[arch-general] startx on arch vm running on ESXI (when accessed via ssh - do I need a DM?)

[respiranto]

On 2016-03-18 20:21, David C. Rankin wrote:
> All,
> 
>   When I ended up with a hand-me-down supermicro server from a local ISP, I
> decided to try virtualizing all my hosts. The company I got this from
> recommended vmware ESXI as the hypervisor. It was a pleasant surprise to find
> that ESXI is a basic Linux system. (albeit a very limited and quirky setup).
> 
>   I've installed Arch as the first vm, assigning 8-cores and 16G of RAM. It is
> up and running fine. (it is installed on a raid1 array volume from a LSI
> controller which exists as a single datastore in esxi -- if that makes any
> difference)
> 
>   I am trying to setup fluxbox on arch so I can access the vm via rdesktop (or
> something similar) via a GUI on a as needed basis. I would rather not have a
> display manager running all the time, so I'm attempting to use the startx route.
> 
>   I've used the following to try and get this going:
> 
> https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Fluxbox
> https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xinitrc
> https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/xorg
> https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Display_manager
> 
>   The configuration is good, but I'm stuck attempting to start X. X is refusing
> to start due to the fact I'm accessing Arch by ssh. When I try to start x, I
> receive the following error telling me that "Only console users are allowed":
> 
> $ startx
> 
> /usr/lib/xorg-server/Xorg.wrap: Only console users are allowed to run the X server
> 
> xinit: giving up
> xinit: unable to connect to X server: Connection refused
> xinit: server error
> Couldn't get a file descriptor referring to the console
> 
>   I understand that it wants X only to be started from the actual physical
> console, but when I access the vm over ssh, I don't have one. (I am starting the
> vm, ssh'ed into esxi with 'vim-cmd vmsvc/power.on 1', so there is no console
> anywhere else)
> 
>   What would be the best solution? Have arch boot to the graphical target
> loading a display manager? ... or is there some way I can simply startx as
> needed so I don't leave the dm running all the time on the vm? Thanks for any
> help you can provide.
> 

If you only want to run individual applications, you can use the -X
switch of ssh and then simply execute the respective applications as you
would normally. Note that this requires the ssh-session being opened in
a local graphical terminal.

If you however want to have a full graphical environment, you will have
to use VNC or something comparable, or so I think.