How to configure VNC on a remote Ubuntu server?

Question

I am currently in the process of creating a Ubuntu server with Rackspace cloud and I am trying to configure this server for VNC over SSH on my MacBook Air. Here is a summary of what I am trying to accomplish.

Server Details:

• Ubuntu 12.04
• Hosted by RackSpace (no physical access)
• Need to run Gnome3
• VNC connection must be over SSH

Any guides or assistance would be great, I have installed Gnome3 and Vino for the VNC-server. I'm just not sure how to configure VNC properly. I've looked online but I'm stuck at the VNC-server portion.

Solution

The first part is to install Gnome on the Ubuntu server by executing the following on the command line:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop

You've already done this but I put this here in case anybody is starting with a Rackspace server in its default state.

Thanks to http://www.ubuntugeek.com/how-to-install-gui-on-ubuntu-12-04-precise-server.html for the above.

I wasn't able to get Vino and Gnome working via the command line but FreeNX is a VNC equivalent for Ubuntu. Command line installation instructions are here:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FreeNX#Installing_the_FreeNX_server_on_Ubuntu_Karmic_.289.10.29_and_higher

In addition my FreeNX client wasn't compatible with the default 3d features of modern Gnome. It returned “Failed to load session “gnome-fallback” on logging in so I had to run the following line to get Gnome to run in 2d mode:

sudo echo -e "\n#Use unity 2d for client sessions\nCOMMAND_START_GNOME='gnome-session --session=ubuntu-2d'"|sudo tee -a /etc/nxserver/node.conf

Thanks to http://www.dickson.me.uk/2012/06/18/installing-freenx-server-on-12-04-precise-pangolin/ for resolving the above.

The Mac client for FreeNX can be downloaded from here: http://www.nomachine.com/download-package.php?Prod_Id=3834

Comments

[Anwar]

Though, it may theoretically answer the question, it is better to put the essential parts here and give the link as reference

[Giles Roberts]

The vnc install bit doesn't work with Ubuntu.