How to Install a GUI on Ubuntu Server (GNOME or Xfce)

Updated: 11 October 2026 · Applies to: Ubuntu Server 26.04 LTS (GNOME 50, Xfce 4.20, xrdp 0.10.1) and 24.04 LTS (GNOME 46, Xfce 4.18, xrdp 0.9.24); package sizes and session files checked on both

Ubuntu Server has no graphical interface, but you can add one with a single package. For Ubuntu’s own GNOME desktop, run sudo apt install ubuntu-desktop-minimal and reboot. If you will use the desktop over remote desktop (RDP), install Xfce instead: sudo apt install xfce4 xfce4-goodies xrdp is smaller than GNOME and works with xrdp on both Ubuntu 24.04 and 26.04. For Xfce with a login screen on the console, install xubuntu-desktop-minimal.

Do you need a GUI on the server?

• A desktop uses memory, disk and updates that the server’s real work does not need. Canonical lists a 2 GHz dual-core processor, 6 GB RAM and 25 GB of disk for Ubuntu Desktop 26.04.
• For managing services, users and files from a browser, a web panel is often the better fit: install Webmin.
• The desktop shows on the server’s own screen. On a VPS, that is the VNC console in the client area (VNC in Virtualizor); on a dedicated server, the IPMI console. To use it from your own computer, add remote desktop (see below).

Which desktop to install

Sizes measured with apt on minimal Ubuntu containers (a full server install already has some of these packages, so yours may be smaller):

• GNOME, ubuntu-desktop-minimal: the same desktop as Ubuntu Desktop, with the GDM login screen. 24.04: 1,272 packages, 691 MB download, 2,492 MB on disk. 26.04: 1,275 packages, 787 MB, 2,669 MB.
• Xfce with a login screen, xubuntu-desktop-minimal: Xubuntu’s desktop with the LightDM login screen. 24.04: 1,165 packages, 585 MB, 2,133 MB. 26.04: 1,247 packages, 756 MB, 2,616 MB. (xubuntu-core is now a transitional package that installs this.)
• Xfce only, xfce4: the desktop without a login screen, for remote desktop use. With xrdp added, 24.04 needed 937 packages, 408 MB, 1,661 MB; 26.04 needed 609 packages, 278 MB, 1,121 MB. xfce4-goodies adds about 100 more packages.

“Lighter” does not always mean smaller: lubuntu-desktop (LXQt) was the biggest in our test, 3,564 MB on 24.04 and 3,921 MB on 26.04, because it brings the whole Lubuntu application set.

Install GNOME on Ubuntu Server

1. Update the system:

   sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

2. Install one of the GNOME packages:

   sudo apt install ubuntu-desktop-minimal   # Ubuntu’s GNOME with basic apps
   sudo apt install ubuntu-desktop           # adds the full Ubuntu Desktop app set
   sudo apt install vanilla-gnome-desktop    # upstream GNOME look instead of Ubuntu’s

   On 24.04 the full ubuntu-desktop needed 1,415 packages (834 MB download, 2,982 MB on disk).
3. Check that the system starts in graphical mode with GDM:

   systemctl get-default                  # graphical.target
   cat /etc/X11/default-display-manager   # /usr/sbin/gdm3

   If the first command shows multi-user.target, run sudo systemctl set-default graphical.target.
4. Reboot with sudo reboot and log in with your normal user on the console.

The versions we got: GNOME Shell 46.0 and GDM 46.2 on Ubuntu 24.04; GNOME Shell 50.1 on Ubuntu 26.04.

Install Xfce on Ubuntu Server

1. Update the system as above.
2. For Xfce with a graphical login on the console:

   sudo apt install xubuntu-desktop-minimal

   For remote desktop only, without a login screen on the server:

   sudo apt install xfce4 xfce4-goodies xrdp

3. Reboot. xubuntu-desktop-minimal depends on the LightDM login screen, which then starts on the console. If you still get a text login, check systemctl get-default as in the GNOME steps.

We got Xfce 4.18 on Ubuntu 24.04 and Xfce 4.20 on 26.04.

Remote desktop to the server

There is an important difference between the two Ubuntu versions:

• xrdp with Xfce (24.04 and 26.04): xrdp starts an X11 session, and Xfce still ships one (/usr/share/xsessions/xfce.desktop) on both versions. This is the simplest route for a VPS: install xrdp on Ubuntu and connect with the Remote Desktop app.
• GNOME on 26.04: GNOME 50 on Ubuntu 26.04 ships only a Wayland session; the ubuntu-session package no longer has the X11 session file that 24.04 still has (ubuntu-xorg.desktop). So xrdp, which starts X11 sessions, has no Ubuntu GNOME session to start on 26.04. Use GNOME’s own remote desktop instead: according to Ubuntu’s documentation, open Settings, System, Remote Desktop, Remote Login (Ubuntu 24.04 or later with GNOME). It uses RDP on port 3389, and you must be logged out on the server before a remote user can connect. Turn it on once from the VNC console. ubuntu-desktop-minimal recommends the gnome-remote-desktop package, so it is normally installed.
• VNC through an SSH tunnel: remote Linux desktop with SSH and VNC.

Whichever you use, never leave a desktop port open to the whole internet: allow port 3389 only from your own IP address in the firewall (sudo ufw allow from 203.0.113.5 to any port 3389 proto tcp, see open ports with UFW), or use an SSH tunnel.

Remove the GUI again

Remove the package you installed, then the packages it pulled in:

sudo apt purge ubuntu-desktop-minimal
sudo apt autoremove --purge

In our test on 24.04, apt autoremove --purge listed 1,109 packages and 2366 MB disk space will be freed. Read the list before you confirm, in case it includes something you installed on purpose. Then set the text console back as the default and reboot:

sudo systemctl set-default multi-user.target
sudo reboot

Related: Ubuntu Server vs Ubuntu Desktop, install Ubuntu Server 26.04 and open a terminal in Ubuntu.

Official documentation: Ubuntu Desktop: share your desktop remotely.