Shared Device Lists - new in RealVNC Viewer 7.13.0

From RealVNC Viewer 7.13.0 onwards, RealVNC Viewer includes the Shared Device Lists feature.

Shared Device Lists allow offline/on-premise users to easily create, manage and share connections with other RealVNC Viewer users on the same device or on multiple devices on the same network. It works by populating folder(s) with connection files (.vnc files) and then configuring RealVNC Viewer to read from these folders.

Enabling Shared Device Lists

Setting the OfflineTeams parameter

To enable Shared Device Lists, you need to set the OfflineTeams parameter in RealVNC Viewer. The parameter accepts a comma-separated list of file paths, which can be both local and network (UNC) paths.

In the below screenshot, RealVNC Viewer has been configured to read from a folder named Shared Device List on a network fileserver.

Viewing your Shared Device Lists

When RealVNC Viewer launches, you will see your specified folder(s) appear in the left sidebar underneath the Address Book section.

Enabling multiple Shared Device Lists and subfolders

You can have multiple Shared Device Lists by separating each folder path with a comma in the OfflineTeams parameter, as well as creating one level of subfolders within a Shared Device List:

Populating Shared Device Lists

The easiest way to populate a Shared Device List is to use your existing connections from RealVNC Viewer and export them using the steps below:

1. Click Address Book on the left side menu of RealVNC Viewer
2. Click File (RealVNC Viewer on macOS), then Export Connections
3. Navigate to and select the folder you set in the OfflineTeams parameter, and click Next
4. Ensure passwords are not exported, then click Export
5. Click Show in folder to see the exported connections
6. Click Done

Once exported, you can review the exported files, as well as edit them in a text editor application, for example if you need to change the RealVNC Server address for a particular entry (this is the Host line in the connection file).

Whenever files in the Shared Device List folder(s) are added, removed, or changed, RealVNC Viewer will update the Shared Device List section(s) automatically.

Older versions of RealVNC Viewer (pre-7.13.0)

Older versions of RealVNC Viewer only support a local address book. This article presents two possible solutions if local address book sharing between multiple users is desired.

Working with RealVNC Connection Files

RealVNC Viewer connection files are stored in the following directory for each user on a device that has the RealVNC Viewer installed.

C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\RealVNC\ViewerStore. 

They are saved as [identifier].vnc files.

These individual files can be imported into a different user's RealVNC Viewer by using the File -> Import menu in RealVNC Viewer, or by copying the files to the user profile at C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\RealVNC\ViewerStore .

Note on macOS and Linux, the filepath is /home/[username]/.vnc/ViewerStore

Shared Address Book Option 1 - Shared File Location

Copy the desired .vnc files to a shared location.  If the users have access to this location via a mapped drive or network share, the users can simply double-click on a connection file to launch it in RealVNC Viewer.

This, however, does not add the connection into their RealVNC Viewer's address book, nor does it allow the user to save the password (if the connection hasn't been exported with the credentials saved).

Shared Address Book Option 2 - Symbolic Link

A symbolic link can be used to create a link from a user's folder to a shared folder. For example:

C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\RealVNC\ViewerStore --> Z:\VNC Address Book (This assumes a persistent mapped drive to Z:\Address Book.)

In PowerShell this symbolic link can be created using this command:

New-Item -ItemType SymbolicLink -Path "C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\RealVNC\ViewerStore" -Target "Z:\VNC Address Book"

We recommend setting PasswordStoreOffer (File -> Preferences -> Expert) in VNC Viewer to False, to prevent users logging with other user's saved credentials.

Note: For additional information on creating symbolic links, please reference Microsoft's help page here