Starter question: Ubuntu and GNOME, using Digital Ocean Web Page console access

April 11, 2014 3.7k

By:

timr

Hey there. So I am starting out on this new world of droplets and VMs, and I was trying to find a way (in a previous question which was expertly answered) to get a GUI on the VM. I experimented with VNC but the directions I used led to many errors. Then, I decided to start over, recreated a droplet, ran sudo apt-get install gnome-core, and then after that when I went to use the Console Access button on the Control Panel, I got the window in HTML and it showed the Gnome sign-in screen. I was overjoyed! It looks like I could sign in and use the GUI right from the web page, without any further issue. However, whenever I try to sign in, it just hangs with a spinning icon. Forever. Or at least, for thirty minutes until I quit. I've rebooted a couple times, tried again. Same result. Is it not possible to do that I'm wanting to do? install Gnome (or any UI ifor that matter) and then be able to use it from the Control Panel Console Access web page? Thanks for any insight.

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3 Answers

asb MOD April 14, 2014

Unfortunately, that won't work. Honestly, I'm surprised that it got that far! VNC is really going to be your best option for remotely accessing a desktop.

Which VNC tutorial did you follow? Have you seen:

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/articles/how-to-setup-vnc-for-ubuntu-12

Feel free to ask questions, and let us know if you still need help.

How To Setup VNC For Ubuntu 12

by Bulat Khamitov

VNC will allow you to connect to your server remotely, as well as be able to use your keyboard, mouse, and monitor to interface with that server. Get it setup on your Ubuntu 12 cloud server.

timr April 14, 2014

Hi there. Thanks for the answer astarr. I actually did follow the tutorial you linked to. i ran into some issues (which a couple folks before me in the comments seems to have encountered as well but weren't able to find fixes for).

I can try to use those steps again. the problem with my being so new to Linux is that if anything goes awry, I don't have a clue beyond forum sifting as to what I can do to resolve it. But I'll give it a shot.

Thanks for taking the time to answer my question. :) I appreciate the kindness on these forums.

timr April 15, 2014

Update. After attempting the instructions again on the link you sent, I was able to get successfully set up via VNC! Yay! Thanks for the help!

One additional question (Linux learner here): I notice I am logged in as VNC account. Will I have any scenarios where I need to be logged in as root in order to successfully install stuff? If so, can I login as root via VNC?

on Windows, there's the "You must be logged in as administrator to install bla..." and I wasn't sure if Linux operated in a similar fashion.

Thanks!

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