Setup Remote Control on Ubuntu20.04

远程工作必备神器

VNC

• Step 1 — Installing the Desktop Environment and VNC Server

  $ sudo apt update
  $ sudo apt install xfce4 xfce4-goodies
  $ sudo apt install tightvncserver
  $ vncserver
  $ vncpasswd
  

• Step 2 — Configuring the VNC Server

  $ vncserver -kill :1
  $ mv ~/.vnc/xstartup ~/.vnc/xstartup.bak
  $ nano ~/.vnc/xstartup
  #!/bin/bash
  xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
  startxfce4 &
  

• Step 3 — Connecting to the VNC Desktop Securely

  $ chmod +x ~/.vnc/xstartup
  $ vncserver :2 -depth 24 -geometry 1920x1080 -localhost
  $ ssh -L 59000:localhost:5901 -C -N -l your_username your_server_ip
  

  If you are using PuTTY to connect to your server, you can create an SSH tunnel by right-clicking on the top bar of the terminal window, and then clicking the Change Settings… option. Find the Connection branch in the tree menu on the left-hand side of the PuTTY Reconfiguration window. Expand the SSH branch and click on Tunnels. On the Options controlling SSH port forwarding screen, enter 59000 as the Source Port and localhost:5902 as the Destination. Then click the Add button, and then the Apply button to implement the tunnel. Once the tunnel is running, use a VNC client to connect to localhost:59000. You’ll be prompted to authenticate using the password you set in Step 1.

  If you meet snow screen, modify the ~/.vnc/xstartup as below

  #!/bin/bash
  unset SESSION_MANAGER
  unset DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS
  #xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
  startxfce4 &
  

XRDP

• Step 1: Install Xrdp on Ubuntu 20.04

  $ sudo apt install ubuntu-desktop
  $ sudo apt install xrdp
  $ sudo systemctl status xrdp
  

• Step 2: Configure Xrdp on Ubuntu 20.04

  set port in file: /etc/xrdp/xrdp.ini, default 3389. If meeting black ubuntu screen,

  $ sudo vim /etc/xrdp/startwm.sh
  

  add the following before test -x /etc/X11/Xsession && ….

  unset DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS
  unset XDG_RUNTIME_DIR
  

  run command

  $ echo "gnome-session" > ~/.xsession
  $ sudo systemctl restart xrdp
  

• Step 3: Access Remote Ubuntu Desktop with RDP Client

  Using PuTTY like above to set 59000 as source port and localhost:3389 as the destination.

If your computer has ipv6 enabled, you can try it without DDNS.

Reference

How to Install and Configure VNC on Ubuntu 20.04

How to Install Xrdp on Ubuntu 20.04

How to configure XRDP to start cinnamon as default desktop session