TigerVNC server not working after do_release_upgrade to 22.04.4 LTS

[Bo Berglund]

On Wed, 20 Mar 2024 10:11:30 +0100, Bo Berglund <bo.berglund at gmail.com> wrote:

>I have an HP workstation laptop on which I have run 20.04 for a few years.
>The laptop mostly sits with closed lid in a cupboard and I access it using VNC
>and PuTTY from Windows.
>It is mainly used as a machine performing time scheduled tasks like video
>transfers.
>
>Today I bit the bullet and launched the upgrade to 22.04.4 using the
>do-release-upgrade command, using PuTTY in an SSH shell from Windows 10.
>
>All seemed to work fine and after some half hour or so it was done and requested
>to be allowed to reboot.
>
>After the reboot I could log back on with PuTTY just fine and it is now running
>the latest 22.04.4.
>
>
>But I also have some development software on this machine which I need to access
>on a GUI screen so I use TigerVNC for that since several years.
>
>After the upgrade/reboot I can no longer access the VNC functionality!
>The client  (RealVNC-Viewer on Windows 10) just hangs and never connects, so I
>checked the laptop status:
>---------------------
>sudo systemctl status vncserver at 1
>× vncserver at 1.service - Systemd TigerVNC server startup script for Ubuntu 20.04
>     Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/vncserver at .service; enabled; vendor
>preset: enabled)
>     Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Wed 2024-03-20 09:25:51 CET; 18min
>ago
>    Process: 1213 ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/vncserver -kill :1 &> /dev/null
>(code=exited, status=255/EXCEPTION)
>    Process: 1290 ExecStart=/usr/bin/vncserver -depth 24 -localhost no -geometry
>1680x1040 :1 (code=exited, status=255/EXCEPTION)
>        CPU: 618ms
>
>mar 20 09:25:51 auriga-ubuntu vncserver[1302]:
>==================================================================================>
>mar 20 09:25:51 auriga-ubuntu vncserver[1302]: Session startup via
>'/home/bosse/.vnc/xstartup' cleanly exited too early (< 3 seco>
>mar 20 09:25:51 auriga-ubuntu vncserver[1302]: Maybe try something simple first,
>e.g.,
>mar 20 09:25:51 auriga-ubuntu vncserver[1302]:         tigervncserver -xstartup
>/usr/bin/xterm
>mar 20 09:25:51 auriga-ubuntu dbus-daemon[1316]: [session uid=1000 pid=1313]
>AppArmor D-Bus mediation is enabled
>mar 20 09:25:51 auriga-ubuntu vncserver[1302]: The X session cleanly exited!
>mar 20 09:25:51 auriga-ubuntu vncserver[1302]: Killing Xtigervnc process ID
>1303... success!
>mar 20 09:25:51 auriga-ubuntu systemd[1]: vncserver at 1.service: Control process
>exited, code=exited, status=255/EXCEPTION
>mar 20 09:25:51 auriga-ubuntu systemd[1]: vncserver at 1.service: Failed with
>result 'exit-code'.
>mar 20 09:25:51 auriga-ubuntu systemd[1]: Failed to start Systemd TigerVNC
>server startup script for Ubuntu 20.04.
>lines 1-17/17 (END)
>---------------------
>
>Then I tried to start it:
>---------------------
>$ sudo systemctl start vncserver at 1
>Job for vncserver at 1.service failed because the control process exited with error
>code.
>See "systemctl status vncserver at 1.service" and "journalctl -xeu
>vncserver at 1.service" for details.
>---------------------
>
>What can be the cause for this and how can I remedy it?
>I found this online:
>https://askubuntu.com/questions/1425048/vnc-server-not-working-since-ubuntu-22-04-upgrade
>and the symptoms are the same, but there is no solution posted there...
>

I have now found this on-line:

https://askubuntu.com/questions/1478969/realvnc-server-doesnt-run-on-ubuntu-22-04

Here they state that there is a problem looking like what I see on my system but
using RealVNC rather than TigerVNC.
The solution is to edit the /etc/gdm3/custom.conf file and uncomment this line:
WaylandEnable=false

Then restart gdm3:
sudo systemctl restart gdm3

and TigerVNC:

sudo systemctl start vncserver at 1

Job for vncserver at 1.service failed because the control process exited with error
code.
See "systemctl status vncserver at 1.service" and "journalctl -xeu
vncserver at 1.service" for details.

So there is some other problem here...



-- 
Bo Berglund
Developer in Sweden