GUI on Linux servers(AWS EC2s)

Windows users have it easy, they have the RDP. Fret no more, fellow Linux users! Meet VNC, an alternative to the SSH CLI interface to get GUI on Linux servers.

Here is the barebones document I wrote a while back to get a GUI on Linux instances.

how I saw SSH when I was new to CLI.

Log in to the EC2 instance using SSH. The command would be something like this:

ssh -i key server-name

Once logged in, install the necessary dependencies:

sudo apt-get updatesudo apt-get upgradesudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop gnome-panel gnome-settings-daemon metacity nautilus gnome-terminal xfce4 vnc4server

Above steps will take time to finish, let them.

To check if the installation was successful run the following command:

vncserver

If all goes well, you will be able to set a password.

nano ~/.vnc/xstartup

Replace content of this file with this:

#!/bin/sh# Uncomment the following two lines for normal desktop:
unset SESSION_MANAGER# exec /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc
unset DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS
startxfce4 &[ -x /etc/vnc/xstartup ] && exec /etc/vnc/xstartup
[ -r $HOME/.Xresources ] && xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
xsetroot -solid grey
vncconfig -iconic &
gnome-panel &
gnome-settings-daemon &
metacity &
nautilus &
gnome-terminal &

Logout and the log back in:

ssh -L 5902:localhost:5902 -i key server-name

Install Remmina for your Linux flavour. Fire up Remmina and create a new connection, while keeping the above connection alive. The protocol used will be VNC. Fill the following fields:

Server name: localhost:5902
Password: the one set before

Save and connect. Voila!