1. aplay and puluse audio: add to,tcs3 to the following group in /etc/groups: pulse:x:495:to,tcs3 pulse-access:x:494:to,tcs3 audio:x:63:to,tcs3 On centos 6: or NOT? also need to start pulseaudio before the IC: /usr/bin/pulseaudio --start aplay /home/to/dev/ic/audio/wav/warning.wav On centos 7: pulse-audio issue: on some ssh pulse audio files to run "connection refused". solution#1: seem like pulse audio fails if XForwarding is enable. ssh -x $HOST -l $USER allow aplay to work. (this could be done for the IC). OR solution#2 "pax11publish -r". ref: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=812557 ie: pax11publish -r ; aplay current/ic/audio/wav/warning.wav 2. Notes on getting PulseAudio to run as system-wide Deamon. By default, sound is only allow by the user logged into the desktop. (did not try this, I will use the current model of using KVM to TO Desk). Ref: https://rudd-o.com/linux-and-free-software/how-to-make-pulseaudio-run-once-at-boot-for-all-your-users https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/PulseAudio/Documentation/User/SystemWide/ 1. Using the build in vnc server with X11: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=168756 # install the x11 vnc module yum install tigervnc-server-module # create file to load vnc module with X11 vi /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/40-vnc.conf Section "Module" Load "vnc" EndSection Section "Screen" Identifier "Default Screen" Option "PasswordFile" "/root/root/.vnc/passwd" EndSection # create the password file: vncpasswd /root/root/.vnc/passwd reboot # after the reboot you should be able to connect to the console using a vnc viewer: vncviewer myhost:0 (NOT WORKING - vncviewer has black screen, but tracks and follow the mouse pointer).