X11 LXDE in OpenVZ

Introduction

x2go is available as a server for linux distributions and as a client for Windows, MacOS, Linux - Debian / Fedora and their derivatives. The x2go client in a remote instance can connect to a headless VM in an OpenVZ container running the x2go server and the specific GUI bindings (Gnome, KDE, LXDE, etc). Though this article is specific to debian squeeze x2go server install, it can be a general guide with small modifications to suit any distro.

Installing the x2go server in a Debian Squeeze VM

• Create an OpenVZ container based on any debian squeeze template (standard preferred).
• SSH into it as root
• Make sure the squeeze-lts repo is available (otherwise add it):

grep squeeze-lts /etc/apt/sources.list

Output: deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian squeeze-lts main contrib

• Now execute the following (stopping and starting the container as directed in the comments):

apt-get update && apt-get dist-upgrade
apt-get clean all

(
cat <<REPOstring
# X2Go Repository (release builds)
deb http://packages.x2go.org/debian squeeze main
# X2Go Repository (sources of release builds)
deb-src http://packages.x2go.org/debian squeeze main
REPOstring
) > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/x2go.list

apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keys.gnupg.net E1F958385BFE2B6E
apt-get update
apt-get install x2go-keyring && apt-get update
apt-get install x2goserver x2goserver-xsession
# The following will have to be removed and installed again if the primary lxpanel gets removed in the GUI
apt-get install lxde x2golxdebindings
# During above installation, Keyboard County and Charset will be interactively asked

shutdown -h now

# Start the VM

apt-get remove iceweasel
(
cat <<FFRepo
# Firefox Repository
deb http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/ubuntuzilla/mozilla/apt all main
FFRepo
) > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/firefox.list
apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com C1289A29
apt-get update
apt-get install firefox-mozilla-build

shutdown -r now

Installing the x2go Client

• In Windows XP/7/8/8.1, download and install the x2go client.
• Linux and Mac clients too are available.

Using the x2go client

• Choose the appropriate graphic resolution and color depth to suit your monitor and bandwidth respectively.
• Connect to the x2go server accepting to open what firewall requests emanate.
• While inside the LXDE GUI:
  • Set Firefox Preferences
  • Set Default Browser to Firefox
  • Set Panel icons as desired by right-clicking the Menu icon
• If the lxpanel gets lost, try to logout and connect again.
• If the lxpanel is still unavailable the restart it with:

lxpanelctl restart

• Still drastic measures can be:

killall lxpanel && lxpanel -p LXDE &