Install vncserver on Ubuntu 18.04 desktop

In this guide, we will be using tigervnc server

Install the vncserver
$ sudo apt update; sudo apt install tigervnc-standalone-server tigervnc-xorg-extension -y

Setup a password for vncserver
$ vncpasswd

Once you have provided the password, make sure a passwd file is created
$ ls ~/.vnc/
passwd

Run below command to put some settings in ~/.vnc/xstartup, so that gnome will be started when vnc is used
$ cat > ~/.vnc/xstartup <<EOF
#!/bin/sh
# Start Gnome 3 Desktop 
[ -x /etc/vnc/xstartup ] && exec /etc/vnc/xstartup
[ -r $HOME/.Xresources ] && xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
vncconfig -iconic &
dbus-launch --exit-with-session gnome-session &
EOF

Press ctrl-d to save the above file

Start a vncserver instance
$ vncserver

List the display to get the port number to connect to, in this example the port number would be 5901, since the display number is 1
$ vncserver -list 

TigerVNC server sessions:

X DISPLAY # PROCESS ID
:1 5375

In the client machine, connect with using vncviewer like below, replacing the x.x.x.x with your server's ip number
$ vncviewer x.x.x.x:5901


To terminate the vnc session, use below command to kill the first instance of the vncserver
$ vncserver -kill :1

Install xrdp on Ubuntu 18.04 desktop

Install xrdp

$ sudo apt-get -y install xrdp

Next, one may adjust the configuration file:

$ sudo nano /etc/xrdp/xrdp.ini

Set encryption level to high, and save xrdp.ini:

encrypt_level=high

Allow just RDP through the local firewall:

$ sudo ufw allow 3389/tcp

Create a polkit configuration file:

$ sudo nano /etc/polkit-1/localauthority.conf.d/02-allow-colord.conf 

and put below settings into the file:

polkit.addRule(function(action, subject) {

if ((action.id == “org.freedesktop.color-manager.create-device” || action.id == “org.freedesktop.color-manager.create-profile” || action.id == “org.freedesktop.color-manager.delete-device” || action.id == “org.freedesktop.color-manager.delete-profile” || action.id == “org.freedesktop.color-manager.modify-device” || action.id == “org.freedesktop.color-manager.modify-profile”) && subject.isInGroup(“{group}”))

{

return polkit.Result.YES;

}

});

Restart xrdp

$ sudo systemctl restart xrdp

Logout all user from your desktop

Connect using remote desktop client. For linux, you can use remmina.

P/S: If you are still unable to login using remote desktop client, check whether you have xorgxrdp package installed. If not, install it and restart xrdp. Then try to connect again

$ sudo apt install xorgxrdp -y
$ sudo systemctl restart xrdp