Now we can edit the /.vnc/startup file and point it to xfce4: sudo nano ~/.vnc/xstartupĪdd the following to the bottom of the config and press Ctrl + O and Ctrl + X to save the changes: xrdb $HOME/.Xresources You can quickly kill it with vncserver -kill :1. Unfortunately, we can't edit those config files until VNC is stopped. This will require a bit of fiddling with config files. We need to tell it which desktop environment we want to use, in this case Xfce.

So, with that VNC is running, but it's not much use to us at this point. This password will let users log in to view a VNC instance, but will disable any of their inputs.

You'll also be asked to if you want to create a view-only password. This is what you'll use later to connect to the VNC instance, so note it down. TightVNCServer will ask you to enter a username and password. You can start a VNC server instance at any point with the following command: vncserver Now it's time to install TightVNC server: sudo apt install tightvncserver How to start and configure VNC server As we're running on a lower-spec VPS, we're going to choose gdm3 by pressing Enter with it selected. gdm3 tends to be more lightweight, but you may also find it uglier. You'll be given the option to choose between gdm3 and lightdm as your display manager. Install Xfce and its goodies enhancements package: sudo apt install xfce4 xfce4-goodies These are what we're going to use today.įirst, make sure your list of packages are up to date: sudo apt update There are a few options when it comes to VNC servers and desktops environments, but the main lightweight ones are Xfce and TightVNC. Naturally, we're going to need to change that if we want to use it with a UI via VNC. When you boot your Ubuntu server for the first time, you'll notice there's no GUI.

A local PC from which you can install a VNC client (we'll cover options for Windows 10/11, macOs, and Linux below).

An Ubuntu 20.04 server with a non-root admin user and configured firewall (need one quickly? Sign up to BitLaunch).

First, though, you should be aware of some pre-requisites: Today, we're going to show you how to install VNC on Ubuntu 20.04 and then how to use a VNC viewer on a Windows 10 client PC to connect to it. Though you'll have to run quite a few commands to get going, the advantage is that you won't have to use the command-line-based interface after that point. Setting up, installing, and configuring VNC is relatively easy. With the pairing of a VNC server and VNC viewer, you can use your local keyboard and mouse to interact with your server via a graphical user interface (GUI). VNC, aka Virtual Network Computing, is a useful tool for users who aren't quite used to the terminal-based interfaces of most servers.

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