VNC Server

For 18.04 I decided to go with TigerVNC according to Linuxize How to Install and Configure VNC on Ubuntu 18.04. The main difference is that I can not be bothered using a secure link in my home private network. So to allow a direct connection add -localhost no to the TigerVNC command line to allow direct connection, see GitHub TigerVNC notes unable to connect to socket: Connection refused(10061) #117

The basic set up is given in have the know how Ubuntu Sever install VNC, with more detailed startup details given in Ubuntu Server: How to run VNC on startup.

I prefer a full xfce desktop to a cut down gnome one, so I installed it instead, see How to Install and Configure VNC on Ubuntu 16.04 from Digitalocean.

A concise setup is here VNC server on Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver Linux.

I basically follow the Have the know how instructions, but instead of sudo apt install gnome-core, use sudo apt install xfce4 xfce4-goodies. I have been using vnc4server, not tightvncserver. Also in ~/.vnc/xstartup, only:

    #!/bin/bash
    unset SESSION_MANAGER
    startxfce4 &

(Basically the startxfce4 &, instead of metacity &, gnome-settings-daemon &, gnome-panel &)

The xfce screen-saver seems to default on and use significant system resources, and is basically unnecessary on a headless server. To disable perform the following:

• In the xfce desktop go to the Applications Menu > Settings > Screensaver and disabled the screensaver, then from the File menu chose Kill Daemon.
• Then go to the Applications Menu > Settings > Session and Startup and unchecked Screensaver (launch screensaver and locker program) in the Application Autostart tab.

(The xfce screensavers actually look quite nice, and may make sense on a standard desktop install.)

The xfce default shell seems to be sh (/bin/sh), I prefer bash (/bin/bash). To check the current shell, type: echo $SHELL. To use bash simply type bash. To make permanent add the line exec /bin/bash to the end of vim ~/.profile. You will need to restart VNCserver for this to take effect.