Most of the problem appears to be inexpert (if familiar) Linux users (like me) not knowing the innermost concepts of how X windows sessions work with window managers and with VNC servers (of which I've now tested about 4), and what all of those do when working remote with no local user logged in.

Thanks to all above who commented on this - I've battled with it for a long stretch, learned a lot, found a lot of people with other incarnations of the same problem, and finally - today - solved it. PS: Not sure if Lubuntu 18.04 has moved to Wayland, and if that's relevant. Incidentally: some advice recommended using screen to segregate the session which runs vino-server I have tried that too: doesn't solve it.Īny and all wisdom on this subject would be appreciated. This seems like it is something simple, because the difference between working and non-working is only that the local user (irrelevant to the process ?) at the server, is logged OUT in the problematic case and logged IN in the working case. command, also xhost +, but none of these work. I've tried various other recommended advice, including more complex forms of the I cannot start vino-server whatever I do. if the locally-logged-in user (keyboard) at the server, is logged out, then, the above fix does NOT work. essentially, enter export DISPLAY=:0 and then proceed, and all is then good ī. How to start a GUI software on a remote Linux PC via SSH that is solved, by the advice from this question: If vino-server is NOT running, but there IS a locally logged on user at the Server PC, if I ssh in to start vino, I get the 'could not connect to display' problem In THIS situation, I can't get the vino-server to start.Ī. So to test this, I closed vino-server, and logged off as a local user of the Server, and tested remotely.

But for additional security, I'd like NOT to leave vino-server running all the time, but remote-in initially with a simple remote SSH session, to start it, when I need it. If I leave vino-server running and the Server has a keyboard logged in locally, ALL WORKS FINE.ĭ.

I'm familiar with SSH tunnels constructed with the ssh -g - L formulation - that works fine too Ĭ. I have vino-server installed on the Server and Remmina on the client: these work fine together.ī. Want to remote-access Server PC from Client PC, using vino-server for VNC, tunneled through SSH.Ī. It is the logged-in or -out status of the server local user, which differs here (see below) and I don't see why that impacts on what I'm doing.

I KNOW there are other very similar questions here already - but this is subtly different - I have been through all of the similar ones, and none of the advice there solves the issue I am seeing.

Vnc connect ubuntu 18.04