[PLUG] Persistent VNC/RDP on multiuser headless server with Wayland

Nat Taylor bioborg at gmail.com
Wed Jul 31 06:02:40 UTC 2024


It looks like NXServer has made some progress in this realm but I'm not
sure if they support headless servers yet.  Here's some info on the topic:
https://kb.nomachine.com/AR04R01083
I've found nxserver to be quite responsive in the past.  I notice that this
solution uses Pipewire.
There's also waypipe for the equivalent of ssh -X in wayland.  I used to
use Kicker in an X11 forwarding environment to get my desktop apps easily
accessible.  Could you use tmux or byobu to get the persistence you are
looking for over a waypipe session?

On Tue, Jul 30, 2024 at 12:14 PM Johnathan Mantey <manteyjg at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Re a): I boot my system, the tigervnc session starts an @:1 with my user
> permissions. I launch tigerVNC client with "hname:1" and I get a VNC
> session. I lock my screen, terminate vnc client, come back later, launch
> vnc client, and I get a VNC session login.
> Re: b): I'm the admin, I assigned me a :1, and I'm able to do work. I
> didn't need to dig further into more fluid methods, which I expect exist.
> Re: c): FC 40 is targeting Wayland. I'm just telling my system VNC is to
> use X11. I use Plasma/KDE as my desktop. When I login via VNC I see a
> Plasma/KDE desktop. So far the only issue I've faced is that Emacs 29
> compiled against Wayland gripes via VNC about possibly crashing. I
> installed Emacs 29 GTK and use that instead. Emacs, a web browser, Konsole
> and I'm 98% covered in what I need to do.
> Re: d): I have work to do in order to collect a paycheck. I can wait for
> the utilities to catch up to the display technology. I need an income more
> than I need to fight with the tech. The VNC I have beats the crummy KVM
> attached to my system, by a huge margin. I get a quality display, and
> alt-tab keeps me inside my Linux desktop instead of swapping to Winders.
>
>
> On Tue, Jul 30, 2024 at 11:24 AM Tomas Kuchta <
> tomas.kuchta.lists at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > I have not attempted that path - my understanding was:
> > a) that this would not provide for persistent sessions
> > b) admin would have to pre-assign user sessions per host per user. Unlike
> > self-service vncserver on X.
> > c) woud not really work in modern DEs targeting Wayland
> > d) it seems like kicking the can down the road - X is dead, best to get
> on
> > with it
> >
> > Would you be able to comment based on your experience, especially about
> the
> > persistence, self-service and what DEs work for you out of the box?
> >
> > Thank you, Tomas
> >
> > On Tue, Jul 30, 2024, 13:36 Johnathan Mantey <manteyjg at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > I use VNC on my FC 40 system daily.
> > > Tiger VNC does not support remote Wayland sessions.
> > > It is necessary to use X11 as the transport.
> > >
> > > I followed the instructions in the vncserver.service file:
> > > # The vncserver service unit file
> > > #
> > > # Quick HowTo:
> > > # 1. Add a user mapping to /etc/tigervnc/vncserver.users.
> > > # 2. Adjust the global or user configuration. See the
> > > #    vncsession(8) manpage for details. (OPTIONAL)
> > > # 3. Run `systemctl enable vncserver@:<display>.service`
> > > # 4. Run `systemctl start vncserver@:<display>.service`
> > >
> > > I'm trying to remember if I had to manually install some form of X11
> > > packages:
> > > xorg-x11-server-common-1.20.14-35.fc40.x86_64
> > > xorg-x11-server-Xorg-1.20.14-35.fc40.x86_64
> > > xorg-x11-drv-libinput-1.4.0-2.fc40.x86_64
> > > qt5-qtx11extras-5.15.14-1.fc40.x86_64
> > > xorg-x11-server-Xwayland-24.1.1-1.fc40.x86_64
> > >
> > > I believe I tracked all of this down in the greater interwebs. Sadly I
> > > didn't keep a record of where.
> > >
> > > On Mon, Jul 29, 2024 at 9:37 PM Ben Koenig <techkoenig at protonmail.com>
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > The Arch wiki has a few links to follow. Adjust as needed for your
> > > > preferred setup.
> > > >
> > > > Looks like VNC backends for wayland compositors are generally a
> > > > compile-time option, so if you run through the steps and nothing
> > happens,
> > > > it could be that support was not compiled in.
> > > >
> > > > https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Wayland#Remote_display
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > As an amusing sidenote, not long ago I was embroiled in a wayland vs
> X
> > > > flamewar where some fanboys went out of their way to claim that
> wayland
> > > is
> > > > ready and has all the same features X does. So an instance of a
> > > real-world
> > > > user attempting to perform an end-usery task on wayland and then
> > reaching
> > > > the conclusion that it is impossible makes me chuckle.
> > > >
> > > > Regardless of such nonsense the Arch wiki has information that
> suggests
> > > > that VNC can work with wayland. Their documentation is usually pretty
> > > solid
> > > > and sticks with matter-of-fact descriptions of what does/doesn't
> work.
> > > > -Ben
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > On Monday, July 29th, 2024 at 7:53 PM, Tomas Kuchta <
> > > > tomas.kuchta.lists at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > Anyone has a success story about deploying persistent multiuser VNC
> > or
> > > > RDP
> > > > > setup on headless server running Wayland?
> > > > >
> > > > > I used to use classic VNC and RDP (tigerVNC and Xrdpd respectively)
> > to
> > > > run
> > > > > persistent desktop multi user, multi DE sessions. I need it for
> both
> > > home
> > > > > lab and work.
> > > > >
> > > > > This seems to be currently impossible to do with Wayland. When
> > reaching
> > > > out
> > > > > to RH/Fedora/SuSE folks - I only hear childish, immature responses
> > > > > suggesting that only newbies, windows people or idiots would need
> > full
> > > > > desktop session and even worse - persistent one.
> > > > >
> > > > > At work, we use it for accessing long running interactive CAD
> > sessions
> > > > and
> > > > > general workspaces on headless servers located in some caraway
> colo -
> > > > from
> > > > > laptops. We are connecting and disconnecting multiple times a day
> as
> > we
> > > > > roam between office cubicles, conference rooms, remote work
> > locations.
> > > My
> > > > > old X based session is 226 days on a host with 43 other KDE, Gnome,
> > > Mint
> > > > > and Xfce sessions. At home, it is similar, except with fewer users.
> > > > >
> > > > > In my previous job, we used self service, per user VMs. That is too
> > > > wildly
> > > > > progressive for our IT gatekeepers, so I am looking for traditional
> > VNC
> > > > or
> > > > > RDP solution. And also for home use, so that I could move on from X
> > on
> > > a
> > > > > headless servers.
> > > > >
> > > > > Anybody there who could help with good advice about how to go about
> > it
> > > on
> > > > > recent Fedora, openSuSE, Ubuntu LTS?
> > > > >
> > > > > Thanks, Tomas
> > > >
> > >
> >
>


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