1. In a plain SSH (terminal) window on the server, type:
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apt-get update
apt-get install ubuntu-desktop tightvncserver xfce4 xfce4-goodies
If the "apt install" step downloads very slowly, try hitting control-C to abort it, then re-run the command; sometimes, a slow mirror is chosen.
2. Start the VNC server with this command:
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tightvncserver -nolisten tcp :1
3. Paste in these commands to stop the running VNC server, instruct Ubuntu to start up XFCE when VNC runs, and start back up the VNC server:
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killall Xtightvnc
echo "startxfce4 &" >> /root/.vnc/xstartup
tightvncserver -nolisten tcp :1
Note that we recommend against running desktop applications on a server, for performance, security, and stability reasons. As Ubuntu docs state, a web-based administration package is usually a better choice (or simply using the command-line directly).
Sources:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ServerGUI
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/VNC/Servers
https://askubuntu.com/questions/800302/ ... -16-04-lts