pseudokool · September 11, 2018 17:05 · Sep 11, 2018
diff --git a/desktop-mode-ubuntu-aws-ec2.markdown b/desktop-mode-ubuntu-aws-ec2.markdown
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+# Ubuntu 16.04 on AWS EC2
+
+This guide enables desktop mode in Ubuntu 16.04 (Xenial Xerus) running off an AWS EC2.
+
+
+## Setup
+
+* Launch an EC2 instance with Ubuntu 16.04 (should work on all versions greater too)
+* Ensure a security group is configured, that allows ingress on ports 22 (SSH) and 5901 (VNC, 5900+N, where N is the display number)
+* SSH into the instance, update the system, install the XFCE desktop and the lightweight VNC server:
+```
+sudo apt-get update
+sudo apt install xfce4 xfce4-goodies tightvncserver
+```
+* Now, initialize. Assign a password to login in via remote desktop. Finally, kill VNC server.
+```
+vncserver
+vncserver -kill :1
+```
+* To reconfigure VNC:
+```
+mv ~/.vnc/xstartup ~/.vnc/xstartup.bak
+nano ~/.vnc/xstartup
+```
+* Add in the following to the _xstartup_ config.
+```
+#!/bin/bash
+xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
+startxfce4 &
+```
+* Make _xstartup_ an executable script and start the VNC server
+```
+sudo chmod +x ~/.vnc/xstartup
+vncserver
+```
+
+
+## Connecting to the instance
+
+Once setup is complete, you can remote desktop into your instance with GUI.
+
+* On OS X, use screen sharing
+```
+vnc://<instance_ip>:5901
+```
+* On Linux, use _krdc_, _remmima_ etc 
+
+## References
+
+* [EC2-VNC] (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/EC2-VNC)
+* [How to Install and Configure VNC on Ubuntu 16.04] (https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-install-and-configure-vnc-on-ubuntu-16-04)