25.10 gnome fails to start on xrdp session

[aa777888]

25.10 server with gnome minimal

This is a brand new installation. Any and all help is most appreciated!

Problem: an xrdp session won’t start gnome.

From a Windows machine, using Windows RDP client, all goes well until it’s time to start gnome.

• I get the login window, select xorg, enter username & password (xrdp is working properly)
• Window turns black (X starts successfully)
• Window disappears (xrdp process terminated because window manager exits)

~/.xsession-errors shows

Xsession: X session started for redacted at Mon Oct 20 21:17:04 EDT 2025
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=unix:path=/run/user/1000/bus
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting DISPLAY=:11.0
localuser:redacted being added to access control list
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting GTK_MODULES=gail:atk-bridge
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting QT_ACCESSIBILITY=1
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting USER=redacted
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_SESSION_TYPE=x11
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting HOME=/home/redacted
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting DESKTOP_SESSION=ubuntu
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting GNOME_SHELL_SESSION_MODE=ubuntu
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting GTK_MODULES=gail:atk-bridge
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XRDP_PULSE_SINK_SOCKET=xrdp_chansrv_audio_out_socket_11
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XRDP_PULSE_SOURCE_SOCKET=xrdp_chansrv_audio_in_socket_11
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=unix:path=/run/user/1000/bus
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting DEBUGINFOD_URLS=https://debuginfod.ubuntu.com
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting PULSE_SCRIPT=/etc/xrdp/pulse/default.pa
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting IM_CONFIG_PHASE=1
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting LOGNAME=redacted
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_SESSION_CLASS=user
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games:/snap/bin
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XRDP_SOCKET_PATH=/run/xrdp/sockdir/1000
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/1000
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting DISPLAY=:11.0
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting LANG=en_US.UTF-8
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=ubuntu:GNOME
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XAUTHORITY=/home/redacted/.Xauthority
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting UID=1000
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting DBUS_SESSION_BUS_PID=4978
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting SHELL=/bin/bash
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting DBUS_SESSION_BUS_WINDOWID=4194305
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting QT_ACCESSIBILITY=1
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XRDP_SESSION=4918
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting GPG_AGENT_INFO=/run/user/1000/gnupg/S.gpg-agent:0:1
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting PWD=/home/redacted
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_DATA_DIRS=/usr/share/ubuntu:/usr/share/gnome:/usr/local/share:/usr/share:/var/lib/snapd/desktop
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_CONFIG_DIRS=/etc/xdg/xdg-ubuntu:/etc/xdg
** Message: 21:17:04.977: Starting GNOME session target: gnome-session-x11@ubuntu.target

** (process:5032): ERROR **: 21:17:04.977: Failed to start unit gnome-session-x11@ubuntu.target: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.systemd1.NoSuchUnit: Unit gnome-session-x11@ubuntu.target not found.
/home/redacted/.xsession: line 1:  5032 Trace/breakpoint trap   (core dumped) gnome-session

/var/log/xrdp-sesman.log shows

[2025-10-20T21:17:03.736-0400] [INFO ] starting xrdp-sesexec with pid 4918
[2025-10-20T21:17:03.754-0400] [INFO ] TerminalServerUsers group tsusers doesn't exist. Access granted for redacted
[2025-10-20T21:17:03.759-0400] [INFO ] Access permitted for user: redacted
[2025-10-20T21:17:03.815-0400] [INFO ] Starting X server on display 11: /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg :11 -auth .Xauthority -config xrdp/xorg.conf -noreset -nolisten tcp -logfile .xorgxrdp.%s.log
[2025-10-20T21:17:04.819-0400] [INFO ] X server :11 is working
[2025-10-20T21:17:04.836-0400] [INFO ] Starting window manager for display :11
[2025-10-20T21:17:04.842-0400] [INFO ] Starting the xrdp channel server for display :11
[2025-10-20T21:17:04.842-0400] [INFO ] Using the default window manager on display 11: /etc/xrdp/startwm.sh
[2025-10-20T21:17:04.847-0400] [INFO ] Session in progress on display :11. Waiting until the window manager (pid 4932) exits to end the session
[2025-10-20T21:17:06.851-0400] [WARN ] Window manager (pid 4932, display 11) exited with non-zero exit code 133. This could indicate a window manager config problem
[2025-10-20T21:17:06.101-0400] [WARN ] Window manager (pid 4932, display 11) exited quickly (2 secs). This could indicate a window manager config problem
[2025-10-20T21:17:06.106-0400] [INFO ] Terminating X server (pid 4923) on display :11
[2025-10-20T21:17:06.111-0400] [INFO ] Terminating the xrdp channel server (pid 4933) on display :11
[2025-10-20T21:17:06.117-0400] [INFO ] xrdp channel server pid 4933 on display :11 finished
[2025-10-20T21:17:06.124-0400] [INFO ] X server pid 4923 on display :11 finished

Contents of ~/.xsession

gnome-session

Contents of ~/.xsessionrc

export $(dbus-launch)
export XAUTHORITY=${HOME}/.Xauthority
export DESKTOP_SESSION=ubuntu
export GNOME_SHELL_SESSION_MODE=ubuntu
# export XDG_RUNTIME_DIR="/run/user/$(id -u)"
export DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=unix:path=/run/user/$UID/bus
export XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/$UID
export XDG_CONFIG_DIRS=/etc/xdg/xdg-ubuntu:/etc/xdg
export XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=ubuntu:GNOME

Result of getent group ssl-cert

ssl-cert:x:113:xrdp

I have not made any changes to startwm.sh

[ogra]

I think this is expected given that GNOME upstream dropped support for x11…

Ubuntu 25.10 drops support for GNOME on Xorg

With Ubuntu 25.10 “Questing Quokka,” we are taking a significant step forward in the evolution of the Ubuntu Desktop by removing the Xorg-based Ubuntu session. Starting with this release the “Ubuntu” session in GDM will run exclusively on Wayland. This decision follows upstream GNOME’s roadmap and aligns with our long-term strategy of delivering a secure, performant, and modern desktop experience. Why We’re Making This Change Over the past several cycles, the Wayland experience has matured sig…

[aa777888]

Oh, bummer, I obviously did not realize that!

What is the preferred solution for a remote graphical desktop environment on a headless server now? Gnome remote desktop is a non-starter as I read you need to be logged in on the console.

Does xfce over xrdp still work in 25.10?

Or is there a good solution for Gnome remote on a headless 25.xx server?

[matt-rw]

Last time I dug into rdp for wayland one needed a xlroots based desktop, like sway.
But that was several years ago.

[aa777888]

I did a fresh install of 25.10, then added task-xfce-desktop. This is working well via xrdp.

[shishimaru]

Does this also mean that we can fail to access Ubuntu 25.10 via rdp? Because I’m trying and, on 25.10, rdp immediately closes.

[ogra]

RDP support is built into GNOME since quite a while (nearly a decade), you do not need to install anything extra, just enable it in the system settings …

[aa777888]

I don’t understand your last post, ogra, as your initial post indicated that Gnome will no longer work over rdp because, from 25.10 onward, Gnome has dropped support for Xorg/X11. That has certainly been my experience, and thank you for helping understand why.

@shishimaru

Does this also mean that we can fail to access Ubuntu 25.10 via rdp? Because I’m trying and, on 25.10, rdp immediately closes.

It’s not that you can’t access Ubuntu 25.10 (and later) via rdp. It’s only that you cannot enjoy a Gnome desktop over rdp. xfce is working fine for me. There are other choices, as well. Since I am running Ubuntu server, I’m not too picky about the desktop experience. However, others might be

[ogra]

@aa777888

Gnome will no longer work over rdp because

Wrong

It will not run over Xrdp
It has supported the RDP protocol natively for ages, just turning it on in the settings should get you access from whatever RDP client you use even with wayland sessions …

xdrp is just an additional RDP server, you do not need it on GNOME

[aa777888]

Damn. I’ve been using various linux distro’s for years, including Ubuntu, Mint, Kali, etc. I never realized there was a difference between “rdp” and “xrdp”, and I’ve always used xrdp on the server side. I’m feeling a bit ignorant right now!

In drilling down into this further, should I then assume that if I install FreeRDP in lieu of xrdp I can then remotely access a Gnome desktop (Wayland) in Ubuntu 25.10 and later?

Note that my original intent was, and remains, Ubuntu Server with ubuntu-desktop-minimal.

[ogra]

The point here is that the native RDP implementation of GNOME runs through gnome-shell itself.

gnome-shell has more authority over the wayland bits here … when you run xdrp as an additional service it will attach to the X11 session instead and wont have all the access gnome-shell itself has to your session… FreeRDP would have the very same issue … (talking about the server side only here, what client you use should not matter as long as it speaks RDP)