In this tutorial we will setup a lightweight desktop environment on our raspberry pi, and setup a vnc server so that we can access our desktop interface over remote connection.
Our Setup:
- RaspberryPi 2 with Raspbian Stretch Lite
Setup the Desktop Environment:
As I installed the lite version, we have no desktop or graphical user interface, therefore we will need to setup our desktop environment:
$ sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
$ sudo apt install --no-install-recommends xserver-xorg -y
$ sudo apt install --no-install-recommends xinit -y
$ sudo apt install raspberrypi-ui-mods -y
$ sudo apt install lightdm -y
Setup the VNC Server:
Install the VNC Server:
$ sudo apt install tightvncserver -y
Start the VNC Server:
$ vncserver :1
You will require a password to access your desktops.
Password:
Verify:
Would you like to enter a view-only password (y/n)? n
xauth: file /home/pi/.Xauthority does not exist
New 'X' desktop is raspberrypi:1
Creating default startup script /home/pi/.vnc/xstartup
Starting applications specified in /home/pi/.vnc/xstartup
Log file is /home/pi/.vnc/raspberrypi:1.log
Verify that the service is running:
$ sudo netstat -tulpn | grep vnc
tcp 0 0 0.0.0.0:5901 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN 2448/Xtightvnc
tcp 0 0 0.0.0.0:6001 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN 2448/Xtightvnc
To have this server started every time the raspberry pi boots, you can enable it by setting the command to /etc/rc.local
Connect to your Desktop via VNC:
Head to https://www.realvnc.com/en/connect/download/viewer/ and get the VNC Viewer for your OS.
Once installed, open VNC Viewer and connect to your VNC Server by entering the address of your raspberry pi, in my case: 10.0.4.5:1
Once you have entered your password and it passes validation, you should see your desktop more or less like this:
Stop the VNC Server:
To stop the VNC Server on your raspberrypi:
$ vncserver -kill :1