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.

possible duplicate of How can I start a VNC server before log on? — Mark Kirby, Jun 14 '15 at 10:39
@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. — The Man, Jun 14 '15 at 10:51
@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. — sancho.s ReinstateMonicaCellio, Mar 26 '21 at 02:59

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 06 '18 at 15:00

3

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

answered Mar 06 '18 at 15:00

leoperbo

753

1

This works! Thank you! – starshine wang Jul 23 '21 at 06:25
1

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. – Maghoumi Sep 16 '21 at 20:40
1

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 Dec 23 '21 at 12:26

score 2 · Answer 2 · edited Mar 01 '18 at 08:53

2

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

```
cd /etc/systemd/system/
```
```
sudo vim vinostartup.service
```

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

Enable the service

sudo systemctl enable vinostartup.service

Verify it using below command vinostartup.service will be there
```
ls multi-user.target.wants/
```
If you don’t want to wait until next boot (it’s already enabled) we can start the service
```
sudo systemctl start vinostartup.service
```

edited Mar 01 '18 at 08:53

answered Mar 01 '18 at 05:43

Jino Pl

47

3

Thanks but doesn't work, unfortunately :( – Matt Mar 01 '18 at 17:19
Thanks it did not work – Ahmed Nazmy Jun 21 '20 at 09:03
This process does NOT work, atleast in Ubuntu 18.04 – Nouman Qaiser Jun 22 '21 at 06:42

score -1 · Answer 3 · edited Sep 17 '18 at 13:43

vino-server could not start with systemd successfully,it will look for a mir server and return a socket error on my ubuntu desktop.It looks like the gnome developers have recently added a systemd compile option to the project
The correct way to do this is to use the Startup Application in you desktop distro
Find the autostart program of yout distro from here archlinux autostarting page base on your own desktop enviroment

Here is the full instructions of configuring vino server

For example: I use an xfce desktop
Navigate to : Start->Applications Menu->Settings->Sessions and Startup->Application Autostart and find the 'Desktop Sharing' and enable it or you can just add /usr/lib/vino/vino-server to it

Before that you may have to config the vino server
I have no gnome settings pannel on my xfce desktop so i run

$ vino-preferences

from the terminal to config the connecting setting

And you may have to disable the encrytion to enable vnc clients to connect to you computer

$ gsettings set org.gnome.Vino require-encryption false

restart and DONE

Startup Application in a desktop won't start until you login though. The question asks how to start the server BEFORE login. — endolith, Dec 10 '18 at 03:49
I don't think Vino can start without user login. The Ubuntu VNC docs basically say to switch to x11vnc for that. — moodboom, Jun 08 '20 at 20:52
@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. — sancho.s ReinstateMonicaCellio, Dec 23 '21 at 12:28

score -2 · Answer 4 · edited Apr 12 '16 at 08:35

-2

I think you can go to Control Center, then Startup Application and add a new item with the command:

/usr/lib/vino/vino-server &

edited Apr 12 '16 at 08:35

techraf

3,316

answered Apr 12 '16 at 03:01

Fabito

99

This doesn't happen until after you login – endolith Dec 10 '18 at 03:50

Vino VNC Server unable to start on startup

4 Answers4

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