I managed to get the full Ubuntu 20.04 Unity desktop GUI running using
VcXsrv by installing the GNOME Desktop the ubuntu-wsl2-systemd-script and then appending the following to my ~/.bashrc file.
Initially, Ubuntu is root access only, so create a normal account with sudo privilages;-
sudo adduser username
sudo usermod -aG sudo username
exit
From now on, start WSL using that account.
wsl.exe -d distroname -u username
NOTE:
The ubuntu-wsl2-systemd-script calls systemd using --system-unit=basic.target
thus does not start the gdm or lightdm service, so edit the enter-systemd-namespace and start-systemd-namespace files and change --system-unit=basic.target to --system-unit=default.target prior to installation.
# runs only if 1st level shell
if [ $SHLVL = 1 ] &&
[ -d "${srv_path="/mnt/c/Program Files/VcXsrv"}" ] &&
[ -f "${srv_exec="$srv_path"/"${srv_name=vcxsrv.exe}"}" ] &&
[ -d "${sys_path="/mnt/c/Windows/System32"}" ] &&
[ -f "${tasklist="$sys_path"/tasklist.exe}" ] &&
[ -f "${taskkill="$sys_path"/taskkill.exe}" ]; then
# find a Windows Process ID
function find_wpid {
echo $("$tasklist" | grep "$1" | awk '{print $2; exit}')
}
# kill a Windows Process ID
function kill_wpid {
"$taskkill" /PID $1 /F /T >/dev/null
}
# export the Windows %UserProfile% path in Linux Format
export WIN_HOME="$(wslpath "$($sys_path"/cmd.exe" /c "<nul set /p=%UserProfile%" 2>/dev/null)")"
# Find the current WSL2 local IP address
srv_addr="$(ip route | awk '{print $3; exit}')";
# shutdown old instance of VcXsrv if running
if [ "${gfx_wpid=$(find_wpid $srv_name)}" ]; then
kill_wpid $gfx_wpid
unset gfx_wpid
fi
# start a new instance of VcXsrv
"$srv_exec" :0 -ac -wgl -fullscreen -notrayicon -dpms &
# wait for startup success
while [ -z $gfx_wpid ]; do gfx_wpid=$(find_wpid $srv_name); done
# Start Windows Pulse Audio if installed
unset srv_exec srv_name
if [ -f "${srv_exec="$srv_path"/pulse/bin/"${srv_name="pulseaudio.exe"}"}" ]; then
# shutdown old instance of Pulse if running
if [ ${snd_wpid=$(find_wpid $srv_name)} ]; then
kill_wpid $snd_wpid
unset snd_wpid
fi
# delete the expired Pulse config
if [ -d "${snd_conf=$WIN_HOME"/.config/pulse"}" ]; then
rm -r "$snd_conf"
unset snd_conf
fi
# Start a new instance of Pulse
"$srv_exec" --use-pid-file=false --disable-shm=true --exit-idle-time=-1 &
while [ -z $snd_wpid ]; do snd_wpid=$(find_wpid $srv_name); done
export PULSE_SERVER=tcp:"$srv_addr";
fi
# setup Ubuntu Desktop
export DISPLAY="$srv_addr":0;
# setting below: 0 = llvmpipe (faster), 1 = software rasterizer
export LIBGL_ALWAYS_INDIRECT=0
export XDG_CONFIG_HOME=$HOME/.config
export XDG_CONFIG_DIRS=/etc/xdg/xdg-ubuntu:/etc/xdg
export XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP=ubuntu
export XDG_SESSION_TYPE=x11
export XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=ubuntu:GNOME
export XDG_SESSION_CLASS=user
export XDG_DATA_DIRS=/usr/share/ubuntu:/usr/local/share/:/usr/share/:/var/lib/snapd/desktop
# cleanup expired vars
unset tasklist sys_path srv_path srv_exec srv_name srv_addr
# script stays here until gnome-session logout or failure
gnome-session
# shutdown VcXsrv
if [ $gfx_wpid ]; then
kill_wpid $gfx_wpid
unset gfx_wpid
fi
# shutdown Pulse
if [ $snd_wpid ]; then
kill_wpid $snd_wpid
unset snd_wpid
fi
unset taskkill
# shutdown the shell
exit 0
fi
NOTE:
When all is up and running, go to Ubuntu's Settings -> Privacy -> Screen Lock and turn off the screen lock options. Trying to log back in after a screen lock for some reason results in an infinite loop when asking for your password. If that happens, just shutdown the WSL distro and on next start all is OK again.
Optional Audio Support
Download and unpack mingw64-pulseaudio-13.0.7z. Edit the \mingw\etc\pulse\default.pa file and replace line 38 containing load-module module-waveout sink_name=output source_name=input with:
load-module module-waveout sink_name=output source_name=input record=0
load-module module-native-protocol-tcp listen=0.0.0.0 auth-anonymous=1
Save the changes, rename the mingw folder as pulse and move it into your C:\Program Files\VcXsrv folder.
I am unsure if this step is required, however I also installed these apps via...
sudo apt-get install alsa-tools-gui pavumeter pavucontrol
GDM3
Solved a problem that the GDM service starts instead of GDM3;-
sudo systemctl start gdm3.service
sudo dpkg-reconfigure gdm3
HELP
Can someone solve the problem that when running gui apps like Synaptic and
BleachBit as root are marked as still running when they have been closed down.
