Setting up GUI on Amazon EC2 Ubuntu Server — Part II

Amazon Web Services (Source)

This post is part of a series; please check Part I before proceeding with the steps outlined below.

In the previous article, we discussed how to create an Ubuntu Server on an Amazon EC2 instance. In this article, we will discuss how to set up a GUI on an Amazon EC2 Ubuntu Server using a Windows Desktop.

Please follow these steps to setup the GUI:

Step-1: Install PuTTY from here.

Download PuTTY: latest release (0.70)

Step-2: Use PuTTYgen to create a private key compatible for PuTTY.

1. Open PuTTYgen.

2. Click Load and locate the private key downloaded from AWS.

3. Click OK

4. Click Save private key to save the private key in the new format compatible with PuTTY.

5. Click Yes

Step-3: Copy EC2 hostname by selecting your Instance and clicking on Connect

Step-4: Open PuTTY, Under “Session” set “Host Name” to the copied hostname.

• Enter session name in the “Saved Sessions” text box (Optional).

Step-5: Under “Connection — Data” set “Auto-login username” to ubuntu

Step-6: Under “Connection — SSH — Auth” locate the private key generated using PuTTYgen by clicking on the Browse... button.

• Under “Session” click on Save (Optional).

Step-7: Now click on Open button.

Step-8: Click on Yes

Bingo you are now connected to your Ubuntu server on AWS.

Step-9: Now become superuser after executing the command.

$ sudo -s

Step-10: Type the following commands in sequence:

# sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop

Note: If this command fails for some reason then run $ sudo apt-get update and then run above command again.

# sudo apt-get install gnome-panel gnome-settings-daemon metacity nautilus gnome-terminal
# sudo apt-get install vnc4server

Step-11: Type the command vncserver once and set the password.

# vncserver

Step-12: Kill vncserver by typing the command.

# vncserver -kill :1

Step-13: Type # vi .vnc/xstartup, Enter i to go into the insert mode and modify the file to the following.

#!/bin/sh
export XKL_XMODMAP_DISABLE=1
unset SESSION_MANAGER
unset DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS
[ -x /etc/vnc/xstartup ] && exec /etc/vnc/xstartup
[ -r $HOME/.Xresources ] && xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
xsetroot -solid grey
vncconfig -iconic &
gnome-panel &
gnome-settings-daemon &
metacity &
nautilus &
gnome-terminal &

Step-14: Press ESC to escape the insert mode and then enter :wq to save and exit the file.

Step-15: Type # vncserver again to start vncserver.

Step-16: Download and install TightVNC in your computer from the following link.

Download TightVNC

Step-17: Now run TightVNC viewer.

Step-18. Get your Amazon EC2 Ubuntu server public ip.

Step-19: Now enter the Public IP and Port number in TightVNC as follows Public IP::Port and click on Connect

Step-20: Enter the password (password setup at Step-11) and click OK

Step-21: GUI on Ubuntu Server is ready.

• You can click on save button to save the session so that you don’t have to enter these details over and over again (Optional).

Note: Execute the command # vncserver everytime you restart your Amazon EC2 Ubuntu Server.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article! I hope it offered some valuable insights. If you found it helpful, feel free to clap, share it with others, or support my work with a coffee!

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