32`` *product-id*
4 ``EVENT_MASK`` *can-generate*
4 ``EU32`` *num-registers*
4 ``EU32`` *num-valuators*
4 ``EU32`` *num-buttons*
*num-valuators* * 116 ``VALUATOR``
===================== =============== ========================== ======================
*endian-and-sub-type* is a bit-field with the leftmost bit indicating
big endian if set, and little endian if cleared. The rest of the bits
are the actual message sub type.
``EVENT_MASK`` is a bit-field indicating which events the device
can generate.
============= =========================================================
Value Bit name
============= =========================================================
0x00000020 Key press
0x00000040 Key release
0x00000080 Key repeat
0x00000100 Pointer relative
0x00000200 Pointer absolute
0x00000400 Pointer button press
0x00000800 Pointer button release
0x00001000 Valuator relative
0x00002000 Valuator absolute
============= =========================================================
and ``VALUATOR`` is
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
4 ``EU32`` *index*
74 ``U8`` array *long-name*
1 ``U8`` 0 *nul-terminator*
4 ``U8`` array *short-name*
1 ``U8`` 0 *nul-terminator*
4 ``ES32`` *range-min*
4 ``ES32`` *range-center*
4 ``ES32`` *range-max*
4 ``EU32`` *SI-unit*
4 ``ES32`` *SI-add*
4 ``ES32`` *SI-mul*
4 ``ES32`` *SI-div*
4 ``ES32`` *SI-shift*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
The *SI-unit* field is defined as:
========= ==================== ========================================
Number SI-unit Description
========= ==================== ========================================
0 unknown
1 s time
2 1/s frequency
3 m length
4 m/s velocity
5 m/s^2 acceleration
6 rad angle
7 rad/s angular velocity
8 rad/s^2 angular acceleration
9 m^2 area
10 m^3 volume
11 kg mass
12 N (kg*m/s^2) force
13 N/m^2 (Pa) pressure
14 Nm torque
15 Nm, VAs, J energy
16 Nm/s, VA, W power
17 K temperature
18 A current
19 V (kg*m^2/(As^3)) voltage
20 V/A (Ohm) resistance
21 As/V capacity
22 Vs/A inductivity
========= ==================== ========================================
The *SI-add*, *SI-mul*, *SI-div* and *SI-shift* fields of the
``VALUATOR`` indicate how the raw value should be translated to the
SI-unit using the below formula.
float SI = (float) (SI_add + value[n]) * (float) SI_mul
/ (float) SI_div * pow(2.0, SI_shift);
Setting *SI-mul* to zero indicates that the valuator is non-linear or
that the factor is unknown.
Device Destruction
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The client can destroy a device with a device destruct message.
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 253 *message-type*
1 ``U8`` 3 or 131 *endian-and-sub-type*
2 ``EU16`` 4 *length*
4 ``EU32`` *device-origin*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
*endian-and-sub-type* is a bit-field with the leftmost bit indicating
big endian if set, and little endian if cleared. The rest of the bits
are the actual message sub type.
*device-origin* is the handle retrieved with a prior device creation
request.
Injecting Events
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 253 *message-type*
1 ``U8`` 0 or 128 *endian-and-sub-type*
2 ``EU16`` *length*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
followed by *length* bytes of ``EVENT`` entries
*endian-and-sub-type* is a bit-field with the leftmost bit indicating
big endian if set, and little endian if cleared. The rest of the bits
are the actual message sub type.
``EVENT`` is one of ``KEY_EVENT``, ``PTR_MOVE_EVENT``,
``PTR_BUTTON_EVENT`` and ``VALUATOR_EVENT``.
``KEY_EVENT`` is:
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 24 *event-size*
1 ``U8`` 5, 6 or 7 *event-type*
2 ``EU16`` *padding*
4 ``EU32`` *device-origin*
4 ``EU32`` *modifiers*
4 ``EU32`` *symbol*
4 ``EU32`` *label*
4 ``EU32`` *button*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
The possible values for *event-type* are: 5 - key pressed, 6 - key
released and 7 - key repeat. XXX describe *modifiers*, *symbol*,
*label* and *button*. Meanwhile, see
http://www.ggi-project.org/documentation/libgii/current/gii_key_event.3.html
for details.
*device-origin* is the handle retrieved with a prior device creation
request.
``PTR_MOVE_EVENT`` is:
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 24 *event-size*
1 ``U8`` 8 or 9 *event-type*
2 ``EU16`` *padding*
4 ``EU32`` *device-origin*
4 ``ES32`` *x*
4 ``ES32`` *y*
4 ``ES32`` *z*
4 ``ES32`` *wheel*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
The possible values for *event-type* are: 8 - pointer relative and
9 - pointer absolute.
*device-origin* is the handle retrieved with a prior device creation
request.
``PTR_BUTTON_EVENT`` is:
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 12 *event-size*
1 ``U8`` 10 or 11 *event-type*
2 ``EU16`` *padding*
4 ``EU32`` *device-origin*
4 ``EU32`` *button-number*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
The possible values for *event-type* are: 10 - pointer button press and
11 - pointer button release.
*device-origin* is the handle retrieved with a prior device creation
request.
*button-number* 1 is the primary or left button, *button-number* 2 is
the secondary or right button and *button-number* 3 is the tertiary or
middle button. Other values for *button-number* are also valid.
``VALUATOR_EVENT`` is:
=============== ================= ================== ==================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ================= ================== ==================
1 ``U8`` 16 + 4 * *count* *event-size*
1 ``U8`` 12 or 13 *event-type*
2 ``EU16`` *padding*
4 ``EU32`` *device-origin*
4 ``EU32`` *first*
4 ``EU32`` *count*
4 * *count* ``ES32`` array *value*
=============== ================= ================== ==================
The possible values for *event-type* are: 12 - relative valuator and
13 - absolute valuator.
*device-origin* is the handle retrieved with a prior device creation
request.
The event reports *count* valuators starting with *first*.
QEMU Client Message
-------------------
This message may only be sent if the client has previously received
a *FrameBufferUpdate* that confirms support for the intended
*submessage-type*. Every ``QEMU Client Message`` begins with
a standard header
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 255 *message-type*
1 ``U8`` *submessage-type*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
This header is then followed by arbitrary data whose format is
determined by the *submessage-type*. Possible values for
*submessage-type* and their associated pseudo encodings are
================ ================ ====================
Submessage Type Pseudo Encoding Description
================ ================ ====================
0 -258 Extended key events
1 -259 Audio
================ ================ ====================
QEMU Extended Key Event Message
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This submessage allows the client to send an extended key event
containing a keycode, in addition to a keysym. The advantage of
providing the keycode is that it enables the server to interpret
the key event independently of the clients' locale specific
keymap. This can be important for virtual desktops whose key
input device requires scancodes, for example, virtual machines
emulating a PS/2 keycode. Prior to this extension, RFB servers
for such virtualization software would have to be configured
with a keymap matching the client. With this extension it is
sufficient for the guest operating system to be configured with
the matching keymap. The VNC server is keymap independent.
The full message is:
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 255 *message-type*
1 ``U8`` 0 *submessage-type*
2 ``U16`` *down-flag*
4 ``U32`` *keysym*
4 ``U32`` *keycode*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
The *keysym* and *down-flag* fields also take the same values as
described for the `KeyEvent`_ message. Auto repeating behaviour
of keys is also as described for the `KeyEvent`_ message.
The *keycode* is the XT keycode that produced the *keysym*. An
XT keycode is an XT make scancode sequence encoded to fit in
a single ``U32`` quantity. Single byte XT scancodes with a byte
value less than 0x7f are encoded as is. 2-byte XT scancodes
whose first byte is 0xe0 and second byte is less than 0x7f are
encoded with the high bit of the first byte set. Some example
mappings are
============= ================== ============ ==========
XT scancode X11 keysym RFB keycode down-flag
============= ================== ============ ==========
0x1e XK_A (0x41) 0x1e 1
0x9e XK_A (0x41) 0x1e 0
0xe0 0x4d XK_Right (0xff53) 0xcd 1
0xe0 0xcd XK_Right (0xff53) 0xcd 0
============= ================== ============ ==========
The multi-byte scancode sequence for the Print/SysRq key SHOULD be sent
as 0x54, regardless of what modifier keys are currently pressed. For
backwards compatibility servers SHOULD also accept 0xb7 as a synonym
for 0x54.
The multi-byte scancode sequence for the Pause/Break key MUST be sent
as 0xc6, regardless of what modifier keys are currently pressed.
An unknown keysym should have the value 0. The client must not send a
QEMU Extended Key Event Message if the keycode isn't known. Instead a
standard `KeyEvent`_ message should be used.
QEMU Audio Client Message
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This submessage allows the client to control how the audio data
stream is received. There are three operations that can be invoked
with this submessage, the payload varies according to which
operation is requested.
The first operation enables audio capture from the server:
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 255 *message-type*
1 ``U8`` 1 *submessage-type*
2 ``U16`` 0 *operation*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
After invoking this operation, the client will receive a
`QEMU Audio Server Message`_ when an audio stream begins.
The second operation is the inverse, to disable audio capture
on the server:
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 255 *message-type*
1 ``U8`` 1 *submessage-type*
2 ``U16`` 1 *operation*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
Due to inherant race conditions in the protocol, after invoking this
operation, the client may still receive further
`QEMU Audio Server Message`_ messages for a short time.
The third and final operation is to set the audio sample format.
This should be set before audio capture is enabled on the server,
otherwise the client will not be able to reliably interpret the
receiving audio buffers:
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 255 *message-type*
1 ``U8`` 1 *submessage-type*
2 ``U16`` 2 *operation*
1 ``U8`` *sample-format*
1 ``U8`` *nchannels*
4 ``U32`` *frequency*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
The *sample-format* field must take one of the following values,
and this describes the number of bytes that each sample will
consume:
====== ============= =======
Value No. of bytes Type
====== ============= =======
0 1 ``U8``
1 1 ``S8``
2 2 ``U16``
3 2 ``S16``
4 4 ``U32``
5 4 ``S32``
====== ============= =======
The *nchannels* field must be either ``1`` (mono) or ``2`` (stereo).
Server to Client Messages
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
The server to client message types that all clients must support are:
=========== ===========================================================
Number Name
=========== ===========================================================
0 `FramebufferUpdate`_
1 `SetColourMapEntries`_
2 `Bell`_
3 `ServerCutText`_
=========== ===========================================================
Optional message types are:
=========== ===========================================================
Number Name
=========== ===========================================================
4 ResizeFrameBuffer
5 KeyFrameUpdate
6 Possibly used in UltraVNC
7 FileTransfer
8-10 Possibly used in UltraVNC
11 TextChat
12 Possibly used in UltraVNC
13 KeepAlive
14 Possibly used in UltraVNC
15 ResizeFrameBuffer
127 VMware
128 Car Connectivity
150 `EndOfContinuousUpdates`_
173 ServerState
178 Kasm stats
179 Kasm frame stats
180 Kasm binary clipboard
248 `ServerFence`_
249 OLIVE Call Control
250 `xvp Server Message`_
252 tight
253 `gii Server Message`_
254 VMware
255 `QEMU Server Message`_
=========== ===========================================================
The official, up-to-date list is maintained by IANA [#reg]_.
Note that before sending a message with an optional message type a
server must have determined that the client supports the relevant
extension by receiving some extension-specific confirmation from the
client; usually a request for a given pseudo-encoding.
FramebufferUpdate
-----------------
A framebuffer update consists of a sequence of rectangles of pixel data
which the client should put into its framebuffer. It is sent in
response to a *FramebufferUpdateRequest* from the client. Note that
there may be an indefinite period between the
*FramebufferUpdateRequest* and the *FramebufferUpdate*.
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 0 *message-type*
1 *padding*
2 ``U16`` *number-of-rectangles*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
This is followed by *number-of-rectangles* rectangles of pixel data.
Each rectangle consists of:
=============== =============================== =======================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== =============================== =======================
2 ``U16`` *x-position*
2 ``U16`` *y-position*
2 ``U16`` *width*
2 ``U16`` *height*
4 ``S32`` *encoding-type*
=============== =============================== =======================
followed by the pixel data in the specified encoding. See `Encodings`_
for the format of the data for each encoding and `Pseudo-encodings`_
for the meaning of pseudo-encodings.
Note that a framebuffer update marks a transition from one valid
framebuffer state to another. That means that a single update handles
all received *FramebufferUpdateRequest* up to the point where the
update is sent out.
However, because there is no strong connection between a
*FramebufferUpdateRequest* and a subsequent *FramebufferUpdate*, a
client that has more than one *FramebufferUpdateRequest* pending at any
given time cannot be sure that it has received all framebuffer updates.
See the `LastRect Pseudo-encoding`_ for an extension to this message.
SetColourMapEntries
-------------------
When the pixel format uses a "colour map", this message tells the
client that the specified pixel values should be mapped to the given
RGB intensities.
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 1 *message-type*
1 *padding*
2 ``U16`` *first-colour*
2 ``U16`` *number-of-colours*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
followed by *number-of-colours* repetitions of the following:
=============== =============================== =======================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== =============================== =======================
2 ``U16`` *red*
2 ``U16`` *green*
2 ``U16`` *blue*
=============== =============================== =======================
Bell
----
Ring a bell on the client if it has one.
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 2 *message-type*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
ServerCutText
-------------
The server has new ISO 8859-1 (Latin-1) text in its cut buffer. Ends of
lines are represented by the linefeed / newline character (value 10)
alone. No carriage-return (value 13) is needed.
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 3 *message-type*
3 *padding*
4 ``U32`` *length*
*length* ``U8`` array *text*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
See also `Extended Clipboard Pseudo-Encoding`_ which modifies the
behaviour of this message.
EndOfContinuousUpdates
----------------------
This message is sent whenever the server sees a
`EnableContinuousUpdates`_ message with *enable* set to a non-zero
value. It indicates that the server has stopped sending continuous
updates and is now only reacting to `FramebufferUpdateRequest`_
messages.
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 150 *message-type*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
ServerFence
-----------
A server supporting the *Fence* extension sends this to request a
synchronisation of the data stream.
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 248 *message-type*
3 *padding*
4 ``U32`` *flags*
1 ``U8`` *length*
*length* ``U8`` array *payload*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
The format and semantics is identical to `ClientFence`_, but with the
roles of the client and server reversed.
xvp Server Message
------------------
This has the following format:
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 250 *message-type*
1 *padding*
1 ``U8`` 1 *xvp-extension-version*
1 ``U8`` *xvp-message-code*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
The possible values for *xvp-message-code* are: 0 - XVP_FAIL and 1 -
XVP_INIT.
A server which supports the *xvp* extension declares this by sending a
message with an XVP_INIT *xvp-message-code* when it receives a request
from the client to use the `xvp Pseudo-encoding`_. The server must
specify in this message the highest *xvp-extension-version* it supports:
the client may assume that the server supports all versions from 1 up to
this value. The client is then free to use any supported version.
Currently, only version 1 is defined.
A server which subsequently receives an `xvp Client Message`_ requesting
an operation which it is unable to perform, informs the client of this
by sending a message with an XVP_FAIL *xvp-message-code*, and the same
*xvp-extension-version* as included in the client's operation request.
gii Server Message
------------------
This message is an extension and may only be sent if the server has
previously received a `SetEncodings`_ message confirming that the
client supports the General Input Interface extension via the `gii
Pseudo-encoding`_.
Version
~~~~~~~
The server response from a server with *gii* capabilities to a client
declaring *gii* capabilities is a *gii* version message:
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 253 *message-type*
1 ``SUB_TYPE`` 1 or 129 *endian-and-sub-type*
2 ``EU16`` 4 *length*
2 ``EU16`` 1 *maximum-version*
2 ``EU16`` 1 *minimum-version*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
*endian-and-sub-type* is a bit-field with the leftmost bit indicating
big endian if set, and little endian if cleared. The rest of the bits
are the actual message sub type.
Device Creation Response
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The server response to a *gii* Device Creation request from the client
is the following response:
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 253 *message-type*
1 ``SUB_TYPE`` 2 or 130 *endian-and-sub-type*
2 ``EU16`` 4 *length*
4 ``EU32`` *device-origin*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
*endian-and-sub-type* is a bit-field with the leftmost bit indicating
big endian if set, and little endian if cleared. The rest of the bits
are the actual message sub type.
*device-origin* is used as a handle to the device in subsequent
communications. A *device-origin* of zero indicates device creation
failure.
QEMU Server Message
-------------------
This message may only be sent if the client has previously received
a *FrameBufferUpdate* that confirms support for the intended
*submessage-type*. Every ``QEMU Server Message`` begins with
a standard header
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 255 *message-type*
1 ``U8`` *submessage-type*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
This header is then followed by arbitrary data whose format is
determined by the *submessage-type*. Possible values for
*submessage-type* and their associated pseudo encodings are
================ ================ ====================
Submessage Type Pseudo Encoding Description
================ ================ ====================
1 -259 Audio
================ ================ ====================
Submessage type 0 is unused, since the
`QEMU Extended Key Event Pseudo-encoding`_ does not require any
server messages.
QEMU Audio Server Message
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This submessage allows the server to send an audio data stream
to the client. There are three operations that can be invoked
with this submessage, the payload varies according to which
operation is requested.
The first operation informs the client that an audio stream is
about to start
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 255 *message-type*
1 ``U8`` 1 *submessage-type*
2 ``U16`` 1 *operation*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
The second operation informs the client that an audio stream has
now finished:
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 255 *message-type*
1 ``U8`` 1 *submessage-type*
2 ``U16`` 0 *operation*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
The third and final operation is to provide audio data.
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 255 *message-type*
1 ``U8`` 1 *submessage-type*
2 ``U16`` 2 *operation*
4 ``U32`` *data-length*
*data-length* ``U8`` array *data*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
The *data-length* will be a multiple of (*sample-format* * *nchannels*)
as requested by the client in an earlier `QEMU Audio Client Message`_.
Encodings
+++++++++
The encodings defined in this document are:
============ ==========================================================
Number Name
============ ==========================================================
0 `Raw Encoding`_
1 `CopyRect Encoding`_
2 `RRE Encoding`_
4 `CoRRE Encoding`_
5 `Hextile Encoding`_
6 `zlib Encoding`_
7 `Tight Encoding`_
8 `zlibhex Encoding`_
16 `ZRLE Encoding`_
21 `JPEG Encoding`_
50 `Open H.264 Encoding`_
-260 `Tight PNG Encoding`_
============ ==========================================================
The pseudo-encodings defined in this document are:
============ ==========================================================
Number Name
============ ==========================================================
-23 to -32 `JPEG Quality Level Pseudo-encoding`_
-223 `DesktopSize Pseudo-encoding`_
-224 `LastRect Pseudo-encoding`_
-239 `Cursor Pseudo-encoding`_
-240 `X Cursor Pseudo-encoding`_
-247 to -256 `Compression Level Pseudo-encoding`_
-257 `QEMU Pointer Motion Change Pseudo-encoding`_
-258 `QEMU Extended Key Event Pseudo-encoding`_
-259 `QEMU Audio Pseudo-encoding`_
-261 `QEMU LED State Pseudo-encoding`_
-305 `gii Pseudo-encoding`_
-307 `DesktopName Pseudo-encoding`_
-308 `ExtendedDesktopSize Pseudo-encoding`_
-309 `xvp Pseudo-encoding`_
-312 `Fence Pseudo-encoding`_
-313 `ContinuousUpdates Pseudo-encoding`_
-314 `Cursor With Alpha Pseudo-encoding`_
-412 to -512 `JPEG Fine-Grained Quality Level Pseudo-encoding`_
-763 to -768 `JPEG Subsampling Level Pseudo-encoding`_
0x574d5664 `VMware Cursor Pseudo-encoding`_
0x574d5665 `VMware Cursor State Pseudo-encoding`_
0x574d5666 `VMware Cursor Position Pseudo-encoding`_
0x574d5667 `VMware Key Repeat Pseudo-encoding`_
0x574d5668 `VMware LED state Pseudo-encoding`_
0x574d5669 `VMware Display Mode Change Pseudo-encoding`_
0x574d566a `VMware Virtual Machine State Pseudo-encoding`_
0xc0a1e5ce `Extended Clipboard Pseudo-encoding`_
============ ==========================================================
Other registered encodings are:
=========================== ===========================================
Number Name
=========================== ===========================================
9 Ultra
10 Ultra2
15 TRLE
17 Hitachi ZYWRLE
20 H.264
22 JRLE
1000 to 1002 Apple Inc.
1011 Apple Inc.
1024 to 1099 RealVNC
1100 to 1105 Apple Inc.
-1 to -22 Tight options
-33 to -218 Tight options
-219 to -222 Historical libVNCServer use
-225 PointerPos
-226 to -238 Tight options
-241 to -246 Tight options
-262 to -272 QEMU
-273 to -304 VMware
-306 popa
-310 OLIVE Call Control
-311 ClientRedirect
-523 to -528 Car Connectivity
0x48323634 VA H.264
0x574d5600 to 0x574d56ff VMware
0xc0a1e5cf PluginStreaming
0xfffe0000 KeyboardLedState
0xfffe0001 SupportedMessages
0xfffe0002 SupportedEncodings
0xfffe0003 ServerIdentity
0xfffe0004 to 0xfffe00ff libVNSServer
0xffff0000 Cache
0xffff0001 CacheEnable
0xffff0002 XOR zlib
0xffff0003 XORMonoRect zlib
0xffff0004 XORMultiColor zlib
0xffff0005 SolidColor
0xffff0006 XOREnable
0xffff0007 CacheZip
0xffff0008 SolMonoZip
0xffff0009 UltraZip
0xffff8000 ServerState
0xffff8001 EnableKeepAlive
0xffff8002 FTProtocolVersion
0xffff8003 Session
=========================== ===========================================
The official, up-to-date list is maintained by IANA [#reg]_.
Raw Encoding
------------
The simplest encoding type is raw pixel data. In this case the data
consists of *width* * *height* pixel values (where *width* and *height*
are the width and height of the rectangle). The values simply represent
each pixel in left-to-right scanline order. All RFB clients must be
able to cope with pixel data in this raw encoding, and RFB servers
should only produce raw encoding unless the client specifically asks
for some other encoding type.
======================================= =================== ===========
No. of bytes Type Description
======================================= =================== ===========
*width* * *height* * *bytesPerPixel* ``PIXEL`` array *pixels*
======================================= =================== ===========
CopyRect Encoding
-----------------
The *CopyRect* (copy rectangle) encoding is a very simple and efficient
encoding which can be used when the client already has the same pixel
data elsewhere in its framebuffer. The encoding on the wire simply
consists of an X,Y coordinate. This gives a position in the framebuffer
from which the client can copy the rectangle of pixel data. This can be
used in a variety of situations, the most obvious of which are when the
user moves a window across the screen, and when the contents of a
window are scrolled. A less obvious use is for optimising drawing of
text or other repeating patterns. An intelligent server may be able to
send a pattern explicitly only once, and knowing the previous position
of the pattern in the framebuffer, send subsequent occurrences of the
same pattern using the *CopyRect* encoding.
=============== =================== ===================================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== =================== ===================================
2 ``U16`` *src-x-position*
2 ``U16`` *src-y-position*
=============== =================== ===================================
RRE Encoding
------------
RRE stands for *rise-and-run-length encoding* and as its name implies,
it is essentially a two-dimensional analogue of run-length encoding.
RRE-encoded rectangles arrive at the client in a form which can be
rendered immediately and efficiently by the simplest of graphics
engines. RRE is not appropriate for complex desktops, but can be useful
in some situations.
The basic idea behind RRE is the partitioning of a rectangle of pixel
data into rectangular subregions (subrectangles) each of which consists
of pixels of a single value and the union of which comprises the
original rectangular region. The near-optimal partition of a given
rectangle into such subrectangles is relatively easy to compute.
The encoding consists of a background pixel value, *Vb* (typically the
most prevalent pixel value in the rectangle) and a count *N*, followed
by a list of *N* subrectangles, each of which consists of a tuple
<*v*, *x*, *y*, *w*, *h*> where *v* (!= *Vb*) is the pixel value, (*x*,
*y*) are the coordinates of the subrectangle relative to the top-left
corner of the rectangle, and (*w*, *h*) are the width and height of the
subrectangle. The client can render the original rectangle by drawing a
filled rectangle of the background pixel value and then drawing a
filled rectangle corresponding to each subrectangle.
On the wire, the data begins with the header:
=============== =================== ===================================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== =================== ===================================
4 ``U32`` *number-of-subrectangles*
*bytesPerPixel* ``PIXEL`` *background-pixel-value*
=============== =================== ===================================
This is followed by *number-of-subrectangles* instances of the
following structure:
=============== =================== ===================================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== =================== ===================================
*bytesPerPixel* ``PIXEL`` *subrect-pixel-value*
2 ``U16`` *x-position*
2 ``U16`` *y-position*
2 ``U16`` *width*
2 ``U16`` *height*
=============== =================== ===================================
CoRRE Encoding
--------------
CoRRE stands for *compressed rise-and-run-length encoding* and as its
name implies, it is a variant of the above `RRE Encoding`_ and as such
essentially a two-dimensional analogue of run-length encoding.
The only difference between CoRRE and RRE is that the position, width
and height of the subrectangles are limited to a maximum of 255 pixels.
Because of this, the server needs to produce several rectangles in
order to cover a larger area. The `Hextile Encoding`_ is probably a
better choice in the majority of cases.
On the wire, the data begins with the header:
=============== =================== ===================================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== =================== ===================================
4 ``U32`` *number-of-subrectangles*
*bytesPerPixel* ``PIXEL`` *background-pixel-value*
=============== =================== ===================================
This is followed by *number-of-subrectangles* instances of the
following structure:
=============== =================== ===================================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== =================== ===================================
*bytesPerPixel* ``PIXEL`` *subrect-pixel-value*
1 ``U8`` *x-position*
1 ``U8`` *y-position*
1 ``U8`` *width*
1 ``U8`` *height*
=============== =================== ===================================
Hextile Encoding
----------------
Hextile is a variation on the RRE idea. Rectangles are split up into
16x16 tiles, allowing the dimensions of the subrectangles to be
specified in 4 bits each, 16 bits in total. The rectangle is split into
tiles starting at the top left going in left-to-right, top-to-bottom
order. The encoded contents of the tiles simply follow one another in
the predetermined order. If the width of the whole rectangle is not an
exact multiple of 16 then the width of the last tile in each row will
be correspondingly smaller. Similarly if the height of the whole
rectangle is not an exact multiple of 16 then the height of each tile
in the final row will also be smaller.
Each tile is either encoded as raw pixel data, or as a variation on
RRE. Each tile has a background pixel value, as before. The background
pixel value does not need to be explicitly specified for a given tile
if it is the same as the background of the previous tile. However the
background pixel value may not be carried over if the previous tile was
raw. If all of the subrectangles of a tile have the same pixel value,
this can be specified once as a foreground pixel value for the whole
tile. As with the background, the foreground pixel value can be left
unspecified, meaning it is carried over from the previous tile. The
foreground pixel value may not be carried over if the previous tile was
raw or had the SubrectsColored bit set. It may, however, be carried
over from a previous tile with the AnySubrects bit clear, as long as
that tile itself carried over a valid foreground from its previous
tile.
So the data consists of each tile encoded in order. Each tile begins
with a subencoding type byte, which is a mask made up of a number of
bits:
=============== ======= =========== ===================================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ======= =========== ===================================
1 ``U8`` *subencoding-mask*:
.. 1 **Raw**
.. 2 **BackgroundSpecified**
.. 4 **ForegroundSpecified**
.. 8 **AnySubrects**
.. 16 **SubrectsColoured**
=============== ======= =========== ===================================
If the **Raw** bit is set then the other bits are irrelevant; *width* *
*height* pixel values follow (where *width* and *height* are the width
and height of the tile). Otherwise the other bits in the mask are as
follows:
**BackgroundSpecified**
If set, a pixel value follows which specifies the background colour
for this tile:
========================== ============= ==========================
No. of bytes Type Description
========================== ============= ==========================
*bytesPerPixel* ``PIXEL`` *background-pixel-value*
========================== ============= ==========================
The first non-raw tile in a rectangle must have this bit set. If
this bit isn't set then the background is the same as the last
tile.
**ForegroundSpecified**
If set, a pixel value follows which specifies the foreground colour
to be used for all subrectangles in this tile:
========================== ============= ==========================
No. of bytes Type Description
========================== ============= ==========================
*bytesPerPixel* ``PIXEL`` *foreground-pixel-value*
========================== ============= ==========================
If this bit is set then the **SubrectsColoured** bit must be zero.
**AnySubrects**
If set, a single byte follows giving the number of subrectangles
following:
========================== ============= ==========================
No. of bytes Type Description
========================== ============= ==========================
1 ``U8`` *number-of-subrectangles*
========================== ============= ==========================
If not set, there are no subrectangles (i.e. the whole tile is just
solid background colour).
**SubrectsColoured**
If set then each subrectangle is preceded by a pixel value giving
the colour of that subrectangle, so a subrectangle is:
========================== ============= ==========================
No. of bytes Type Description
========================== ============= ==========================
*bytesPerPixel* ``PIXEL`` *subrect-pixel-value*
1 ``U8`` *x-and-y-position*
1 ``U8`` *width-and-height*
========================== ============= ==========================
If not set, all subrectangles are the same colour, the foreground
colour; if the **ForegroundSpecified** bit wasn't set then the
foreground is the same as the last tile. A subrectangle is:
========================== ============= ==========================
No. of bytes Type Description
========================== ============= ==========================
1 ``U8`` *x-and-y-position*
1 ``U8`` *width-and-height*
========================== ============= ==========================
The position and size of each subrectangle is specified in two bytes,
*x-and-y-position* and *width-and-height*. The most-significant four
bits of *x-and-y-position* specify the X position, the
least-significant specify the Y position. The most-significant four
bits of *width-and-height* specify the width minus one, the
least-significant specify the height minus one.
zlib Encoding
-------------
The zlib encoding uses zlib [#zlib]_ to compress rectangles encoded
according to the `Raw Encoding`_. A single zlib "stream" object is used
for a given RFB connection, so that zlib rectangles must be encoded and
decoded strictly in order.
.. [#zlib] see http://www.gzip.org/zlib/
=============== =================== ===================================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== =================== ===================================
4 ``U32`` *length*
*length* ``U8`` array *zlibData*
=============== =================== ===================================
The *zlibData*, when uncompressed, represents a rectangle according to
the `Raw Encoding`_.
Tight Encoding
--------------
Tight encoding provides efficient compression for pixel data. To
reduce implementation complexity, the width of any Tight-encoded
rectangle cannot exceed 2048 pixels. If a wider rectangle is desired,
it must be split into several rectangles and each one should be encoded
separately.
The first byte of each Tight-encoded rectangle is a
*compression-control* byte:
=============== =================== ===================================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== =================== ===================================
1 ``U8`` *compression-control*
=============== =================== ===================================
The least significant four bits of the *compression-control* byte
inform the client which zlib compression streams should be reset before
decoding the rectangle. Each bit is independent and corresponds to a
separate zlib stream that should be reset:
================== ====================================================
Bit Description
================== ====================================================
0 Reset stream 0
1 Reset stream 1
2 Reset stream 2
3 Reset stream 3
================== ====================================================
One of three possible compression methods are supported in the Tight
encoding. These are **BasicCompression**, **FillCompression** and
**JpegCompression**. If the bit 7 (the most significant bit) of the
*compression-control* byte is 0, then the compression type is
**BasicCompression**. In that case, bits 7-4 (the most significant four
bits) of *compression-control* should be interpreted as follows:
=============== =================== ===================================
Bits Binary value Description
=============== =================== ===================================
5-4 00 Use stream 0
.. 01 Use stream 1
.. 10 Use stream 2
.. 11 Use stream 3
6 0 ---
.. 1 *read-filter-id*
7 0 **BasicCompression**
=============== =================== ===================================
Otherwise, if the bit 7 of *compression-control* is set to 1, then the
compression method is either **FillCompression**,
**JpegCompression**, or Kasm-specific depending on other bits of the same byte:
=============== =================== ===================================
Bits Binary value Description
=============== =================== ===================================
7-4 1000 **FillCompression**
.. 1001 **JpegCompression**
.. 1011 **WebpCompression**
.. any other Invalid
=============== =================== ===================================
Note: **JpegCompression** may only be used when *bits-per-pixel* is
either 16 or 32 and the client has advertized a quality level using the
`JPEG Quality Level Pseudo-encoding`_.
The Tight encoding makes use of a new type ``TPIXEL`` (Tight pixel).
This is the same as a ``PIXEL`` for the agreed pixel format, except
where *true-colour-flag* is non-zero, *bits-per-pixel* is 32, *depth*
is 24 and all of the bits making up the red, green and blue intensities
are exactly 8 bits wide. In this case a ``TPIXEL`` is only 3 bytes
long, where the first byte is the red component, the second byte is the
green component, and the third byte is the blue component of the pixel
color value.
The data following the *compression-control* byte depends on the
compression method.
**FillCompression**
If the compression type is **FillCompression**, then the only pixel
value follows, in ``TPIXEL`` format. This value applies to all
pixels of the rectangle.
**JpegCompression**
If the compression type is **JpegCompression**, the following data
stream looks like this:
=============== ================ ==================================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== ================ ==================================
1-3 *length* in compact representation
*length* ``U8`` array *jpeg-data*
=============== ================ ==================================
*length* is compactly represented in one, two or three bytes,
according to the following scheme:
=========================== =======================================
Value Description
=========================== =======================================
0xxxxxxx for values 0..127
1xxxxxxx 0yyyyyyy for values 128..16383
1xxxxxxx 1yyyyyyy zzzzzzzz for values 16384..4194303
=========================== =======================================
Here each character denotes one bit, xxxxxxx are the least
significant 7 bits of the value (bits 0-6), yyyyyyy are bits 7-13,
and zzzzzzzz are the most significant 8 bits (bits 14-21). For
example, decimal value 10000 should be represented as two bytes:
binary 10010000 01001110, or hexadecimal 90 4E.
The *jpeg-data* is a JFIF stream.
**BasicCompression**
If the compression type is **BasicCompression** and bit 6 (the
*read-filter-id* bit) of the *compression-control* byte was set to
1, then the next (second) byte specifies *filter-id* which tells
the decoder what filter type was used by the encoder to pre-process
pixel data before the compression. The *filter-id* byte can be one
of the following:
=============== ========= ======== ================================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ========= ======== ================================
1 ``U8`` *filter-id*
.. 0 **CopyFilter** (no filter)
.. 1 **PaletteFilter**
.. 2 **GradientFilter**
=============== ========= ======== ================================
If bit 6 of the *compression-control* byte is set to 0 (no
*filter-id* byte), then the **CopyFilter** is used.
**CopyFilter**
When the **CopyFilter** is active, raw pixel values in
``TPIXEL`` format will be compressed. See below for details on
the compression.
**PaletteFilter**
The **PaletteFilter** converts true-color pixel data to indexed
colors and a palette which can consist of 2..256 colors. If the
number of colors is 2, then each pixel is encoded in 1 bit,
otherwise 8 bits are used to encode one pixel. 1-bit encoding
is performed such way that the most significant bits correspond
to the leftmost pixels, and each row of pixels is aligned to
the byte boundary. When the **PaletteFilter** is used, the
palette is sent before the pixel data. The palette begins with
an unsigned byte which value is the number of colors in the
palette minus 1 (i.e. 1 means 2 colors, 255 means 256 colors in
the palette). Then follows the palette itself which consist of
pixel values in ``TPIXEL`` format.
**GradientFilter**
The **GradientFilter** pre-processes pixel data with a simple
algorithm which converts each color component to a difference
between a "predicted" intensity and the actual intensity. Such
a technique does not affect uncompressed data size, but helps
to compress photo-like images better. Pseudo-code for
converting intensities to differences follows::
P[i,j] := V[i-1,j] + V[i,j-1] - V[i-1,j-1];
if (P[i,j] < 0) then P[i,j] := 0;
if (P[i,j] > MAX) then P[i,j] := MAX;
D[i,j] := V[i,j] - P[i,j];
Here ``V[i,j]`` is the intensity of a color component for a
pixel at coordinates ``(i,j)``. For pixels outside the current
rectangle, ``V[i,j]`` is assumed to be zero (which is relevant
for ``P[i,0]`` and ``P[0,j]``). MAX is the maximum intensity
value for a color component.
Note: The **GradientFilter** may only be used when
*bits-per-pixel* is either 16 or 32.
After the pixel data has been filtered with one of the above three
filters, it is compressed using the zlib library. But if the data
size after applying the filter but before the compression is less
then 12, then the data is sent as is, uncompressed. Four separate
zlib streams (0..3) can be used and the decoder should read the
actual stream id from the *compression-control* byte (see
[NOTE1]_).
If the compression is not used, then the pixel data is sent as is,
otherwise the data stream looks like this:
=============== ================ ==================================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== ================ ==================================
1-3 *length* in compact representation
*length* ``U8`` array *zlibData*
=============== ================ ==================================
*length* is compactly represented in one, two or three bytes, just
like in the **JpegCompression** method (see above).
.. [NOTE1] The decoder must reset the zlib streams before decoding the
rectangle, if some of the bits 0, 1, 2 and 3 in the
*compression-control* byte are set to 1. Note that the decoder must
reset the indicated zlib streams even if the compression type is
**FillCompression** or **JpegCompression**.
zlibhex Encoding
----------------
The zlibhex encoding uses zlib [#zlib]_ to optionally compress
subrectangles according to the `Hextile Encoding`_. Refer to the
hextile encoding for information on how the rectangle is divided into
subrectangles and other basic properties of subrectangles. One zlib
"stream" object is used for subrectangles encoded according to the
**Raw** subencoding and one zlib "stream" object is used for all other
subrectangles.
The hextile subencoding bitfield is extended with these bits:
=============== ======= =========== ===================================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ======= =========== ===================================
1 ``U8`` *subencoding-mask*:
.. 32 **ZlibRaw**
.. 64 **Zlib**
=============== ======= =========== ===================================
If either of the **ZlibRaw** or the **Zlib** bit is set, the
subrectangle is compressed using zlib, like this:
=============== =================== ===================================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== =================== ===================================
2 ``U16`` *length*
*length* ``U8`` array *zlibData*
=============== =================== ===================================
Like the **Raw** bit in hextile, the **ZlibRaw** bit in zlibhex cancels
all other bits and the subrectangle is encoded using the first zlib
"stream" object. The *zlibData*, when uncompressed, should in this case
be interpreted as the **Raw** data in the hextile encoding.
If the **Zlib** bit is set, the rectangle is encoded using the second
zlib "stream" object. The *zlibData*, when uncompressed, represents a
plain hextile rectangle according to the lower 5 bits in the
subencoding.
If neither the **ZlibRaw** nor the **Zlib** bit is set, the
subrectangle follows the rules described in the `Hextile Encoding`_.
ZRLE Encoding
-------------
ZRLE stands for Zlib [#zlib]_ Run-Length Encoding, and combines zlib
compression, tiling, palettisation and run-length encoding. On the
wire, the rectangle begins with a 4-byte length field, and is followed
by that many bytes of zlib-compressed data. A single zlib "stream"
object is used for a given RFB protocol connection, so that ZRLE
rectangles must be encoded and decoded strictly in order.
=============== =================== ===================================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== =================== ===================================
4 ``U32`` *length*
*length* ``U8`` array *zlibData*
=============== =================== ===================================
The *zlibData* when uncompressed represents tiles of 64x64 pixels in
left-to-right, top-to-bottom order, similar to hextile. If the width of
the rectangle is not an exact multiple of 64 then the width of the last
tile in each row is smaller, and if the height of the rectangle is not
an exact multiple of 64 then the height of each tile in the final row
is smaller.
ZRLE makes use of a new type ``CPIXEL`` (compressed pixel). This is the
same as a ``PIXEL`` for the agreed pixel format, except where
*true-colour-flag* is non-zero, *bits-per-pixel* is 32, *depth* is 24
or less and all of the bits making up the red, green and blue
intensities fit in either the least significant 3 bytes or the most
significant 3 bytes. In this case a ``CPIXEL`` is only 3 bytes long,
and contains the least significant or the most significant 3 bytes as
appropriate. *bytesPerCPixel* is the number of bytes in a ``CPIXEL``.
Note that for the corner case where *bits-per-pixel* is 32 and *depth*
is 16 or less (this is a corner case, since the client is **much**
better off using 16 or even 8 *bits-per-pixels*) a ``CPIXEL`` is still
3 bytes long. By convention, the three least significant bytes are used
when both the three least and the three most significant bytes would
cover the used bits.
Each tile begins with a *subencoding* type byte. The top bit of this
byte is set if the tile has been run-length encoded, clear otherwise.
The bottom seven bits indicate the size of the palette used: zero means
no palette, one means that the tile is of a single colour, 2 to 127
indicate a palette of that size. The possible values of *subencoding*
are:
0
Raw pixel data. *width* * *height* pixel values follow (where width
and height are the width and height of the tile):
====================================== ================ ===========
No. of bytes Type Description
====================================== ================ ===========
*width* * *height* * *bytesPerCPixel* ``CPIXEL`` array *pixels*
====================================== ================ ===========
1
A solid tile consisting of a single colour. The pixel value
follows:
========================== ============= ==========================
No. of bytes Type Description
========================== ============= ==========================
*bytesPerCPixel* ``CPIXEL`` *pixelValue*
========================== ============= ==========================
2 to 16
Packed palette types. Followed by the palette, consisting of
*paletteSize* (=*subencoding*) pixel values. Then the packed pixels
follow, each pixel represented as a bit field yielding an index
into the palette (0 meaning the first palette entry). For
*paletteSize* 2, a 1-bit field is used, for *paletteSize* 3 or 4 a
2-bit field is used and for *paletteSize* from 5 to 16 a 4-bit
field is used. The bit fields are packed into bytes, the most
significant bits representing the leftmost pixel (i.e. big endian).
For tiles not a multiple of 8, 4 or 2 pixels wide (as appropriate),
padding bits are used to align each row to an exact number of bytes.
================================= ================== ==============
No. of bytes Type Description
================================= ================== ==============
*paletteSize* * *bytesPerCPixel* ``CPIXEL`` array *palette*
*m* ``U8`` array *packedPixels*
================================= ================== ==============
where *m* is the number of bytes representing the packed pixels.
For *paletteSize* of 2 this is floor((*width* + 7) / 8) * *height*,
for *paletteSize* of 3 or 4 this is
floor((*width* + 3) / 4) * *height*, for *paletteSize* of 5 to 16
this is floor((*width* + 1) / 2) * *height*.
17 to 127
Unused (no advantage over palette RLE).
128
Plain RLE. Consists of a number of runs, repeated until the tile is
done. Runs may continue from the end of one row to the beginning of
the next. Each run is a represented by a single pixel value
followed by the length of the run. The length is represented as one
or more bytes. The length is calculated as one more than the sum of
all the bytes representing the length. Any byte value other than
255 indicates the final byte. So for example length 1 is
represented as [0], 255 as [254], 256 as [255,0], 257 as [255,1],
510 as [255,254], 511 as [255,255,0] and so on.
=================== =============== ======= =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=================== =============== ======= =======================
*bytesPerCPixel* ``CPIXEL`` *pixelValue*
*r* ``U8`` array 255
1 ``U8`` (*runLength* - 1) % 255
=================== =============== ======= =======================
Where *r* is floor((*runLength* - 1) / 255).
129
Unused.
130 to 255
Palette RLE. Followed by the palette, consisting of
*paletteSize* = (*subencoding* - 128) pixel values:
================================= ================== ==============
No. of bytes Type Description
================================= ================== ==============
*paletteSize* * *bytesPerCPixel* ``CPIXEL`` array *palette*
================================= ================== ==============
Then as with plain RLE, consists of a number of runs, repeated
until the tile is done. A run of length one is represented simply
by a palette index:
================================= ================== ==============
No. of bytes Type Description
================================= ================== ==============
1 ``U8`` *paletteIndex*
================================= ================== ==============
A run of length more than one is represented by a palette index
with the top bit set, followed by the length of the run as for
plain RLE.
=================== =============== ======= =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=================== =============== ======= =======================
1 ``U8`` *paletteIndex* + 128
*r* ``U8`` array 255
1 ``U8`` (*runLength* - 1) % 255
=================== =============== ======= =======================
Where *r* is floor((*runLength* - 1) / 255).
JPEG Encoding
-------------
The JPEG encoding uses JPEG format to compress rects. The message is
simply a JPEG image:
=============== ================ ======================================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== ================ ======================================
variable ``U8`` array *data*
=============== ================ ======================================
As defined in the JPEG standard, a JPEG image consists of a sequence of
segments, each of which begins with a marker. The EOF marker indicates
the end of the message. When the segments of
"Define Huffman Tables (DHT)" or "Define Quantization Tables (DQT)"
do not exist, the client should reuse the previous Huffman tables or
quantization tables for decoding.
Open H.264 Encoding
-------------------
The Open H.264 Encoding implements the widely used H.264 format
for efficient rectangle compression for transmission over poor
communication channels.
The message looks like this:
=============== ================ ==================================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== ================ ==================================
4 ``U32`` *length* of *data*
4 ``U32`` *flags*
*length* ``U8`` array *data*
=============== ================ ==================================
The *flags* is used by the server to send additional information
to the client. The current values of the *flags* are listed below.
Unknown flag values should be ignored by the client.
=============== ===================================================
Bit Description
=============== ===================================================
0 **ResetContext**
1 **ResetAllContexts**
2-31 Currently unused
=============== ===================================================
The *data* is one or more H.264 frames glued together in a row.
This encoding prescribes the use of the H.264 baseline profile
for the lowest latency.
Since H.264 is a differential format, this introduces the concept
of context for RFB frame. The context is the state of the H.264
encoder/decoder associated with a particular rectangle. When the server
wants to send an H.264 rectangle, the *rect* coordinates and size
inside a *FrameBufferUpdate* will be used to find the decoder context
in the client. If the client finds a suitable decoder that can be used
for the specified coordinates, the client uses it (and its internal
state) to decode and display the new frame. The client should only
decode frames based on the internal state of the context and ignore
changes in the output buffer that may occur when overlapping of rects.
When new data is received, the client context will redraw its rectangle
and update the previously overlapped data.
The server can use the *flags* to control the contexts of the client.
All currently existing flags must be applied before decoding.
The **ResetContext** flag requires the client to delete the current
context with coordinates specified in *FrameBufferUpdate* and create
a new one. The **ResetAllContexts** flag deletes all client contexts.
The server can send an empty *data* and *length* equal to zero,
in which case the client must interpret this *FramebufferUpdate*
as a control message and apply the *flags*.
The server can send multiple frames in a single *data*, which must be
parsed as a regular H.264 stream. The server is unable to split frames
into multiple packets. The *data* field must always contain 0 or more
whole frames. The client must first decode all the received frames
in a single message, and then display the result.
The server must start sending *data* for the new context from I-frame
to provide correct decoding for the client side.
The client can handle decoding errors at its discretion. However,
the recommended processing method is to ignore and wait for the correct
frame from the server side.
The client must support 64 simultaneously contexts. The server must use
a minimum number of contexts to ensure that a single screen works.
Ideally, one context per screen. When trying to create a new context
beyond 64, the client must destroy the oldest context, then create
the new one. The oldest context is the one that has not received frame
updates for the longest time.
Tight PNG Encoding
-------------------------
The Tight PNG encoding is a variant of the Tight encoding that
disallows the **BasicCompression** type and replaces it with a new
**PngCompression** type. The purpose of this encoding is to support
clients which have efficient PNG decoding/rendering (perhaps even in
hardware) but may have inefficient decoding of the raw zlib data
contained in the **BasicCompression** type.
The Tight PNG encoding is identical to the Tight encoding except that
bit 7-4 of the *compression-control* byte indicate either
**FillCompression**, **JpegCompression**, or **PngCompression** and
are interpreted as follows:
=============== =================== ===================================
Bits Binary value Description
=============== =================== ===================================
7-4 1000 **FillCompression**
.. 1001 **JpegCompression**
.. 1010 **PngCompression**
.. any other Invalid
=============== =================== ===================================
**FillCompression**
Identical to Tight encoding.
**JpegCompression**
Identical to Tight encoding. As with the Tight encoding,
**JpegCompression** may only be used when *bits-per-pixel* is
either 16 or 32 and the client has advertized a quality level
using the `JPEG Quality Level Pseudo-encoding`_
**PngCompression**
If the compression type is **PngCompression**, the data stream is
the same as **JpegCompression** (as defined in the Tight encoding)
except that the *jpeg-data* is replaced by *png-data* which is
image data in the PNG (Portable Network Graphics) format.
Pseudo-encodings
++++++++++++++++
JPEG Quality Level Pseudo-encoding
----------------------------------
Specifies the desired quality from the JPEG encoder. Encoding number
-23 implies high JPEG quality and -32 implies low JPEG quality. Low
quality can be useful in low bandwidth situations. If the JPEG quality
level is not specified, **JpegCompression** is not used in the `Tight
Encoding`_.
The quality level concerns lossy compression and hence the setting is a
tradeoff between image quality and bandwidth. The specification defines
neither what bandwidth is required at a certain quality level nor what
image quality you can expect. The quality level is also just a hint to
the server.
Cursor Pseudo-encoding
-----------------------
A client which requests the *Cursor* pseudo-encoding is declaring that
it is capable of drawing a mouse cursor locally. This can significantly
improve perceived performance over slow links. The server sets the
cursor shape by sending a pseudo-rectangle with the *Cursor*
pseudo-encoding as part of an update. The pseudo-rectangle's
*x-position* and *y-position* indicate the hotspot of the cursor, and
*width* and *height* indicate the width and height of the cursor in
pixels. The data consists of *width* * *height* pixel values followed
by a bitmask. The bitmask consists of left-to-right, top-to-bottom
scanlines, where each scanline is padded to a whole number of bytes
floor((*width* + 7) / 8). Within each byte the most significant bit
represents the leftmost pixel, with a 1-bit meaning the corresponding
pixel in the cursor is valid.
====================================== ================ ===============
No. of bytes Type Description
====================================== ================ ===============
*width* * *height* * *bytesPerPixel* ``PIXEL`` array *cursor-pixels*
floor((*width* + 7) / 8) * *height* ``U8`` array *bitmask*
====================================== ================ ===============
X Cursor Pseudo-encoding
------------------------
A client which requests the *X Cursor* pseudo-encoding is declaring
that it is capable of drawing a mouse cursor locally. This can
significantly improve perceived performance over slow links. The
server sets the cursor shape by sending a pseudo-rectangle with the
*X Cursor* pseudo-encoding as part of an update.
The pseudo-rectangle's *x-position* and *y-position* indicate the
hotspot of the cursor, and *width* and *height* indicate the width and
height of the cursor in pixels.
If either *width* or *height* is zero then there is no data associated
with the pseudo-rectangle. Otherwise the data consists of the primary
and secondary colours for the cursor, followed by one bitmap for the
colour and one bitmask for the transparency. The bitmap and bitmask
both consist of left-to-right, top-to-bottom scanlines, where each
scanline is padded to a whole number of bytes floor((*width* + 7) / 8).
Within each byte the most significant bit represents the leftmost
pixel, with a 1-bit meaning the corresponding pixel should use the
primary colour, or that the pixel is valid.
====================================== ================ ===============
No. of bytes Type Description
====================================== ================ ===============
1 ``U8`` *primary-r*
1 ``U8`` *primary-g*
1 ``U8`` *primary-b*
1 ``U8`` *secondary-r*
1 ``U8`` *secondary-g*
1 ``U8`` *secondary-b*
floor((*width* + 7) / 8) * *height* ``U8`` array *bitmap*
floor((*width* + 7) / 8) * *height* ``U8`` array *bitmask*
====================================== ================ ===============
DesktopSize Pseudo-encoding
---------------------------
A client which requests the *DesktopSize* pseudo-encoding is declaring
that it is capable of coping with a change in the framebuffer width
and/or height.
The server changes the desktop size by sending a pseudo-rectangle with
the *DesktopSize* pseudo-encoding. The pseudo-rectangle's *x-position*
and *y-position* are ignored, and *width* and *height* indicate the new
width and height of the framebuffer. There is no further data
associated with the pseudo-rectangle.
The semantics of the *DesktopSize* pseudo-encoding were originally not
clearly defined and as a results there are multiple differing
implementations in the wild. Both the client and server need to take
special steps to ensure maximum compatibility.
In the initial implementation the *DesktopSize* pseudo-rectangle was
sent in its own update without any modifications to the framebuffer
data. The client would discard the framebuffer contents upon receiving
this pseudo-rectangle and the server would consider the entire
framebuffer to be modified.
A later implementation sent the *DesktopSize* pseudo-rectangle together
with modifications to the framebuffer data. It also expected the client
to retain the framebuffer contents as those modifications could be from
after the framebuffer resize had occurred on the server.
The semantics defined here retain compatibility with both of two older
implementations.
Server Semantics
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The update containing the pseudo-rectangle should not contain any
rectangles that change the framebuffer data as that will most likely be
discarded by the client and will have to be resent later.
The server should assume that the client discards the framebuffer data
when receiving a *DesktopSize* pseudo-rectangle. It should therefore
not use any encoding that relies on the previous contents of the
framebuffer. The server should also consider the entire framebuffer to
be modified.
Some early client implementations require the *DesktopSize*
pseudo-rectangle to be the very last rectangle in an update. Servers
should make every effort to support these.
The server should only send a *DesktopSize* pseudo-rectangle when an
actual change of the framebuffer dimensions has occurred. Some clients
respond to a *DesktopSize* pseudo-rectangle in a way that could send
the system into an infinite loop if the server sent out the
pseudo-rectangle for anything other than an actual change.
Client Semantics
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The client should assume that the server expects the framebuffer data
to be retained when the framebuffer dimensions change. This requirement
can be satisfied either by actually retaining the framebuffer data, or
by making sure that *incremental* is set to zero (false) in the next
*FramebufferUpdateRequest*.
The principle of one framebuffer update being a transition from one
valid state to another does not hold for updates with the *DesktopSize*
pseudo-rectangle as the framebuffer contents can temporarily be
partially or completely undefined. Clients should try to handle this
gracefully, e.g. by showing a black framebuffer or delay the screen
update until a proper update of the framebuffer contents has been
received.
LastRect Pseudo-encoding
------------------------
A client which requests the *LastRect* pseudo-encoding is declaring
that it does not need the exact number of rectangles in a
*FramebufferUpdate* message. Instead, it will stop parsing when it
reaches a *LastRect* rectangle. A server may thus start transmitting
the *FramebufferUpdate* message before it knows exactly how many
rectangles it is going to transmit, and the server typically advertises
this situation by saying that it is going to send 65535 rectangles,
but it then stops with a *LastRect* instead of sending all of them.
There is no further data associated with the pseudo-rectangle.
Compression Level Pseudo-encoding
---------------------------------
Specifies the desired compression level. Encoding number -247 implies
high compression level, -256 implies low compression level. Low
compression level can be useful to get low latency in medium to high
bandwidth situations and high compression level can be useful in low
bandwidth situations.
The compression level concerns the general tradeoff between CPU time
and bandwidth. It is therefore probably difficult to define exact
cut-off points for which compression levels should be used for any
given bandwidth. The compression level is just a hint for the server,
and there is no specification for what a specific compression level
means.
Most servers use this hint to control lossless compression algorithms
as the tradeoff between CPU time and bandwidth is obvious there.
However it can also be used for other algorithms where this tradeoff is
relevant.
QEMU Pointer Motion Change Pseudo-encoding
------------------------------------------
A client that supports this encoding declares that is able to send
pointer motion events either as absolute coordinates, or relative
deltas. The server can switch between different pointer motion modes
by sending a rectangle with this encoding. If the *x-position* in
the update is 1, the server is requesting absolute coordinates, which
is the RFB protocol default when this encoding is not supported. If
the *x-position* in the update is 0, the server is requesting relative
deltas.
When relative delta mode is active, the semantics of the
`PointerEvent`_ message are changed. The *x-position* and *y-position*
fields are to be treated as ``S16`` quantities, denoting the delta
from the last position. A client can compute the signed deltas with
the logic::
uint16 dx = x + 0x7FFF - last_x
uint16 dy = y + 0x7FFF - last_y
If the client needs to send an updated *button-mask* without
any associated motion, it should use the value 0x7FFF in the
*x-position* and *y-position* fields of the `PointerEvent`_
Servers are advised to implement this pseudo-encoding if the virtual
desktop is associated a input device that expects relative coordinates,
for example, a virtual machine with a PS/2 mouse. Prior to this
extension, a server with such a input device would have to perform the
absolute to relative delta conversion itself. This can result in the
client pointer hitting an "invisible wall".
Clients are advised that when generating events in relative pointer
mode, they should grab and hide the local pointer. When the local
pointer hits any edge of the client window, it should be warped
back by 100 pixels. This ensures that continued movement of the
user's input device will continue to generate relative deltas and
thus avoid the "invisible wall" problem.
QEMU Extended Key Event Pseudo-encoding
---------------------------------------
A client that supports this encoding is indicating that it is able
to provide raw keycodes as an alternative to keysyms. If a server
wishes to receive raw keycodes it will send an empty pseudo-rectangle
with the matching pseudo-encoding. After receiving this notification,
clients may optionally use the `QEMU Extended Key Event Message`_ to
send key events, in preference to the traditional `KeyEvent`_ message.
QEMU Audio Pseudo-encoding
--------------------------
A client that supports this encoding is indicating that it is able
to receive an audio data stream. If a server wishes to send audio
data it will send an empty pseudo-rectangle with the matching
pseudo-encoding. After receiving this notification, clients may
optionally use the `QEMU Audio Client Message`_.
QEMU LED State Pseudo-encoding
------------------------------
A client that supports this encoding is indicating that it can toggle
the state of lock keys on the local keyboard. The server will send a
pseudo-rectangle with the following contents when it wishes to update
the client's state:
=============== =================== ===================================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== =================== ===================================
1 ``U8`` *state*
=============== =================== ===================================
The bits of *state* are defined as:
=============== =======================================================
Bit Description
=============== =======================================================
0 Scroll Lock
1 Num Lock
2 Caps Lock
=============== =======================================================
The remaining bits are reserved and must be ignored.
An update must be sent whenever the server state changes, but may also
be sent at other times to compensate for variance in behaviour between
the server and client keyboard handling.
gii Pseudo-encoding
-------------------
A client that supports the General Input Interface extension starts by
requesting the *gii* pseudo-encoding declaring that it is capable of
accepting the `gii Server Message`_. The server, in turn, declares that
it is capable of accepting the `gii Client Message`_ by sending a `gii
Server Message`_ of subtype *version*.
Requesting the *gii* pseudo-encoding is the first step when a client
wants to use the *gii* extension of the RFB protocol. The *gii*
extension is used to provide a more powerful input protocol for cases
where the standard input model is insufficient. It supports relative
mouse movements, mouses with more than 8 buttons and mouses with more
than three axes. It even supports joysticks and gamepads.
DesktopName Pseudo-encoding
---------------------------
A client which requests the DesktopName pseudo-encoding is declaring
that it is capable of coping with a change of the desktop name. The
server changes the desktop name by sending a pseudo-rectangle with the
DesktopName pseudo-encoding in an update. The pseudo-rectangle's
x-position, y-position, width, and height must be zero. After the
rectangle header, a string with the new name follows.
=============== =================== ===================================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== =================== ===================================
4 ``U32`` *name-length*
*name-length* ``U8`` array *name-string*
=============== =================== ===================================
The text encoding used for *name-string* is UTF-8.
ExtendedDesktopSize Pseudo-encoding
-----------------------------------
A client which requests the *ExtendedDesktopSize* pseudo-encoding is
declaring that it is capable of coping with a change in the
framebuffer width, height, and/or screen configuration. This encoding
is used in conjunction with the *SetDesktopSize* message. If a server
supports the *ExtendedDesktopSize* encoding, it must also have basic
support for the *SetDesktopSize* message although it may deny all
requests to change the screen layout.
The *ExtendedDesktopSize* pseudo-encoding is designed to replace the
simpler *DesktopSize* one. Servers and clients should support both for
maximum compatibility, but a server must only send the extended
version to a client asking for both. The semantics of *DesktopSize* are
not as well-defined as for *ExtendedDesktopSize* and handling both at
the same time would require needless complexity in the client.
The server must send an *ExtendedDesktopSize* rectangle in response to
a *FramebufferUpdateRequest* with *incremental* set to zero, assuming
the client has requested the *ExtendedDesktopSize* pseudo-encoding
using the *SetEncodings* message. This requirement is needed so that
the client has a reliable way of fetching the initial screen
configuration, and to determine if the server supports the
*SetDesktopSize* message.
A consequence of this is that a client must not respond to an
*ExtendedDesktopSize* rectangle by sending a *FramebufferUpdateRequest*
with *incremental* set to zero. Doing so would make the system go into
an infinite loop.
The server must also send an *ExtendedDesktopSize* rectangle in
response to a *SetDesktopSize* message, indicating the result.
For a full description of server behaviour as a result of the
*SetDesktopSize* message, see `SetDesktopSize`_.
Rectangles sent as a result of a *SetDesktopSize* message must be sent
as soon as possible. Rectangles sent for other reasons may be subjected
to delays imposed by the server.
An update containing an *ExtendedDesktopSize* rectangle must not
contain any changes to the framebuffer data, neither before nor after
the *ExtendedDesktopSize* rectangle.
The pseudo-rectangle's *x-position* indicates the reason for the
change:
0
The screen layout was changed via non-RFB means on the server. For
example the server may have provided means for server-side
applications to manipulate the screen layout. This code is also
used when the client sends a non-incremental
*FrameBufferUpdateRequest* to learn the server's current state.
1
The client receiving this message requested a change of the screen
layout. The change may or may not have happened depending on server
policy or available resources. The status code in the *y-position*
field must be used to determine which.
2
Another client requested a change of the screen layout and the
server approved it. A rectangle with this code is never sent if the
server denied the request.
More reasons may be added in the future. Clients should treat an
unknown value as a server-side change (i.e. as if *x-position* was set
to zero).
The pseudo-rectangle's *y-position* indicates the status code for a
change requested by a client:
======= ===============================================================
Code Description
======= ===============================================================
0 No error
1 Resize is administratively prohibited
2 Out of resources
3 Invalid screen layout
4 Request forwarded (might complete asyncronously)
======= ===============================================================
This field shall be set to zero by the server and ignored by clients
when not defined. Other error codes may be added in the future and
clients must treat them as an unknown failure.
The "Request forwarded" error code is used when the server is not in
direct control of the screen layout and is unable to determine if the
request will succeed or not. An example for this situation is a
virtual machine monitor like qemu which can only forward the request
to the guest, but it is in the hands of the guest to actually respond
to the request. In case the request succeeds the server will send
another *ExtendedDesktopSize* message. Note that there can be a
longer delay and even continuous screen updates before the request
succeeds, for example in case the request comes in while the guest is
booting.
The *width* and *height* indicates the new width and height of the
framebuffer.
The encoding data is defined as:
=========================== =================== =======================
No. of bytes Type Description
=========================== =================== =======================
1 ``U8`` *number-of-screens*
3 *padding*
*number-of-screens* * 16 ``SCREEN`` array *screens*
=========================== =================== =======================
The *number-of-screens* field indicates the number of active screens
and allows for multi head configurations. It also indicates how many
``SCREEN`` structures follow, which define the position and dimensions
of heads within the framebuffer extents. The semantics of screens are
defined in `Screen Model`_. The ``SCREEN`` structures are defined as:
=============== =============================== =======================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== =============================== =======================
4 ``U32`` *id*
2 ``U16`` *x-position*
2 ``U16`` *y-position*
2 ``U16`` *width*
2 ``U16`` *height*
4 ``U32`` *flags*
=============== =============================== =======================
The *id* field contains an arbitrary value that the server and client
can use to map RFB screens to physical screens. The value must be
unique in the current set of screens and must be preserved for the
lifetime of that RFB screen. New ids are assigned by whichever side
creates the screen. An *id* may be reused if there has been a subsequent
update of the screen layout where the *id* was not used.
The *flags* field is currently unused. Clients and servers must ignore,
but preserve, any bits it does not understand. For new screens, those
bits must be set to zero.
Note that a simple client which does not support multi head does not
need to parse the list of screens and can simply display the entire
framebuffer whose extents were given by the *width* and *height*
field of the ``FramebufferUpdate`` message.
xvp Pseudo-encoding
-------------------
A client which requests the *xvp* pseudo-encoding is declaring that it
wishes to use the *xvp* extension. If the server supports this, it
replies with a message of type `xvp Server Message`_, using an
*xvp-message-code* of *XVP_INIT*. This informs the client that it may
then subsequently send messages of type `xvp Client Message`_.
Fence Pseudo-encoding
---------------------
A client which requests the *Fence* pseudo-encoding is declaring that
it supports and/or wishes to use the *Fence* extension. The server
should send a `ServerFence`_ the first time it sees a ``SetEncodings``
message with the *Fence* pseudo-encoding, in order to inform the client
that this extension is supported. The message can use any flags or
payload.
ContinuousUpdates Pseudo-encoding
---------------------------------
A client which requests the *ContinuousUpdates* pseudo-encoding is
declaring that it wishes to use the `EnableContinuousUpdates`_
extension. The server must send a `EndOfContinuousUpdates`_ message the
first time it sees a ``SetEncodings`` message with the
*ContinuousUpdates* pseudo-encoding, in order to inform the client that
the extension is supported.
Cursor With Alpha Pseudo-encoding
---------------------------------
A client which requests the *Cursor With Alpha* pseudo-encoding is
declaring that it is capable of drawing a mouse cursor locally. This can
significantly improve perceived performance over slow links. The server
sets the cursor shape by sending a pseudo-rectangle with the *Cursor
With Alpha* pseudo-encoding as part of an update. The
pseudo-rectangle's *x-position* and *y-position* indicate the hotspot of
the cursor, and *width* and *height* indicate the width and height of
the cursor in pixels. The data consists of the following header:
====================================== ================ ===============
No. of bytes Type Description
====================================== ================ ===============
4 ``S32`` *encoding*
====================================== ================ ===============
It is followed by *width* * *height* pixels values encoded according to
*encoding*. The pixel format is always 32 bits with 8 bits for each
channel in the order red, green, blue, alpha. Alpha is pre-multiplied
for each colour channel.
The server is free to use any encoding that the client has specified as
supported. However some encodings may be unsuitable as they cannot
include the extra bits that are used for alpha. Also note that the data
used for the cursor shares state with other rects. E.g. the zlib stream
for a ZRLE encoding is the same as for data rects.
JPEG Fine-Grained Quality Level Pseudo-encoding
-----------------------------------------------
The JPEG Fine-Grained Quality Level pseudo-encoding allows the image
quality to be specified on a 0 to 100 scale, with -512 corresponding to image
quality 0 and -412 corresponding to image quality 100. This pseudo-encoding
was originally intended for use with JPEG-encoded subrectangles, but it could
be used with other types of image encoding as well.
JPEG Subsampling Level Pseudo-Encoding
--------------------------------------
The JPEG Subsampling Level pseudo-encoding allows the level of chrominance
subsampling to be specified. When a JPEG image is encoded, the RGB pixels are
first converted to YCbCr, a colorspace in which brightness (luminance) is
separated from color (chrominance). Since the human eye is more sensitive to
spatial changes in brightness than to spatial changes in color, the chrominance
components (Cb, Cr) can be subsampled to save bandwidth without losing much
image quality (on smooth images, such as photographs, chrominance subsampling
is often not distinguishable by the human eye). Subsampling can be implemented
either by averaging together groups of chrominance components or by simply
picking one component from the group and discarding the rest.
The values for this pseudo-encoding are defined as follows:
-768 = 1X chrominance subsampling (no chrominance subsampling).
Chrominance components are sent for every pixel in the source image.
-767 = 4X chrominance subsampling. Chrominance components are sent for every
fourth pixel in the source image. This would typically be implemented
using 4:2:0 subsampling (2X subsampling in both X and Y directions), but
it could also be implemented using 4:1:1 subsampling (4X subsampling in
the X direction.)
-766 = 2X chrominance subsampling. Chrominance components are sent for every
other pixel in the source image. This would typically be implemented
using 4:2:2 subsampling (2X subsampling in the X direction.)
-765 = Grayscale. All chrominance components in the source image are
discarded.
-764 = 8X chrominance subsampling. Chrominance components are sent for every
8th pixel in the source image. This would typically be implemented
using 4:1:0 subsampling (4X subsampling in the X direction and 2X
subsampling in the Y direction.)
-763 = 16X chrominance subsampling. Chrominance components are sent for every
16th pixel in the source image. This would typically be implemented
using 4X subsampling in both X and Y directions.
This pseudo-encoding was originally intended for use with JPEG-encoded
subrectangles, but it could be used with other types of image encoding as well.
Kasm-specific pseudo-encodings
------------------------------
These allow remote configuration of some properties, in case the server allows
it. For the interpretation of these values, see the man page and server config
docs.
Video time = 0-100
Video area = 1-100
Dynamic quality max = 0-9
Dynamic quality min = 0-9
Prefer bandwidth over quality = bool
Treat lossless = 0-10
Webp video quality = 0-9
Jpeg video quality = 0-9
Webp support = bool
Video out time = 1-100
Video scaling = 0-9, currently 0-2 defined
Max video resolution = bool
Frame rate = 10-60
VMware Cursor Pseudo-encoding
-----------------------------
A server sets the cursor shape by sending a pseudo-rectangle with the
VMware Cursor pseudo-encoding as part of an update. The
pseudo-rectangle's *x-position* and *y-position* indicate the hotspot
of the cursor, and *width* and *height* indicate the width and height
of the cursor in pixels.
The data starts with a *cursor-type* byte followed by padding:
=============== ==================== =======================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== ==================== =======================
1 ``U8`` *cursor-type*
1 ``U8`` padding
=============== ==================== =======================
The value of *cursor-type* is either 0 to indicate a 'classic' cursor
which consists of an AND mask and a XOR mask, or 1 indicate an alpha
cursor.
The data for a classic cursor consists two sets of *width* * *height*
pixel values, defining an AND mask and a XOR mask:
======================================= =================== =============
No. of bytes Type Description
======================================= =================== =============
*width* * *height* * *bytesPerPixel* ``PIXEL`` array *and-mask*
*width* * *height* * *bytesPerPixel* ``PIXEL`` array *xor-mask*
======================================= =================== =============
Classic cursors can be drawn using the following code:
::
dst[i] = (dst[i] & and-mask[i]) ^ xor-mask[i];
The data for an alpha cursor consists of *width* * *height* RGBA pixel
values:
======================================= =================== ==============
No. of bytes Type Description
======================================= =================== ==============
*width* * *height* * 4 ``U8`` array *cursor bytes*
======================================= =================== ==============
Alpha cursors should be drawn by compositing the cursor image into the
framebuffer.
VMware Cursor State Pseudo-encoding
-----------------------------------
A server sets the cursor state by sending a pseudo-rectangle with the
VMware Cursor State pseudo-encoding as part of an update.
=============== ==================== =======================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== ==================== =======================
2 ``U16`` *cursor-state*
=============== ==================== =======================
*cursor-state* is a bit-field which describes the state of the cursor:
=============== =======================================================
Bit Description
=============== =======================================================
0 Cursor visible.
1 Cursor absolute.
2 Cursor wrap.
=============== =======================================================
If cursor visible is not set, the cursor should not be rendered into
the framebuffer until another cursor state message is received that
turns the cursor back on.
The cursor absolute bit indicates whether the virtual machine is using
an absolute or relative mouse.
The cursor warp bit is set when the virtual machine artificially moves
the position of the cursor. This value is for information purposes
only.
VMware Cursor Position Pseudo-encoding
--------------------------------------
A server updates the cursor position by sending a pseudo-rectangle with
the VMware Cursor Position pseudo-encoding. The *x-position* and
*y-position* define the new position of the cursor hot spot (not the
the top left corner of cursor image).
VMware Key Repeat Pseudo-encoding
---------------------------------
The server notifies the client of changes to the keyboard key repeat by
sending a pseudo-rectangle with the VMware Key Repeat
pseudo-encoding. It is used to determine whether the client or server
should handle the key repeat.
=============== ==================== =======================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== ==================== =======================
2 ``U16`` *key-repeat-enabled*
4 ``U32`` *period*
4 ``U32`` *delay*
=============== ==================== =======================
*key-repeat-enabled* is 1 if the VNC client should handle key
repeat, 0 if the server handles key repeat.
*period* defines the period to wait between key repeats.
*delay* defines the delay for the first key repeat.
VMware LED State Pseudo-encoding
---------------------------------
The server sends a pseudo-rectangle with the VMware LED State
pseudo-encoding to toggle the state of lock keys on the keyboard.
This pseudo-rectangle has the following contents:
=============== ==================== =======================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== ==================== =======================
4 ``U32`` *led-flags*
=============== ==================== =======================
*led-flags* is a bitmask which defines whether a keyboard LED is on or
off.
=============== =======================================================
Bit Description
=============== =======================================================
0 Scroll Lock
1 Num Lock
2 Caps Lock
=============== =======================================================
The remaining bits are reserved and must be ignored.
VMware Display Mode Change Pseudo-encoding
------------------------------------------
The server changes the desktop size by sending a pseudo-rectangle with
the VMware Display Mode Change pseudo-encoding.
This encoding is used for scenarios not addressed by the
`DesktopSize Pseudo-encoding`_.
Specifically, the `DesktopSize Pseudo-encoding`_ does not allow the VNC
server to redefine both the color depth and size of the framebuffer.
This is useful when the client prefers to receive the framebuffer
native color depth at all times. It is defined to be similar to the
ServerInitialisation header to facilitate client implementations.
The new pixel format takes effect immediately after the server sends
a pseudo-rectangle with the VMware Display Mode Change pseudo-encoding.
The *width* and *height* of the pseudo-rectangle specify the new width
and height of the display. The rest of the format is described below:
=============== ==================== =======================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== ==================== =======================
1 ``U8`` *bits-per-sample*
1 ``U8`` *depth*
1 ``U8`` *color*
1 ``U8`` *true-color*
2 ``U16`` *max-red*
2 ``U16`` *max-green*
2 ``U16`` *max-blue*
1 ``U8`` *red-shift*
1 ``U8`` *green-shift*
1 ``U8`` *blue-shift*
3 padding
=============== ==================== =======================
VMware Virtual Machine State Pseudo-encoding
--------------------------------------------
The server sends a pseudo-rectangle with the VMware Virtual Machine
State pseudo-encoding to notify the client of changes in the Virtual
Machine state.
=============== ==================== =======================
No. of bytes Type Description
=============== ==================== =======================
2 ``U16`` *vm-state-flags*
=============== ==================== =======================
*vm-state-flags* is a bitmask field. These flags describe the virtual
machine state.
=============== =======================================================
Bit Description
=============== =======================================================
0 A end-user sitting at a local virtual machine console has entered fullscreen mode.
1 A end-user sitting at a local virtual machine console has temporarily disabled VNC updates.
=============== =======================================================
Extended Clipboard Pseudo-Encoding
----------------------------------
A client which requests the *Extended Clipboard* pseudo-encoding is
declaring that it supports the extended versions of the
`ClientCutText`_ and `ServerCutText`_ messages.
The format of these messages are altered so that *length* is now signed
rather than unsigned:
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
1 ``U8`` 6/3 *message-type*
3 *padding*
4 ``S32`` *length*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
A positive value of *length* indicates that the message follows the
original format with 8859-1 text data:
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
*length* ``U8`` array *text*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
A negative value of *length* indicates that the extended message format
is used and *abs(length)* is the total number of following bytes.
All messages start with a header:
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
4 ``U32`` *flags*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
The bits of *flags* have the following meaning:
=============== =======================================================
Bit Description
=============== =======================================================
0 *text*
1 *rtf*
2 *html*
3 *dib*
4 *files*
5-15 Reserved for future formats
16-23 Reserved
24 *caps*
25 *request*
26 *peek*
27 *notify*
28 *provide*
29-31 Reserved for future actions
=============== =======================================================
The different formats are:
*text*
Plain, unformatted text using the UTF-8 encoding. End of line is
represented by carriage-return and linefeed / newline pairs (values
13 and 10). The text must be followed by a terminating null even
though the length is also explicitly given.
*rtf*
Microsoft Rich Text Format.
*html*
Microsoft HTML clipboard fragments.
*dib*
Microsoft Device Independent Bitmap v5. A file header must not be
included.
*files*
Currently reserved but not defined.
If *caps* is set then the other bits indicate which formats and actions
that the sender is willing to receive. Following *flags* is an array
indicating the maximing unsolicited size for each format:
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
*formats* * 4 ``U32`` array *sizes*
=============== ==================== ========== =======================
The number of entries in *sizes* corresponds to the number of format
bits set in *flags* (bit 0-15).
The server must send a `ServerCutText`_ message with *caps* set on each
`SetEncodings`_ message received which includes the *Extended
Clipboard* pseudo-encoding.
The client may send a `ClientCutText`_ message with *caps* set back to
indicate its capabilities. Otherwise the client is assumed to support
*text*, *rtf*, *html*, *request*, *notify* and *provide* and a maximum
size of 20 MiB for *text* and 0 bytes for the other types.
Note that it is recommended to set all sizes to 0 bytes to force all
clipboard updates to be sent in the form of a *notify* action. Failing
to do so makes it ambiguous if an incoming message indicates a
completely new set of formats, or an update to previous formats caused
by size restrictions. It may be possible to also resolve this ambiguity
using *peek* actions.
Also be aware that there are some implementations that deviate from the
behaviour specified here. The prominent changes are that *dib* is also
in the default set of supported formats, that default limits are now
10 MiB for *text*, 2 MiB for *rtf* and *html*, and 0 bytes for *dib*,
and that the client ignores the advertised formats and maximum sizes
given in the *caps* message.
If *caps* is not set then only one of the other actions (bit 24-31) may
be set.
*request*
The recipient should respond with a *provide* message with the
clipboard data for the formats indicated in *flags*. No other data
is provided with this message.
*peek*
The recipient should send a new *notify* message indicating which
formats are available. No other bits in *flags* need to be set and
no other data is provided with this message.
*notify*
This message indicates which formats are available on the remote
side and should be sent whenever the clipboard changes, or as a
response to a *peek* message. The available formats are specified
in *flags* and no other data is provided with this message.
*provide*
This message includes the actual clipboard data and should be sent
whenever the clipboard changes and the data for each format is less
than the respective specified maximum size, or as a response to a
*request* message.
The header is followed by a Zlib [#zlib]_ stream which contains a
pair of *size* and *data* for each format indicated in *caps*:
=============== ==================== ========== ===================
No. of bytes Type [Value] Description
=============== ==================== ========== ===================
4 ``U32`` *size*
*size* ``U8`` array *data*
=============== ==================== ========== ===================
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