Vino VNC Server unable to start on startup

Question

So I am trying to get the Vino VNC Server to startup on boot, meaning I don't have to login to have the VNC Server start. I am on Ubuntu GNOME 15.04, and I have already added

/usr/lib/vino/vino-server

to 'Startup Applications'. However, the VNC Server still won't start as soon as I boot up. I have to login in order for the VNC Server to start. What should I do? Do I need to create a systemd unit file? If so, how do I do it?

Edit: This question is different from this becuase I need Vino Server to work, while that guide suggests x11vncserver.

Solution 1

Must have SSH enabled and root access to the server, then, SSH to it using your normal user account and edit the /etc/gdm3/custom.conf file making the following lines in [daemon] section look as this:

AutomaticLoginEnable=true
AutomaticLogin=yourusername

Save and reboot the server by running "sudo shutdown -r now". Once gdm restarts, it will automatically login as the specified user, and your vino-server process will then start, so you can VNC into the system again. Don’t forget to remove those auto-login lines from /etc/gdm3/custom.conf file when you’re done.

Edited from https://encodable.com/tech/blog/2009/03/02/How_To_Access_A_VNC_Remote_Desktop_After_The_Server_Reboots

Solution 2

create a systemd unit or service to run vino server at startup

1. cd /etc/systemd/system/
   

2. sudo vim vinostartup.service
   

3. [Unit]
   Description = description about the service
   After = network.target
   [Service]
   ExecStart = /usr/lib/vino/vino-server
   [Install]
   WantedBy = multi-user.target
   

4. Enable the service

   sudo systemctl enable vinostartup.service
   

5. Verify it using below command vinostartup.service will be there

   ls multi-user.target.wants/
   

6. If you don’t want to wait until next boot (it’s already enabled) we can start the service

   sudo systemctl start vinostartup.service
   

Comments

[Mark Kirby]

possible duplicate of How can I start a VNC server before log on?

[The Man]

@markkirby I've edited the post on why my post is different, also, the suggestion of automatic login is not something that I can risk.

[Matt]

I too would like to know how to get Vino to start on boot.

[Robert Riedl]

Have a look at these answers here

[sancho.s ReinstateMonicaCellio]

@MarkKirby - The OP you linked is not about vino, but "a VNC server", and actually most of the answers do not deal with vino. So I guess it is not a dupe.

[Matt]

Thanks but doesn't work, unfortunately :(

[endolith]

Startup Application in a desktop won't start until you login though. The question asks how to start the server BEFORE login.

[endolith]

This doesn't happen until after you login

[moodboom]

I don't think Vino can start without user login. The Ubuntu VNC docs basically say to switch to x11vnc for that.

[Ahmed Nazmy]

Thanks it did not work

[Nouman Qaiser]

This process does NOT work, atleast in Ubuntu 18.04

[starshine wang]

This works! Thank you!

[Maghoumi]

This is the only thing that worked for me after wasting so much time trying to manually start vino using systemctl --user start vino-server.service. I was constantly getting the error vino-server.service: Start request repeated too quickly.

[sancho.s ReinstateMonicaCellio]

If I understand correctly, one should change /etc/gdm3/custom.conf to allow for (auto-login + vino-server), and once in the session revert the changes for security reasons. Is that correct?

[sancho.s ReinstateMonicaCellio]

@endolith - It may be the case that vino-server cannot start without a session started. Check the highest voted answer... I think it also suggests doing both things (login + vino-server), even if automatically.