Install/Setup Xfce and TightVNC to Armbian OrangePi

Following https://www.instructables.com/id/The-OrangePi-Lite/, the next instruction after network started is usually VNC server setup. Many Internet resources suggested TightVNC, an open source software for this purpose. However, Armbian distribution for OrangePi does not include any X window desktop, therefore install TightVNC itself is just half of the journey. This is how I complete the work.

1. Make sure Armbian is updated:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

2. Install XFont used by TightVNC server

sudo apt-get install xfonts-base

3. Install TightVNC server

sudo apt-get install tightvncserver

4. Create a user dedicate for this service. I use user ID 'vnc'

sudo adduser vnc

gpasswd -a vnc sudo

5. Setup this user for VNC server,

vncserver :1

We need to assign a password. No need to specify a view-only password.

Use the command to confirm the server is running and the default options applied

ps -ef | grep Xtightvnc

6. VNC Client can now connect to this server, display :1 refers to port 5901. Hence the connection string is <IP Address>:5901.

7. However, there is no windows shown up, as Armbian distribution does not include any X-window manager. Now we install Xfce, a light weight X-window desktop.

sudo apt-get -y install xorg lightdm xfce4 tango-icon-theme gnome-icon-theme dbus-x11

8. Restart VNC server,

vncserver -kill :1

vncserver :1

Now the client will show up Xfce desktop over TightVNC.

9. To make TightVNC autostart on OrangePi startup, use systemctl control. Create a new script,

sudo nano /usr/local/bin/tightvncserver

10. The content of this script,

#!/bin/bash
PATH="$PATH:/usr/bin/"
DISPLAY="1"
DEPTH="16"
GEOMETRY="1024x768"
OPTIONS="-depth ${DEPTH} -geometry ${GEOMETRY} :${DISPLAY}"

case "$1" in
start)
/usr/bin/vncserver ${OPTIONS}
;;

stop)
/usr/bin/vncserver -kill :${DISPLAY}
;;

restart)
$0 stop
$0 start
;;
esac
exit 0 

11. Make this script executable,

sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/tightvncserver

12. Setup systemd script

sudo nano /lib/systemd/system/tightvncserver.service

13. With this content,

[Unit]
Description=Manage tightVNC Server

[Service]
Type=forking
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/tightvncserver start
ExecStop=/usr/local/bin/tightvncserver stop
ExecReload=/usr/local/bin/tightvncserver restart
User=vnc

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target 

14. Restart Systemd service and enable tightvncserver,

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable tightvncserver.service 

15. Now we have 4 commands to start, stop, restart, and status over tightvncserver,

sudo systemctl start tightvncserver.service
sudo systemctl stop tightvncserver.service
sudo systemctl restart tightvncserver.service
sudo systemctl status tightvncserver.service

16. Reboot Orangepi. Now the connection is ready as OrangePi started.

sudo reboot 

Lee Sir,
14 December, 2019
Hong Kong.



 Reference:

1. Instructables, The OrangePi Lite, https://www.instructables.com/id/The-OrangePi-Lite/ 
2. DIY Projects, Install the TightVNC server on Armbian, https://diyprojects.io/armbian-access-remote-desktop-orange-pi-vnc/#.XfO9YPwRXIV
3. DIY Projects, Armbian (Orange Pi): installing an XFCE desktop to server distribution, https://diyprojects.io/armbian-tutorial-installing-xfce-desktop-server-distribution/#.XfREqPwRXIV
4. nixCraft, Fix: /bin/dbus-launch terminated abnormally without any error message and solution, https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/fix-bindbus-launch-terminated-abnormally-without-on-centos-rhel/