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Gnome in CentOS 7 tries to use local hardware acceleration and this becomes a problem when trying to connect remotely using XDMCP. To avoid this problem, you have to use an alternative display manager (other than ‘gdm’) and desktop environment.

This guide explains how you can change the display manager to lightdm from gdm and desktop environment from Gnome to Xfce. You will require root privileges. Be extra careful when making any configurations with root privileges.


Switching Display Manager from gdm to lightdm

  1. Switch to root account and install lightdm:

    Code Block
    # yum install lightdm


    If lightdm cannot be installed because of the system's default repository, extra repository information, EPEL (Extra Packages for Enterprise Linus), is required.

    Code Block
    # yum install http://download.netsarang.com/files/etc/epel-release-7-0.2.noarch.rpm


  2. Configure the lightdm config file. If file does not exist, create it:
    # vi /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf

    Code Block
    [XDMCPServer]
enabled=true


  3. Change the default display manager to lightdm:

    Code Block
    # systemctl disable gdm ; systemctl enable lightdm


  4. Start lightdm:

    Code Block
    # systemctl start lightdm


  5. Temporarily disable firewall to test connection. It is recommended that you allow incoming UDP port 177

    Code Block
    # systemctl stop firewalld.service



Add Xfce and Configure as Default Desktop Environment

  1. Add a new source repository:

    Code Block
    # yum install http://download.netsarang.com/files/etc/epel-release-7-0.2.noarch.rpm


  2. Install an alternative desktop environment:

    Code Block
    # yum groupinstall xfce


  3. Restart lightdm:

    Code Block
    # systemctl restart lightdm


  4. Connect with Xmanager and select Xfce

...