Ubuntu VNC Grey Screen

Seeing a grey screen like this? It seems to be a common problem when setting up Ubuntu 14.04 with VNC.

ubuntu-grey-screen-vnc

When trying to setup your Ubuntu machine, a common problem seems to come up: the grey screen. There is no login box, no options no nothing. It seems like you followed all the right steps, and you’re logged in to the server but there is nothing there. It’s confusing. We’ve setup this little tutorial to help you figure out where you went wrong and how to fix it!

The problem for me at least, seemed to be that while I was running vncserver, I didn’t have a desktop running so there was really nothing to look at.

I edited this file:

~/.vnc/xstartup

The following code:

#!/bin/sh
def
export XKL_XMODMAP_DISABLE=1
unset SESSION_MANAGER
unset DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS

gnome-panel &
gnome-settings-daemon &
metacity &
nautilus &
gnome-terminal &

That’s it! You may need a restart and everything should be working.

If you have having trouble still, try the following resouces:

Ask Ubuntu:
http://askubuntu.com/questions/452497/14-04-vnc-xstartup-file

LazyGeek blog:
http://rbgeek.wordpress.com/2012/06/25/how-to-install-vnc-server-on-ubuntu-server-12-04/

Broderick tech:
http://broderick-tech.com/vncxstartup-files-ubuntu-14-04/