[Cialug] Lots 'o questions....

[David Champion]

Matthew Nuzum wrote:
> On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 4:43 PM,  <jrnosee at gmail.com> wrote:
>   
>> to know is there any way to install the standard gnome interface, but only
>> have it and X running when I want it to (i.e. running headless, so I just
>> want to start X/gnome and turn on a VNC server, then stop it all when I'm
>> done).
>>     
>
> You can make x not run on startup by removing gdm from runlevel 2
> after installing the GNOME desktop. On my 8.10 it's
>
>  sudo rm /etc/rc2.d/S30gdm
>
> Just look for /etc/rc2.d/*gdm
>
> Regarding the vnc part, I've done this numerous times but not for a
> while. I think the last time was the days of Ximian desktop and
> probably FC2 (maybe earlier). I'm not sure what has changed but the
> trick was to edit /etc/gdm/gdm.conf and find the [server] section.
> There it will bind to a display, typical :0. Comment out that line or
> do whatever to make it not bind to a display.
>
> Also you need to enable xdmcp. After doing that start up gdm (which
> will also start up X).
>
>  sudo /etc/init.d/gdm start
>
> Nothing should appear to happen but ps will show gdm running.
>
> You need to add a line to services to pick a port for your vnc to
> listen to. Then configure a service that will listen to that port and
> launch VNC when you connect to it.
>
> Now that I'm older and wiser I would probably ensure that this is only
> possible when tunneled through an SSH or stunnel connection.
>
> If you google for gdm vnc xdmcp I think you'll find more complete and
> recent instructions.
>
>   

Why even bother with gdm? Just do step 1 - remove gdm from the runlevel, 
and when you want to run x, just type "startx". This is how I run pretty 
much all of my workstations - primarily because I hate it when you 
update your kernel and the nVidia module doesn't load... then your gdm 
gets stuck in a loop... or if you plug in a different monitor that 
doesn't support the resolution you were running...

Also... doesn't Ubuntu have an easier way to disable gdm? In Mandriva, 
when you run the x config tool, there's an "options" tab with a checkbox 
that lets you choose not to run X at boot, which disables gdm.

-dc