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How to Install & Configure VNC Server on Ubuntu 22.04|20.04

How to Install & Configure VNC Server on Ubuntu 20.04
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VNC (Virtual Network Computing) is a visual connection system that enables you to interact with the graphical desktop environment of a remote PC using a mouse and a keyboard.

If you have worked with Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) before, think of VNC as an open-source alternative.

VNC is quite a lifesaver for many who are not comfortable working from the command-line and need to manage files, install software and configure settings on a remote server.

In this tutorial we will go step-by-step through installing and configuring the VNC Server on an Ubuntu 22.04 or 20.04 machine, and we’ll look at how we can connect to it via VNC desktop client on our other PC using a secure SSH tunnel.

We will also install some of the most popular desktop environments and configure the VNC server to use them.

Let’s dive in and get started.

Table of Contents
  1. Prerequisites
  2. Step 1: Install a Desktop Environment
  3. Step 2: Install VNC server
    1. Install TigerVNC on Ubuntu
  4. Step 3: Configure the VNC server
    1. Connecting to your VNC Remote Desktop
  5. Step 4: Establish a secure connection to the VNC Desktop
    1. Set up an SSH Tunnel with Your Terminal
    2. Set up an SSH Tunnel with Putty
  6. Step 5: Setting up the VNC as a system service
  7. Configuring VNC to Use Other Desktop Environments (And Switching Between Them)
    1. Configure VNC to Use GNOME
    2. Configure VNC to Use XFCE
    3. Configure VNC to Use LXQt
    4. Configure VNC to Use LXDE
    5. Configure VNC to Use MATE Desktop
    6. Configure VNC to Use Budgie
    7. Configure VNC to Use KDE Plasma Desktop
    8. Configure VNC to Use Cinnamon
    9. Configure VNC Deepin Desktop Environment (DDE)
  8. Troubleshooting
    1. Failed to execute child process ?dbus-launch? (No such file or directory)
  9. Conclusion

Prerequisites

  • A machine running Ubuntu 22.04 or 20.04 to which we’ll connect.
  • Acting as a non-root sudo user for security reasons. You can see our tutorial on creating a sudo user in Ubuntu if you need to.
  • A VNC Client (also called VNC Viewer) which is the software that you’ll run on your local machine and will enable you to control your VNC server remotely. There are some popular VNC viewers that you can choose from. The one I’m using in this tutorial is Real VNC Viewer.
    It’s available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and others. You can choose your OS and download Real VNC Viewer here. If you’re on Linux then I prefer Remmina.

Step 1: Install a Desktop Environment

If you intend to connect via VNC to an Ubuntu 22.04 or 20.04 server, then you’ll notice that the server doesn’t come with a preinstalled Desktop Environment. On booting up, you will get a command-line interface to execute your commands.

However, that doesn’t mean you can install one.

As of writing this post, there are several Linux desktop environments available for you to install. They include GNOME desktop, KDE Plasma Desktop, Mate Desktop, Budgie Desktop, Xfce/Xubuntu Desktop, Cinnamon Desktop, and many more.

For this particular post, we will install the XFCE desktop environment. It is fast, stable, and easy to use.

After establishing an SSH connection to your server, execute the following command to update your package index:

sudo apt update

Next we’ll run the following command to install xfce4 and xfce4-goodies:

sudo apt install xfce4 xfce4-goodies

xfce4-goodies is an additional package for XFCE Desktop Environment, which brings a lot more advanced enhancement.

You will see a prompt to select a display manager for your newly installed XFCE Desktop Environment during the installation.

select_display_manager

A Display Manager is a program that enables your Linux distribution to possess graphical login capabilities. It is also responsible for starting the Display Server and the Desktop Environment once you log in with your username and password.

Select any display manager and press Enter.

Step 2: Install VNC server

After successfully installing the XFCE desktop environment, we can proceed to install the VNC server.

There are several VNC servers available for Linux today. They include TightVNC, x11VNC, and TigerVNC.

For this particular tutorial, we will install the TigerVNC server.

The reason for choosing TigerVNC is because I got it to work with the most desktop environments.

  • Initially I tried TightVNC and got it to work with XFCE, LXQt, LXDE, KDE Plasma, and Gnome Flashback, but struggled with GNOME 3 and Budgie. I didn’t try MATE or Cinnamon, however.

Install TigerVNC on Ubuntu

To install TigerVNC execute the command below:

sudo apt install tigervnc-standalone-server

After a successful installation, we need to perform the initial VNC configuration, set up a VNC access password and initialize the VNC server.

Execute the command below to initialize the VNC server instance and set up a password. Assuming you are acting as a non-root sudo user, do NOT execute this command with sudo:

vncserver
Set VNC Password
You will require a password to access your desktops.

Password:
Verify:

After setting up the password, you will get a prompt to set a View-Only password. That means anybody who accesses the VNC server with a view-only password will not be able to VNC desktop with either Mouse or Keyboard.

For this particular post, we won’t set up a view-only password. I will just type N and hit Enter.

Finish Setting VNC Password
Would you like to enter a view-only password (y/n)? N
/usr/bin/xauth:  file /home/edxd/.Xauthority does not exist

New 'bytexd:1 (edxd)' desktop at :1 on machine bytexd

Starting applications specified in /etc/X11/Xvnc-session
Log file is /home/edxd/.vnc/bytexd:1.log

Use xtigervncviewer -SecurityTypes VncAuth -passwd /home/edxd/.vnc/passwd :1 to connect to the VNC server.

We can see this process lists the connection information for our VNC server from the message above. Additionally, it started the VNC server at port 5901, which is the display port. This port (5901) is referred to as :1.

If you create additional VNC server instances, they will be presented as port 5902 as :2, port 5903 as :3, and so on.

Up to this point, our VNC server is up and running. However, it cannot give us access to a graphical interface since it’s not configured to launch our XFCE desktop environment;

Tip: If you ever want to change the VNC password or the view-only password, execute the command below:

vncpasswd

Step 3: Configure the VNC server

Up to this point, we have successfully installed the VNC server and even set up a password.

Now we need to configure the commands that will be executed by the server every time we start a VNCV instance.

One main goal is telling VNC which Desktop Environment to connect and use – in this case, XFCE.

To get started, let’s kill the running VNC instance that we launched in Step 2 above running on port 5901. Execute the command below:

vncserver -kill :1
Output
Killing Xtigervnc process ID 28634... success!

If another instance were running on another port, say 5902 or 5903, we would execute the commands vcnserver -kill :2 and vncserver -kill :3, respectively.

To configure VNC, we will need to create a file called xstartup file in the .vnc folder under the home directory (~/.vnc/xstartup). This is where we’ll configure what desktop environment we want the VNC server to use.

Now, let’s create and open a new xstartup file with the nano editor. Execute the commands below:

nano ~/.vnc/xstartup

Add the lines below on the editor:

~/.vnc/xstartup
#!/bin/sh

# Start up the standard system desktop
unset SESSION_MANAGER
unset DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS

/usr/bin/startxfce4

[ -x /etc/vnc/xstartup ] && exec /etc/vnc/xstartup
[ -r $HOME/.Xresources ] && xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
x-window-manager &

Save the file (Ctrl + O, then Enter) and Exit (Ctrl + X).

Lastly, we need to make this file executable. Run the command below:

chmod +x ~/.vnc/xstartup

Once done, proceed to restart the VNC server with the command below.

vncserver -localhost no :1
Restart VNC Output
New 'bytexd:1 (edxd)' desktop at :1 on machine bytexd

Use xtigervncviewer -SecurityTypes VncAuth -passwd /home/edxd/.vnc/passwd :1 to connect to the VNC server.

The above command launches a VNC server instance on port 5901.

Why we used -localhost no

By default, TigerVNC accepts connection only from 127.0.0.1 or localhost, for security reasons. Since we’re just testing now, we added -localhost no to be able to access the server via VNC from the outside.

We’ll cover this in a little bit more detail further in this article.

As such, before proceeding and looking at how to create a secure connection, let’s test the VNC server.

Connecting to your VNC Remote Desktop

Launch your VNC Client (or VNC Viewer) application on your local machine and connect to the VNC server using server_ip_address:1 or server_ip_address:5901.

In my case, I will use 149.28.227.198:1 (I’m using a Vultr server), and my VNC Client is Real VNC Viewer, which supports many operating systems including Windows, macOS and Linux.

VNC with XFCE Desktop Environment

From the image above, you can now see our VNC server is well configured, and we can access it from our local machine.

Close the VNC client desktop session and kill the VNC instance on the server using the command below:

vncserver -kill :1

Step 4: Establish a secure connection to the VNC Desktop

To establish a secure connection, restart your VNC server by simply running vncserver without the -localhost no option as shown below.

vncserver
Output
New 'bytexd:1 (edxd)' desktop at :1 on machine bytexd

Starting applications specified in /home/edxd/.vnc/xstartup
Log file is /home/edxd/.vnc/bytexd:1.log

Use xtigervncviewer -SecurityTypes VncAuth -passwd /home/edxd/.vnc/passwd :1 to connect to the VNC server.

By default, TigerVNC by default, when you don’t run -localhost no, binds the server to your Ubuntu 22.04 / 20.04 server loopback interface. That ensures that the VNC server only accepts connections incoming from the server where it is installed.

To get around this and connect to the VNC server from our local machine, we will establish an SSH tunnel from our local machine to the server. That is also an additional layer of security as only users with SSH access to the server can connect to the VNC server.

We’ll set up our SSH tunnel in one of two ways, depending on your preference – by running a command in your terminal or by configuring it in Putty. You can choose whichever one you prefer.

Set up an SSH Tunnel with Your Terminal

You’re probably familiar with your terminal if you are on Linux or macOS. On Windows you can use PowerShell or a terminal emulator such as Cmder.

Execute the command below on your local machine terminal emulator.

ssh -L 59000:localhost:5901 -C -N -l server_user_name server_ip_address

Remember to replace the server_user_name and server_ip_address accordingly. In my case, I will execute the command below:

ssh -L 59000:localhost:5901 -C -N -l edxd 149.28.227.198
Note: After executing this command, the SSH connection will hang after you enter the password. Don’t worry that is perfectly fine.

When you are done with using the VNC Desktop session, you can kill it using Ctrl + C. Alternatively; you can add a -f argument which runs SSH tunneling in the background.

Session Hangs

Lets, dissect the SSH tunneling command above:

  • -L 59000:localhost:5901: The -L argument specifies the post on your local computer (ours is 59000) to the given host (localhost) and port (5901) on the destination server (server_ip_address).
    Note: The local port, 59000, can be any number but not more than 65535 and not running another service.
  • -C: This argument speeds up processes and minimizes resource usage.
  • -N: This argument prevents execution of remote commands and tells SSH to only forward ports.
  • -l server_user_name server_ip_address: This line specifies the user you will use to login to the server. Make sure the user is non-root and doesn’t have root privileges.

Now to connect securely to your VNC server, launch the VNC client application and connect with the address localhost:59000:

VNC Ubuntu XFCE

Set up an SSH Tunnel with Putty

If you are connecting to your server using Putty, create an SSH tunnel using the procedure below. Launch Putty and enter your server’s address in the session > hostname.

Putty Tunnel VNC 1

On the left side of the Putty window, scroll down and get to the SSH option. Extend it and select the Tunnels option. Enter the details as shown in the image below—Port 59000 as the source port and localhost:5901 as the destination address.

Putty Tunnel VNC 2

When done, click Add, then Open/Apply to create the SSH tunnel. You can now connect to the VNC server using the VNC client address: localhost:59000.

Step 5: Setting up the VNC as a system service

The advantage of setting up VNC as a service is that we can start, stop, restart or even view its status (whether it’s running or not) just like we would for other system services. We will also use systemd to launch our VNC server on boot.

To get started, let’s create a systemd unit file called [email protected] using the command below:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/vncser[email protected]

Paste the lines below, depending on the version of Ubuntu you’re using (20.04 or 22.04) and remember to replace the YOUR_USERNAME text with your username, and -depth 24 -geometry 1280x800 with the depth and geometry you prefer.

  • -depth: represents the color depth, in bits per pixel. The value can be between 8 and 32.
  • -geometry: the width and height of the desktop.

Setting up VNC as a service on Ubuntu 22.04

/etc/systemd/system/[email protected] on Ubuntu 22.04
[Unit]
Description=Start TigerVNC server at startup
After=syslog.target network.target

[Service]
Type=forking
User=edxd
Group=edxd
WorkingDirectory=/home/edxd

PIDFile=/home/edxd/.vnc/%H:590%i.pid
ExecStartPre=-/bin/sh -c "/usr/bin/vncserver -kill :%i > /dev/null 2>&1"
ExecStart=/usr/bin/vncserver -depth 24 -geometry 1280x800 -localhost :%i
ExecStop=/usr/bin/vncserver -kill :%i

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Setting up VNC as a service on Ubuntu 20.04

/etc/systemd/system/[email protected] on Ubuntu 20.04
[Unit]
Description=Start TigerVNC server at startup
After=syslog.target network.target

[Service]
Type=forking
User=YOUR_USERNAME
Group=YOUR_USERNAME
WorkingDirectory=/home/YOUR_USERNAME

PIDFile=/home/YOUR_USERNAME/.vnc/%H:%i.pid
ExecStartPre=-/usr/bin/vncserver -kill :%i > /dev/null 2>&1
ExecStart=/usr/bin/vncserver -depth 24 -geometry 1280x800 -localhost :%i
ExecStop=/usr/bin/vncserver -kill :%i

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Save the file (Ctrl + O, then Enter) and Exit (Ctrl + X).

Now we need to make the system aware of our new unit file. Execute the commands below:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable [email protected]
Output
Created symlink /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/[email protected] → /etc/systemd/system/[email protected]

With that done, we can now start, stop and restart our VNC server as a system service. To test this, let’s first stop the instance that we had launched previously with the command below:

vncserver -kill :1

Once done, let’s now start the VNC server as a service. Execute the command below:

sudo systemctl start [email protected]

To check its status and confirm whether its running or not, use the command below:

sudo systemctl status [email protected]
● [email protected] - Start TigerVNC server at startup
     Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/[email protected]; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
     Active: active (running) since Wed 2022-07-27 13:47:15 UTC; 13min ago
    Process: 19472 ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/vncserver -kill :1 > /dev/null 2>&1 (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
    Process: 19490 ExecStart=/usr/bin/vncserver -depth 24 -geometry 1280x800 -localhost :1 (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   Main PID: 19500 (Xtigervnc)
      Tasks: 129 (limit: 2274)
     Memory: 237.4M
     CGroup: /system.slice/system-vncserver.slice/[email protected]
             ├─19500 /usr/bin/Xtigervnc :1 -desktop vncserverXD:1 (edxd) -auth /home/edxd/.Xauthority -geometry 1280x800 -depth 24 -rfbwait 30000 -rfbauth /home/edxd/.vnc/passwd -rfbport 5901 -pn -SecurityTypes VncAuth,TLSVnc
             ├─19503 /usr/bin/perl /usr/bin/vncserver -depth 24 -geometry 1280x800 -localhost :1
             ├─19504 /bin/sh /home/edxd/.vnc/xstartup
             ├─19505 xfce4-session
             ├─19516 /usr/bin/dbus-launch --sh-syntax --exit-with-session xfce4-session
             ├─19517 /usr/bin/dbus-daemon --syslog --fork --print-pid 5 --print-address 7 – session
             ├─19519 /usr/libexec/at-spi-bus-launcher
             ├─19524 /usr/bin/dbus-daemon --config-file=/usr/share/defaults/at-spi2/accessibility.conf --nofork --print-address 3
             ├─19528 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/xfconf/xfconfd
             ├─19534 /usr/libexec/at-spi2-registryd --use-gnome-session
             ├─19540 /usr/bin/ssh-agent -s
             ├─19544 xfwm4
             ├─19548 /usr/libexec/gvfsd
             ├─19556 xfsettingsd
             ├─19557 xfce4-panel
             ├─19563 Thunar --daemon
             ├─19568 xfdesktop
             ├─19569 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/plugins/libsystray.so 6 14680072 systray Notification Area Area where notification icons appear
             ├─19570 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/plugins/libpulseaudio-plugin.so 8 14680073 pulseaudio PulseAudio Plugin Adjust the audio volume of the PulseAudio sound system
             ├─19571 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/plugins/libxfce4powermanager.so 9 14680074 power-manager-plugin Power Manager Plugin Display the battery levels of your devices and control the brightness of your display
             ├─19574 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/plugins/libnotification-plugin.so 10 14680075 notification-plugin Notification Plugin Notification plugin for the Xfce panel
             ├─19575 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/plugins/libactions.so 14 14680076 actions Action Buttons Log out, lock or other system actions
             ├─19588 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/notifyd/xfce4-notifyd
             ├─19592 /usr/bin/python3 /usr/share/system-config-printer/applet.py
             ├─19593 /usr/libexec/evolution-data-server/evolution-alarm-notify
             ├─19595 xiccd
             ├─19601 nm-applet
             ├─19606 /usr/libexec/geoclue-2.0/demos/agent
             ├─19618 xfce4-power-manager
             ├─19627 /usr/libexec/dconf-service
             ├─19646 /usr/libexec/evolution-source-registry
             ├─19659 /usr/libexec/goa-daemon
             ├─19667 /usr/libexec/goa-identity-service
             ├─19674 /usr/libexec/evolution-calendar-factory
             ├─19687 /usr/libexec/evolution-addressbook-factory
             ├─19705 /usr/libexec/gvfs-udisks2-volume-monitor
             ├─19711 /usr/libexec/gvfs-goa-volume-monitor
             ├─19716 /usr/libexec/gvfs-mtp-volume-monitor
             ├─19721 /usr/libexec/gvfs-gphoto2-volume-monitor
             ├─19726 /usr/libexec/gvfs-afc-volume-monitor
             ├─19734 /usr/libexec/gvfsd-trash --spawner :1.7 /org/gtk/gvfs/exec_spaw/0
             └─19741 /usr/libexec/gvfsd-metadata

From the image above, we can see that we have successfully started VNC as a service.

Start Multiple VNC Server Instances on Boot

If you’d like to have multiple VNC server instances as services on boot, then you can just change the identifier – the identifier is what comes after the @. In our example above, the identifier is 1. We can enable other VNC servers to start on boot replacing 1 with 2, 3, etc.

sudo systemctl enable [email protected]
Output
Created symlink /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/[email protected] → /etc/systemd/system/[email protected]

 

That’s it! You have successfully installed and configured the VNC server on Ubuntu 22.04 / 20.04 LTS, and you can now manage it just like any system service.

Configuring VNC to Use Other Desktop Environments (And Switching Between Them)

To configure VNC to use a desktop environment with TigerVNC we have to:

  1. Install the desktop environment on our Ubuntu 22.04 / 20.04 machine
  2. Appropriately edit the ~/.vnc/xstartup file where we tell VNC what applications to start on our behalf when it creates a new desktop. In this section, where we mention what contents to add to the ~/.vnc/xstartup file, we’ll assume the file is empty.
  3. Restart the VNC server after you’ve edited the ~/.vnc/xstartup file.
    If you set up the VNC service as a system service you can restart it by running:

    sudo systemctl start [email protected]

    If you don’t have it set up as a system service then you can just kill the VNC instance and start it again:

    vncserver -kill :1
vncserver
For more details on how to install other desktop environments, please check our related tutorial on how to install a desktop environment (GUI) on an Ubuntu 20.04 server, where you can also find some additional details on each desktop environment. You can also install just minimal versions of desktop environments, with minimal necessary software packages, or full versions with all the bells and whistles. In this tutorial we’ll stick to minimal installs for demonstration purposes.

Please keep in mind that if you install multiple desktop environments on the same machine, then you may encounter bugs or conflicts, depending on which you have installed.

Configure VNC to Use GNOME

As mentioned before, and in case someone stumbles upon this article looking specifically for how to use GNOME with VNC on Ubuntu 22.04 / 20.04, I recommend TigerVNC instead of TightVNC.

To install GNOME on Ubuntu 22.04 / 20.04 we’ll run:

sudo apt install gnome-session gnome-terminal

And to configure VNC to use GNOME create a new ~/.vnc/xstartup file or edit the existing one, and paste in the following:

#!/bin/sh

# Start up the standard system desktop
unset SESSION_MANAGER
unset DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS

/usr/bin/gnome-session

[ -x /etc/vnc/xstartup ] && exec /etc/vnc/xstartup
[ -r $HOME/.Xresources ] && xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
x-window-manager &

Make the file executable in case it isn’t already:

chmod +x ~/.vnc/xstartup

Now restart the VNC server, and when you connect to it you should be using GNOME.

Here’s how the GNOME minimal installation looks like in my case:

ubuntu_gnome_3_minimal_tigervnc

And this is how the full GNOME desktop looks like, if you install it with the following command:

sudo apt install ubuntu-desktop
Note: I know I said that we’d install only minimal versions, but I wanted to give you an idea of the differences.

This is how the full GNOME Desktop install it looks like:

VNC with GNOME on Ubuntu 22.04

 

Configure VNC to Use XFCE

We covered this initially in the tutorial, but will add it here too, so the article is more easily skimmable.

To install XFCE run:

sudo apt install xfce4 xfce4-goodies

To configure VNC to use XFCE create a new ~/.vnc/xstartup file or edit the existing one, and paste in the following:

#!/bin/sh

# Start up the standard system desktop
unset SESSION_MANAGER
unset DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS

/usr/bin/startxfce4

[ -x /etc/vnc/xstartup ] && exec /etc/vnc/xstartup
[ -r $HOME/.Xresources ] && xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
x-window-manager &

Make the file executable in case it isn’t already:

chmod +x ~/.vnc/xstartup

Now restart the VNC server and next time you connect you should be using XFCE.

This is what XFCE looks like:

VNC with XFCE Desktop Environment

Configure VNC to Use LXQt

To install LXQt run:

sudo apt install lxqt

To configure VNC to use LXQt create a new ~/.vnc/xstartup file, or edit the existing one, and paste in the following:

#!/bin/sh

# Start up the standard system desktop
unset SESSION_MANAGER
unset DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS

/usr/bin/startlxqt

[ -x /etc/vnc/xstartup ] && exec /etc/vnc/xstartup
[ -r $HOME/.Xresources ] && xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
x-window-manager &

Make the file executable in case it isn’t already:

chmod +x ~/.vnc/xstartup

Now restart the VNC server and next time you connect you should be using LXQt.

This is what LXQt looks like in my case:

ubuntu_vnc_lxqt

Configure VNC to Use LXDE

To install LXDE run:

sudo apt install lxde

To configure VNC to use LXQt create a new ~/.vnc/xstartup file, or edit the existing one, and paste in the following:

#!/bin/sh

# Start up the standard system desktop
unset SESSION_MANAGER
unset DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS

/usr/bin/startlxde

[ -x /etc/vnc/xstartup ] && exec /etc/vnc/xstartup
[ -r $HOME/.Xresources ] && xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
x-window-manager &

Make the file executable in case it isn’t already:

chmod +x ~/.vnc/xstartup

Now restart the VNC server and next time you connect you should be using LXDE.

This is what LXDE looks like in my case:

ubuntu_lxde_tigervnc

Configure VNC to Use MATE Desktop

To install MATE Desktop run:

sudo apt install ubuntu-mate-desktop

To configure VNC to use MATE Desktop create a new ~/.vnc/xstartup file, or edit the existing one, and paste in the following:

#!/bin/sh

# Start up the standard system desktop
unset SESSION_MANAGER
unset DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS

/usr/bin/mate-session

[ -x /etc/vnc/xstartup ] && exec /etc/vnc/xstartup
[ -r $HOME/.Xresources ] && xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
x-window-manager &

Make the file executable in case it isn’t already:

chmod +x ~/.vnc/xstartup

Now restart the VNC server and next time you connect you should be using MATE Desktop.

This is what MATE Desktop looks like in my case:

ubuntu_mate_desktop_tigervnc

Configure VNC to Use Budgie

To install Budgie run:

sudo apt install ubuntu-budgie-desktop

To configure VNC to use Budgie create a new ~/.vnc/xstartup file, or edit the existing one, and paste in the following:

#!/bin/sh

# Start up the standard system desktop
unset SESSION_MANAGER
unset DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS

/usr/bin/budgie-session

[ -x /etc/vnc/xstartup ] && exec /etc/vnc/xstartup
[ -r $HOME/.Xresources ] && xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
x-window-manager &

Make the file executable in case it isn’t already:

chmod +x ~/.vnc/xstartup

Now restart the VNC server and next time you connect you should be using Budgie.

This is what Budgie looks like in my case:

ubuntu_budgie_tigervnc

Configure VNC to Use KDE Plasma Desktop

We’ll install, KDE Plasma Desktop, which is the minimal installation of Kubuntu. You can see more details on how to also install KDE Standard or KDE Full here.

To install KDE Plasma Desktop run:

sudo apt install kde-plasma-desktop

To configure VNC to use KDE Plasma Desktop create a new ~/.vnc/xstartup file, or edit the existing one, and paste in the following:

#!/bin/sh

# Start up the standard system desktop
unset SESSION_MANAGER
unset DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS

/usr/bin/startplasma-x11

[ -x /etc/vnc/xstartup ] && exec /etc/vnc/xstartup
[ -r $HOME/.Xresources ] && xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
x-window-manager &

Make the file executable in case it isn’t already:

chmod +x ~/.vnc/xstartup

Now restart the VNC server and next time you connect you should be using KDE Plasma Desktop.

This is what KDE Plasma Desktop looks like in my case:

Configure VNC to Use Cinnamon

To install Cinnamon run:

sudo apt install cinnamon-desktop-environment

To configure VNC to use Cinnamon create a new ~/.vnc/xstartup file, or edit the existing one, and paste in the following:

#!/bin/sh

# Start up the standard system desktop
unset SESSION_MANAGER
unset DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS

/usr/bin/cinnamon-session

[ -x /etc/vnc/xstartup ] && exec /etc/vnc/xstartup
[ -r $HOME/.Xresources ] && xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
x-window-manager &

Make the file executable in case it isn’t already:

chmod +x ~/.vnc/xstartup

Now restart the VNC server  and next time you connect you should be using Cinnamon.

This is what Cinnamon looks like in my case:

ubuntu_cinnamon_tigervnc

Configure VNC Deepin Desktop Environment (DDE)

To install Deepin first add the stable PPA for DDE:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntudde-dev/stable

Update your package index:

sudo apt update

Install Deepin Desktop Environment:

sudo apt install ubuntudde-dde

To configure VNC to use Deepin create a new ~/.vnc/xstartup file, or edit the existing one, and paste in the following:

#!/bin/bash
unset SESSION_MANAGER
unset DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS
export XKL_XMODMAP_DISABLE=1
export GTK_IM_MODULE=fcitx
export QT_IM_MODULE=fcitx
export [email protected]=fcitx

#__using_dde__
session=startdde

#__enable_clipboard_sync__
if [ -f /usr/bin/autocutsel ]
then
    /usr/bin/autocutsel -fork
fi

#__deepin_uos_activator__
if [ -f /usr/bin/uos-activator ]
then
    /usr/bin/uos-activator & 
fi

#__enable_fcitx__
if [ -f /usr/bin/fcitx ]
then
    (sleep 15 && /usr/bin/fcitx) &
fi

#__kill_user_apps_duplicated__
killall -9 v2ray &

exec dbus-launch $session

This is what Deepin looks like in my case:

Deepin Ubuntu

Troubleshooting

Failed to execute child process ?dbus-launch? (No such file or directory)

If you get an error such as the following when running:

vncserver
Error Output
New Xtigervnc server 'vncserverXD:1 (edxd)' on port 5901 for display :1.
Use xtigervncviewer -SecurityTypes VncAuth -passwd /home/edxd/.vnc/passwd :1 to connect to the VNC server.


=================== tail /home/edxd/.vnc/vncserverXD:5901.log ===================

** (process:46301): WARNING **: 09:51:30.948: Could not make bus activated clients aware of XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=GNOME environment variable: Failed to execute child process ?dbus-launch? (No such file or directory)
Terminated
=================================================================================

Session startup via '/home/edxd/.vnc/xstartup' cleanly exited too early (< 3 seconds)!

Maybe try something simple first, e.g.,
        tigervncserver -xstartup /usr/bin/xterm
The X session cleanly exited!
Killing Xtigervnc process ID 46297... success!

Then we can fix this by installing the dbus-x11 package:

sudo apt install dbus-x11

Now when we run:

vncserver

We should get an output similar to this:

Output
New Xtigervnc server 'vncserverXD:1 (edxd)' on port 5901 for display :1.
Use xtigervncviewer -SecurityTypes VncAuth -passwd /home/edxd/.vnc/passwd :1 to connect to the VNC server.

Conclusion

I believe this guide has given you a step-by-step guide on installing and configuring a VNC server on Ubuntu 22.04 or 20.04. Feel free to share any additional VNC configuration tips with our readers or ask any questions in the comments below or by contacting us.

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46 Comments
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Noby
Noby
1 year ago

I followed the steps exactly,
It shows only a black screen hen I access from localhost.

But i works in localhost when I run vncserver as sudo

0
Reply
Nick Floersch
Nick Floersch
1 year ago

The article says to start the server for testing using “vncserver localhost -no :1” … however that should be “vncserver -localhost no :1”

1
Reply
EdXD
Author
EdXD
1 year ago
Reply to  Nick Floersch

Hi. Apologies for that. I don’t know what I was thinking.

Thanks so much for pointing that out.

It’s corrected now.

0
Reply
Thatoo
Thatoo
8 months ago

Thank you for your post but it doesn’t work completely with Zorin OS 16 based on Ubuntu 20.04… or at least I can’t make it work completely.
I tried to explain my issue in here : https://gist.github.com/spinxz/1692ff042a7cfd17583b?permalink_comment_id=4097680#gistcomment-4097680
If you have any comment to help me solve this issue, I’d be thankfull.

1
Reply
EdXD
Author
EdXD
8 months ago
Reply to  Thatoo

Hi Thatoo,

I’ve also tried it with ZorinOS and the same thing happens. When running it as a service I get the same error with GNOME, otherwise it works.

I haven’t been able to find a solution. Have you had any success with this?

0
Reply
Thatoo
Thatoo
8 months ago
Reply to  EdXD

Hello EdXD,

No I haven’t.
However, I was wondering if there was not a conflict with the builtin VNC system of Zorin OS 16 but I don’t know where to look at and how to disable it before testing again TigerVNC.

1
Reply
Eric
Eric
8 months ago

Great post. Thanks.

1
Reply
EdXD
Author
EdXD
8 months ago
Reply to  Eric

Hi, Eric. Thank you for the feedback! I hope it was useful to you.

2
Reply
Best
Best
8 months ago

good article explain in detail and very useful

I’ve searched and tried many ways. until the end of this article

thank you very much

2
Reply
EdXD
Author
EdXD
8 months ago
Reply to  Best

Thank you for the kind words! I’m glad it worked for you!

0
Reply
Omxpro
Omxpro
6 months ago

Hey can you add a tutorial for Deepin OS’s Deppin Desktop environment? It’s a good looking environment

1
Reply
EdXD
Author
EdXD
6 months ago
Reply to  Omxpro

Hello. Thanks a lot for the suggestion.

I added Deepin just now, however I couldn’t get it to work for Ubuntu 22.04, only for 20.04.

Hope that works for you.

0
Reply
Mike
Mike
6 months ago

Thanks for the guide! A couple things didn’t work for me in Ubuntu 22.04, so I though I’d share the alterations that were necessary.

First, the version of systemd which ships with Ubuntu 22.04 (specifically, that’s version 249) does not use a shell to interpret “ExecStartPre”:

> Note that shell command lines are not directly supported. If shell command
> lines are to be used, they need to be passed explicitly to a shell
> implementation of some kind.

source: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/systemd.service.html

That means the following line won’t work (because the tokens intended to trigger process output redirection are actually passed as arguments to vncserver):

   ExecStartPre=-/usr/bin/vncserver -kill :%i > /dev/null 2>&1

That line should instead read:

   ExecStartPre=-bash -c “/usr/bin/vncserver -kill :%i > /dev/null 2>&1”

Second, the version of TigerVNC which is available in the Ubuntu 22.04 “apt” repository (specifically, that’s version 1.12.0) doesn’t create a PID file at the path referenced by this tutorial. From man tigervncserver:

> ~/.vnc/:.pid
>       Identifies the VNC server process ID, used by the -kill option.

…where “rfbport#” is defined as

> -rfbport rfbport#
>       Specifies the TCP port on which Xtigervnc listens for connections
>       from viewers (the protocol used in VNC is called RFB – “remote
>       framebuffer”). The default is 5900 plus the display number display#.

That means the following line won’t work (since systemd will expand the value to a non-existent file):

   PIDFile=/home/mike/.vnc/%H:%i.pid

One small but inelegant fix would be to approximate integer addition using string concatenation:

   PIDFile=/home/mike/.vnc/%H:590%i.pid

This will break if using a systemd instance name greater than 9, though. A safer (but more drastic) solution would be to define the unit using the “simple” type. Crucially, this requires adding the -fg argument:

   [Service]
   User=YOUR_USERNAME
   Group=YOUR_USERNAME
   WorkingDirectory=/home/YOUR_USERNAME
   ExecStart=/usr/bin/vncserver -fg -depth 24 -geometry 1280×800 -localhost :%i

Thanks again!

4
Reply
EdXD
Author
EdXD
4 months ago
Reply to  Mike

Hi Mike!

I apologize for the delay in responding. Thank you so much for your comment.

It helped immensely that you took the time to explain the issues on Ubuntu 22.04 with those directives and their values. I would’ve probably had to use up an entire day troubleshooting.

I can’t believe I missed that when testing out the tutorial on 22.04. I’m very sorry for the incorrect information as well.

The tutorial has been updated with some of the changes you mention. I’ll look into the PIDFile issue in the meantime.

Thanks again!

Last edited 4 months ago by EdXD
0
Reply
Pavel
Pavel
15 days ago
Reply to  EdXD

Hello! I couldn’t figure out what to write in PIDFile

0
Reply
Bard
Bard
6 months ago

The xstartup for KDE is wrong :\

1
Reply
EdXD
Author
EdXD
6 months ago
Reply to  Bard

Hi Bard. Could you please elaborate? It worked 3 weeks ago.

UPDATE: Apologies. You’re right. It had cinnamon-session. I must’ve copied it by mistake. It should be fixed now.

Last edited 6 months ago by EdXD
0
Reply
Brendan Moran
Brendan Moran
4 months ago

Thanks for this! I followed the steps exactly, testing at every step, and everything worked, up until I tried to run it as a system service. Doing

sudo systemctl start [email protected]

results in the following:

Job for [email protected] failed because the control process exited with error code.
See “systemctl status [email protected]” and “journalctl -xeu [email protected]” for details.

Running the status command, here’s the juicy bit:

Jul 08 09:30:00 Linux-CC1 systemd[1]: Starting Start TigerVNC server at startup…
Jul 08 09:30:00 Linux-CC1 systemd[16189]: [email protected]: Failed to determine user credentials: No such process
Jul 08 09:30:00 Linux-CC1 systemd[16189]: [email protected]: Failed at step USER spawning /usr/bin/vncserver: No such process
Jul 08 09:30:00 Linux-CC1 systemd[16190]: [email protected]: Failed to determine user credentials: No such process
Jul 08 09:30:00 Linux-CC1 systemd[16190]: vncserve[email protected]: Failed at step USER spawning /usr/bin/vncserver: No such process

0
Reply
Brendan Moran
Brendan Moran
4 months ago

Addendum to my previous comment, which I can’t edit at the moment:

Found a typo in the service file and fixed it, but now it’s hanging.

Jul 08 09:42:47 Linux-CC1 tracker-miner-f[16939]: Owner of volume monitor org.gtk.vfs.GoaVolumeMonitor disconnected from the bus; removing drives/volumes/mounts
Jul 08 09:42:47 Linux-CC1 tracker-miner-f[16939]: Owner of volume monitor org.gtk.vfs.GPhoto2VolumeMonitor disconnected from the bus; removing drives/volumes/mounts
Jul 08 09:42:47 Linux-CC1 indicator-appli[16902]: Name Lost
Jul 08 09:42:47 Linux-CC1 gnome-session-f[17065]: Cannot open display:
Jul 08 09:42:47 Linux-CC1 dbus-daemon[17079]: [session uid=1000 pid=17077] AppArmor D-Bus mediation is enabled
Jul 08 09:42:47 Linux-CC1 tracker-miner-fs-3.desktop[16939]: OK
Jul 08 09:43:57 Linux-CC1 systemd[1]: [email protected]: start operation timed out. Terminating.
Jul 08 09:43:57 Linux-CC1 systemd[1]: [email protected]: Failed with result ‘timeout’.
Jul 08 09:43:57 Linux-CC1 systemd[1]: Failed to start Start TigerVNC server at startup.

5
Reply
Brendan Moran
Brendan Moran
4 months ago

Sorry, I’m just full of questions. Assuming I can get the service working, what if I want to launch 3 VNC servers (as services) on system boot, instead of just the one?

2
Reply
EdXD
Author
EdXD
4 months ago
Reply to  Brendan Moran

Hi Brendan. I apologize for being so late to comment. In case this is still useful to you, I edited the section on setting up a systemd unit file for the vncserver service.

It’s my fault for not checking thoroughly – thanks to Mike’s comment I tested it out and the service file needed some changes to work on 22.04.

And regarding setting up multiple instances of VNC servers on boot, all you have to do is change the identifier when enabling the service. The identifier is the number after @ (in our examples it’s 1, 2, 3, 4). The system will pick that up.

sudo systemctl enable [email protected]
sudo systemctl enable [email protected]
sudo systemctl enable [email protected]
sudo systemctl enable [email protected]
...

Hope this helps, and apologies again for the delay in responding.

Last edited 4 months ago by EdXD
1
Reply
Agent31
Agent31
3 months ago

I’m using Ubuntu 22.04 minimal install and followed the instructions but I’m getting an error that x-window-manager is not found. What window manager should I be using for the GNOME desktop?

1
Reply
EdXD
Author
EdXD
3 months ago
Reply to  Agent31

Hi. Thank you for commenting! Would you mind letting me know at what point do you get x-window-manager is not found, and a screenshot of the error?

0
Reply
Agent31
Agent31
3 months ago
Reply to  EdXD

I’ve created the xstartup as described for gnome as well as chmod +x it. when running vncserver:2 I get the attacked error.

vnc1.jpg
3
Reply
EdXD
Author
EdXD
3 months ago
Reply to  Agent31

I’ve been trying to reproduce your scenario somehow, and to find solutions online, but I can’t seem to figure it out.

Is your server a fresh install or it’s a server that you’ve been working on for a while (so it has other packages installed that may cause conflicts?). I’m not sure what I’m looking for, just probing to hopefully find a solution.

Any info you think could be useful would be appreciated.

0
Reply
Agent31
Agent31
3 months ago
Reply to  EdXD

I also tried xfce and was getting weird errors so I just tried plasma and that seems to work. Not sure why gnome doesn’t work. Would be nice to keep the same desktop since I already have it on this box.

1
Reply
EdXD
Author
EdXD
3 months ago
Reply to  Agent31

I see. Have you tried switching to GNOME again, after installing KDE Plasma? I’m thinking that maybe there’s a chance some package got installed along with KDE Plasma that may fix your original error.

0
Reply
Astro-Otter
Astro-Otter
3 months ago

Hello,
I’v followed your great tutorial for server configuration. I’d like to connect to server on my smartphone, but when i’m connecting, server is crashing.
I’ve made a topic on stackoverflow maybe you will have an answer for my problem.
Thank you

1
Reply
EdXD
Author
EdXD
3 months ago
Reply to  Astro-Otter

Hi. Everything looks good, except for one small detail.

The only issue is that TigerVNC expects connections only from localhost, so you have to establish an SSH tunnel between the device you connect from.

Either that, or set the vncserver to allow connections from other hosts other than localhost. To do this you just edit your /etc/systemd/system/[email protected] and change:

ExecStart=/usr/bin/vncserver -depth 24 -geometry 1280x800 -localhost :%i

to

ExecStart=/usr/bin/vncserver -depth 24 -geometry 1280x800 -localhost no :%i

The no is the difference. It should work after this.

The secure option would be to establish an SSH tunnel from your phone, but I haven’t tried that yet to be able to provide you with a solution.

Please let me know how it goes.

(I have also given the same answer on your Stack Overflow thread)

VNC_Viewer.jpg
Last edited 3 months ago by EdXD
1
Reply
Astro-Otter
Astro-Otter
3 months ago
Reply to  EdXD

Post on stackoverflow is closed because problem is not about programming…posted here instead
I’ve edited my [email protected] file with your correction.
Is the ssh tunnel mandatory ? My RPI will not be connected on internet and vnc connexion will be only between smartphone and rpi (fixed on a telescop ^^).
I’ve tested with xfce4 too (and change xstartup fille) but same problem and logs are identicals https://pastebin.com/FM7Y8DM8

1
Reply
EdXD
Author
EdXD
3 months ago
Reply to  Astro-Otter

(1) You edited the [email protected] file and ran sudo systemctl daemon-reload (I should’ve mentioned this initially) and it still didn’t work?

(2) The SSH tunnel is needed only when you don’t have that line with -localhost no. The goal of the SSH tunnel is to basically make the Rasperry PI server think that you’re accessing its VNC server from itself. It’s a security measure, acting as an extra layer of protection. It makes it so that only someone who has both SSH access and VNC credentials can connect to the server.

Also, I saw you mentioned you don’t understand the SSH tunnel thing.

The SSH tunnel situation is like the VNC server is a laboratory in your house – by default it only has a door that you can get in if you’re in the house first (localhost). To get in your house, you need the keys (SSH access) and then the key to the laboratory (VNC server credentials).

Otherwise, if you set -localhost no it’s like your lab has a door directly to the outside, and you don’t need to go through your house to access it.

You can come in from outside, and just need the VNC server credentials.

And I think this is because VNC is very popular, people often find vulnerabilities in it, and that’s why SSH is good as an extra security measure. Hope that helps a little. (We also have an article on SSH tunnels, in case you want to clarify, but it’s not mandatory for our situation, I’d say)

Also I know you said that the error seems related to the desktop environment. I’m not sure how I can reproduce your situation in this sense. I installed MATE on an Ubuntu 20.04 machine and other than the localhost thing, everything seemed worked.

Last edited 3 months ago by EdXD
1
Reply
Astro-Otter
Astro-Otter
3 months ago
Reply to  EdXD

Yes ‘I’ve reload deamon, restart rpi too sometimes.
Your explaination about ssh tunnel is perfect :). I will waiting for answers in raspberrypi.stackexchange maybe somebody will have an idea. Thank you very much for your time and your answers 🙂

1
Reply
Astro-Otter
Astro-Otter
3 months ago
Reply to  Astro-Otter

I’ve just seen i don’t have /etc/vnc/xstartup file. Is this an bug ? I’ve commented the line with this path in my ~/.vnc/xstartup

1
Reply
EdXD
Author
EdXD
3 months ago
Reply to  Astro-Otter

It should have been created when you ran vncserver for the first time, when it asked you to set a password.

Are you still trying to get VNC to work with GNOME and still getting the same error?

0
Reply
Astro-Otter
Astro-Otter
3 months ago
Reply to  EdXD

After remove ~/.vnc/ directory and disable service, i relaunch vncserver like a first time and /etc/vnc/xstartup is not created.
If i’m creating my own with :

  #!/bin/sh
  
  unset SESSION_MANAGER
  exec /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc

,reload service, create my own xstartup and….crash again when client try to connect but without X11 errors, only this in log :

Wed Aug 10 13:42:21 2022
 vncext:   VNC extension running!
 vncext:   Listening for VNC connections on all interface(s), port 5901
 vncext:   created VNC server for screen 0

Wed Aug 10 13:43:15 2022
 Connections: accepted: 192.168.1.22::44276
 SConnection: Client needs protocol version 3.8
 SConnection: Client requests security type VncAuth(2)
terminate called after throwing an instance of 'rdr::Exception'
terminate called recursively
(EE) 
(EE) Backtrace:
(EE) 
(EE) 
Fatal server error:
(EE) Caught signal 6 (Aborted). Server aborting
(EE) 

I’ve trying only with mate-session and xfce4

3
Reply
EdXD
Author
EdXD
3 months ago
Reply to  Astro-Otter

Hi. Did you manage to get it to work? I tried contacting you via Email to perhaps communicate using a messenger app, in hopes of getting to the bottom of this faster.

0
Reply
Squeaky
Squeaky
2 months ago

FYI – Do NOT use any special charactors when creating the password or this process WILL NOT WORK.

I guess we’re back to 1980 and we can only use simple characters for passwords.

1
Reply
gilbert
gilbert
1 month ago

Anybody got problems with Snap and installing additional applications to XFCE?
I installed chromium but it´s impossible to start it:

$ 2022/10/05 08:55:02.865260 cmd_run.go:1055: WARNING: cannot start document portal: Expected portal at “/run/user/1000/doc”, got “/home/gilbert/.cache/doc”
/system.slice/system-vncserver.slice/[email protected] is not a snap cgroup

To me this sounds a bit as if the vncserver should have been installed via snap too…

0
Reply
gilbert
gilbert
1 month ago
Reply to  gilbert

played a bit around – chromium seems to work if installed from an alternative source via apt (snap disabled).
It´s the first time setting up a Ubuntu Server with SNAP and i already hate it…

0
Reply
Alex B.
Alex B.
1 month ago

Hi there! Great manual, almost all is work! )
Only one don’t work: vnc as service:
“[email protected]: Can’t open PID file /home/ubuntu/.vnc/vps:5901.pid (yet?) after start: Operation not permited”
And directory /home/ubuntu/.vnc/ does not contain any pid file.
What is error may be?

0
Reply
Alex B.
Alex B.
1 month ago

update: https://bytexd.com/how-to-install-configure-vnc-server-on-ubuntu/#comment-2762

It is need to see simultaneously what file it creates in folder /home/user/.vnc/ vnc-server when make start and make string PIDFile=/home/user/.vnc/%H:590%i.pid like name this file. In my case – PIDFile=/home/ubuntu/.vnc/%H.vps.ovh.net:590%i.pid

All is work! Thank for manual! 😉

1
Reply
Ali`
Ali`
1 month ago

Hi i configured the vncserver using tiger vnc and it’s working okay on ubunto 22.04 but i have a problem that i cannot open internet browsers on my xfce4 desktop on the server.
Error:
“Failed to Execute Default Web Browser. Input/Output Error.”

1
Reply
EdXD
Author
EdXD
1 month ago
Reply to  Ali`

Hi. Thanks for commenting. What browser are you using? Is it the default browser or another one like Chrome or Firefox?

If it’s only the default one, then I’d recommend installing another browser and trying that. I’m not sure of a solution to get the default browser to work at the moment.

0
Reply
Ali
Ali
1 month ago
Reply to  EdXD

Hi, thank you for your reply. I tried the default and also firefox they both gave me the same issue

2
Reply
EdXD
Author
EdXD
1 month ago
Reply to  Ali

I’m not sure what’s happening and I don’t know how to replicate the issue so I’m just brainstorming here.

Are you logged into the server as root or as a sudo user? I’m thinking maybe there’s an issue when running browsers as root.

0
Reply
naduxi
naduxi
1 month ago
Reply to  Ali

Uninstall the firefox snap, and try with the ppa. Full recipe here. It worked for me.

0
Reply
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