# Gnome desktop interactive

**URL:** <https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/gnome-desktop-interactive/4515>\
**Category:** Get Help\
**Created:** [September 10, 2025, 7:03pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/gnome-desktop-interactive/4515 "2025-09-10T19:03:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 11\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mbruzek](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/discourse.openondemand.org/mbruzek/32/2986_2.png) [@mbruzek](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/mbruzek)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 7:03pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/gnome-desktop-interactive/4515/1 "2025-09-10T19:03:48Z")

</div>

Greetings OnDemand community!

We are having trouble with the Gnome desktop on the interactive apps. We configured XFCE and that works fine, just the Gnome desktop is not working in our deployments.

We are using Open OnDemand version 4.0.6 and GNOME Shell 3.32.2, we are using slurm 24.11.0.

```auto
$ gnome-shell --version
GNOME Shell 3.32.2
$ srun --version
slurm 24.11.0

```

I copied the bc\_desktop to my dev directory so I could add more verbosity to the `gnome` script. I added `set -x` to the top of the script hoping to capture more details about what is going on, have the output here:

```auto
---------------- SLURM prolog script on FSL dnode0002 ----------------
Wed Sep 10 12:44:57 CDT 2025
NodeList=dnode0002
NumNodes=1 NumCPUs=1 NumTasks=1
WorkDir=/nobackup2/testuser1/ondemand/sys/dashboard/batch_connect/dev/bc_desktop_2/output/62342f16-97f2-4485-8835-facd784893ec
--------------- End of output from prolog script ---------------
Setting VNC password...
Starting VNC server...
Killing Xvnc process ID 103315
Xvnc process ID 103315 already killed
Xvnc did not appear to shut down cleanly. Removing /tmp/.X11-unix/X2
Xvnc did not appear to shut down cleanly. Removing /tmp/.X2-lock
Killing Xvnc process ID 107607
Xvnc process ID 107607 already killed
Xvnc did not appear to shut down cleanly. Removing /tmp/.X11-unix/X4
Xvnc did not appear to shut down cleanly. Removing /tmp/.X4-lock

WARNING: dnode0002.example.com:1 is taken because of /tmp/.X1-lock
Remove this file if there is no X server dnode0002.example.com:1

Desktop 'TurboVNC: dnode0002.example.com:2 (testuser1)' started on display dnode0002.example.com:2

Log file is vnc.log
Successfully started VNC server on dnode0002.example.com:5902...
Script starting...
Starting websocket server...
[websockify]: pid: 114117 (proxying 30992 ==> localhost:5902)
[websockify]: log file: ./websockify.log
[websockify]: waiting ...
Running "module reset". Resetting modules to system default. The following $MODULEPATH directories have been removed: None
Launching desktop 'gnome'...
++ gconftool-2 --set -t boolean /apps/gnome-screensaver/idle_activation_enabled false
++ gconftool-2 --set -t boolean /apps/nautilus/preferences/always_use_browser true
[websockify]: started successfully (proxying 30992 ==> localhost:5902)
Scanning VNC log file for user authentications...
Generating connection YAML file...
++ mkdir -p /home/testuser1/.config/autostart
++ cat /etc/xdg/autostart/gdu-notification-daemon.desktop /dev/fd/63
+++ echo X-GNOME-Autostart-enabled=false
cat: /etc/xdg/autostart/gdu-notification-daemon.desktop: No such file or directory
++ [[-f /home/testuser1/.config/monitors.xml]]
+++ dbus-launch --sh-syntax
++ eval 'DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS='\''unix:abstract=/tmp/dbus-llf2bfAyur,guid=ca7e98aba5918dca2545247068c1b91d'\'';' export 'DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS;' 'DBUS_SESSION_BUS_PID=114167;' 'DBUS_SESSION_BUS_WINDOWID=2097153;'
+++ DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=unix:abstract=/tmp/dbus-llf2bfAyur,guid=ca7e98aba5918dca2545247068c1b91d
+++ export DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS
+++ DBUS_SESSION_BUS_PID=114167
+++ DBUS_SESSION_BUS_WINDOWID=2097153
++ source /etc/os-release
+++ NAME='Rocky Linux'
+++ VERSION='8.10 (Green Obsidian)'
+++ ID=rocky
+++ ID_LIKE='rhel centos fedora'
+++ VERSION_ID=8.10
+++ PLATFORM_ID=platform:el8
+++ PRETTY_NAME='Rocky Linux 8.10 (Green Obsidian)'
+++ ANSI_COLOR='0;32'
+++ LOGO=fedora-logo-icon
+++ CPE_NAME=cpe:/o:rocky:rocky:8:GA
+++ HOME_URL=https://rockylinux.org/
+++ BUG_REPORT_URL=https://bugs.rockylinux.org/
+++ SUPPORT_END=2029-05-31
+++ ROCKY_SUPPORT_PRODUCT=Rocky-Linux-8
+++ ROCKY_SUPPORT_PRODUCT_VERSION=8.10
+++ REDHAT_SUPPORT_PRODUCT='Rocky Linux'
+++ REDHAT_SUPPORT_PRODUCT_VERSION=8.10
++ [[rhel centos fedora =~ fedora]]
++ [[8.10 < 8.0]]
++ wayland
++ export XDG_SESSION_TYPE=x11
++ XDG_SESSION_TYPE=x11
++ export GNOME_SHELL_SESSION_MODE=wayland
++ GNOME_SHELL_SESSION_MODE=wayland
++ export GNOME_SESSION_MODE=wayland
++ GNOME_SESSION_MODE=wayland
++ /etc/X11/xinit/Xsession gnome-session

```

After hitting the “Launch Desktop” button, I got a VNC window in the browser that had a dialog window that let me select my language and a few other questions but when I got to the end of the setup it closed and I don’t see the gnome desktop. I believe this means that VNC is setup and was working at one point but something is not getting kicked off correctly. Now when I select the gnome desktop I only get a new browser window but a blank screen.

I have done some research on the forums and found the following articles:

- [Gnome 3 Support for Interactive Desktops - #4 by surak](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/gnome-3-support-for-interactive-desktops/2800/4)
- [Session briefly starts then immediately crashes; User authentication problem?](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/session-briefly-starts-then-immediately-crashes-user-authentication-problem/2268)
- [Getting interactive desktops to work with gnome3](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/getting-interactive-desktops-to-work-with-gnome3/2792)

I didn’t see anything in these issues that was relevant to our situation but I might have missed it. Please let me know if you need different logs or have questions. Any help on what logs to look at or what else I can do to close in on the problem would be much appreciated.

Thank you for your time,

Matt Bruzek

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jeff.ohrstrom](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/discourse.openondemand.org/jeff.ohrstrom/32/136_2.png) [@jeff.ohrstrom](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/jeff.ohrstrom)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 7:09pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/gnome-desktop-interactive/4515/2 "2025-09-10T19:09:42Z")

</div>

Can you provide a screenshot of the blank screen?

Also if you’re editing the script you can add `--debug` to the `gnome-session` command.

Lastly, there may be some information in `journalctl` about what gnome is trying to do/failing to do.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jeff.ohrstrom](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/discourse.openondemand.org/jeff.ohrstrom/32/136_2.png) [@jeff.ohrstrom](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/jeff.ohrstrom)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 7:10pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/gnome-desktop-interactive/4515/3 "2025-09-10T19:10:06Z")

</div>

Also hi and welcome (I know we met in the office hours this week)!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mbruzek](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/discourse.openondemand.org/mbruzek/32/2986_2.png) [@mbruzek](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/mbruzek)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 7:46pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/gnome-desktop-interactive/4515/4 "2025-09-10T19:46:21Z")

</div>

Thank you Jeff. It was great to meet you on the community call.

The blank screen is in this image. I get the vnc menu on the left side. I did not get the language selection screen this time.

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/uploads/osc/original/2X/6/62146a8375d1ab669d86cbd5885ba4970933175f.png)

I added the `–debug` option and uploaded the `journalctl -xe` output and I do see some errors in the journal that I will start looking into.

[journalctl\_output.txt](https://discourse.openondemand.org/uploads/short-url/pqhMgJCXnbZLLUAPrMCwzt8TcrC.txt) (37.8 KB)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mbruzek](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/discourse.openondemand.org/mbruzek/32/2986_2.png) [@mbruzek](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/mbruzek)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 7:54pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/gnome-desktop-interactive/4515/5 "2025-09-10T19:54:16Z")

</div>

Does this message means anything to you?

```auto
Sep 10 14:30:39 dnode0002.example.com gnome-shell[125706]: Unset XDG_SESSION_ID, getCurrentSessionProxy() called outside a user session. Asking logind directly.
Sep 10 14:30:39 dnode0002.example.com gnome-shell[125706]: JS ERROR: TypeError: this._userProxy.Display is null
                                                                     getCurrentSessionProxy@resource:///org/gnome/shell/misc/loginManager.js:90:17
                                                                     ScreenShield<@resource:///org/gnome/shell/ui/screenShield.js:534:9
                                                                     _initializeUI@resource:///org/gnome/shell/ui/main.js:175:24
                                                                     start@resource:///org/gnome/shell/ui/main.js:128:5
                                                                     @<main>:1:31

```

Is JS from OOD or is this JS in the gnome-shell?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jeff.ohrstrom](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/discourse.openondemand.org/jeff.ohrstrom/32/136_2.png) [@jeff.ohrstrom](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/jeff.ohrstrom)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 8:28pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/gnome-desktop-interactive/4515/6 "2025-09-10T20:28:20Z")

</div>

That error is from gnome-shell. I wonder if you can try to set `GNOME_SHELL_SESSION_MODE=classic` if that could help. If not, try setting `GNOME_SESSION_MODE=classic` as well.

`JS ERROR: TypeError: this._userProxy.Display is null` has some hits on google, but it’s not clear what the resolution is.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jeff.ohrstrom](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/discourse.openondemand.org/jeff.ohrstrom/32/136_2.png) [@jeff.ohrstrom](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/jeff.ohrstrom)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 8:30pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/gnome-desktop-interactive/4515/7 "2025-09-10T20:30:20Z")

</div>

I also wonder if an update to gnome and it’s accompanying libraries could help resolve the issue.

One last thing I see on these forums is using dbus-launch. So instead of just

```auto
/etc/X11/xinit/Xsession gnome-session

```

You can try

```auto
dbus-launch /etc/X11/xinit/Xsession gnome-session

```

And see if that’s any better.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mbruzek](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/discourse.openondemand.org/mbruzek/32/2986_2.png) [@mbruzek](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/mbruzek)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 9:01pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/gnome-desktop-interactive/4515/8 "2025-09-10T21:01:45Z")

</div>

> [@jeff.ohrstrom](#):
>
> `dbus-launch /etc/X11/xinit/Xsession gnome-session`

I tried the dbus-launch and it didn’t seem like that worked any different, new browser tab, VNC connection and black screen.

I will look at setting those environment variables separately and report back.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mbruzek](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/discourse.openondemand.org/mbruzek/32/2986_2.png) [@mbruzek](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/mbruzek)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 9:12pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/gnome-desktop-interactive/4515/9 "2025-09-10T21:12:12Z")

</div>

I configured `gnome.sh` to classic and forgot to take out the dbus-launch. Here is the output:

```auto
++ export GNOME_SHELL_SESSION_MODE=classic
++ GNOME_SHELL_SESSION_MODE=classic
++ export GNOME_SESSION_MODE=classic
++ GNOME_SESSION_MODE=classic
++ dbus-launch /etc/X11/xinit/Xsession gnome-session --debug

```

No change, still blank VNC window. Looks like more of the same error in journalctl

JS ERROR: TypeError: this.\_userProxy.Display is null

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jeff.ohrstrom](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/discourse.openondemand.org/jeff.ohrstrom/32/136_2.png) [@jeff.ohrstrom](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/jeff.ohrstrom)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 2025, 2:33pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/gnome-desktop-interactive/4515/10 "2025-10-30T14:33:21Z")

</div>

1,000 apologies for completley dropping this.

I think at this point, the most I can do is google `JS ERROR: TypeError: this._userProxy.Display is null` and see what others have found and so on. My guess is an update through yum/dnf/apt is required, but I’m not 100% sure on that.

I’ll continue to google around and see if there are any forums that may have some indication of a solution.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/uploads/osc/original/2X/b/bae70bd0ed39a3ae769c2108155f4cb3e9da8385.png) [@system](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/system)\
**Post date:** [April 28, 2026, 2:33pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/gnome-desktop-interactive/4515/11 "2026-04-28T14:33:46Z")

</div>

Closed on April 28, 2026, 2:33pm UTC

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