Installing GNOME on Ubuntu

Ubuntu and GNOME require special packages and settings in order to properly run remote FastX sessions. Unfortunately Ubuntu does not install all the GNOME requirements by default

Ubuntu 20.04/24.04

The following installation has been verified on Ubuntu 20 and 24

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y gnome-session gjs dbus-x11

Install FastX by following the instructions and download links at https://www.starnet.com/download/

# FastX 4
sudo apt-get install -y fastx4-server

# FastX 3
sudo apt-get install -y fastx-server

FastX 4 gnome.ini

In FastX 4 applications and profiles have been merged into 1 .ini file

The default gnome.ini file should look like the following

command=/etc/X11/Xsession gnome-session
geometry=
icon=gnome.png
name=Gnome
startDbus=true
strict=true

FastX 3 Application and Profile

Applications and profiles can be uploaded and downloaded from standalaone and cluster configurations. For instructions on converting see FastX Configuration Management

/var/fastx/local/store/system-bookmark-store.db

There should exist a GNOME application in the bookmark-store that looks like the following

{"_id":"gnome","data":{"command":"fastx-gnome","geometry":"","name":"Gnome"}}

/var/fastx/local/store/system-profile-store.db

There should exist a profile that turns multisurface: false

{"id":"","data":{"name":"default","description":"","private":false,"default":true,"session":{"groups":[],"enableGroups":false,"restrictGroups":false,"serverClipboard":true,"clientClipboard":true,"clipboardMax":0,"saveXauthDefault":false,"sharing":false,"offlineSharing":false,"iglx":false,"listenTCP":true,"denyMethods":[],"cpuPercentage":"auto","videoRam":1280000,"logLevel":3,"disconnectTimeout":10,"idleDisconnect":0,"multisurface":false,"enableVirtualGLDetection":false,"virtualGLOptions":"","virtualGLskipGpuCheck":false,"debug":{"license":false,"clipboard":false},"clientcomm":["fx-start-menu","fx-share","fx-notify","fx-url"],"pollingUpdate":0,"performanceSettings":[],"xorgPreambleList":[],"commandPreamble":"","xhost":"+","geometryMax":""},"command":{"enableRestrictions":false,"allowedCommands":[]},"schedule":{"enable":false,"script":""},"events":[],"static":{},"id":"c118d718-365a-427b-b12a-84ce0b4dad5d"},"_id":"c118d718-365a-427b-b12a-84ce0b4dad5d"}