Ran 'do-release-upgrade' and now TigerVNC won't run....

[Bo Berglund]

I have an HP Elitebook 8440w, which was running Ubuntu 20.04.5 LTS with the MATE
desktop.
It is operated headless, i.e. I have no external monitor attached but use VNC to
interact with the desktop (pretty seldom). VNC is implemented by TigerVNc
installed like this:
sudo apt install tigervnc-standalone-server

It has been working fine for a long time including VNC.

On this I tested the 'do-release-upgrade' command to move to 22.04 and it seemed
to have worked except when I try to connect VNC it won't.

So I checked the system and found that the conf file had been renamed by the
upgrade, so I renamed it back and checked the content against my notes - OK.
Likewise the ~/.vnc/xstartup file looks like it should according to old notes.

Tried starting it:

$ sudo systemctl start vncserver at 1.service
Job for vncserver at 1.service failed because the control process exited with error
code.
See "systemctl status vncserver at 1.service" and "journalctl -xeu
vncserver at 1.service" for details.


So I tried looking at the services, but now I need some help decoding the
feedback...


Here is what I can glean via SSH, what should I do to get it going again:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

systemctl status vncserver at 1.service
× vncserver at 1.service - Systemd TigerVNC server startup script for Ubuntu 20.04
     Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/vncserver at .service; enabled; vendor
preset: enabled)
     Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Mon 2023-03-13 14:27:18 CET; 25s
ago
    Process: 115796 ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/vncserver -kill :1 &> /dev/null
(code=exited, status=255/EXCEPTION)
    Process: 115823 ExecStart=/usr/bin/vncserver -depth 24 -localhost no
-geometry 1680x1040 :1 (code=exited, status=255/EXCEPTION)
        CPU: 469ms

mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu vncserver[115879]:
=====================================================================================
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu vncserver[115879]: Session startup via
'/home/bosse/.vnc/xstartup' cleanly exited too early (< 3 seconds)!
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu vncserver[115879]: Maybe try something simple
first, e.g.,
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu vncserver[115879]:         tigervncserver
-xstartup /usr/bin/xterm
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu dbus-daemon[115892]: [session uid=1000
pid=115890] AppArmor D-Bus mediation is enabled
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu vncserver[115879]: The X session cleanly exited!
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu vncserver[115879]: Killing Xtigervnc process ID
115880... success!
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu systemd[1]: vncserver at 1.service: Control process
exited, code=exited, status=255/EXCEPTION
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu systemd[1]: vncserver at 1.service: Failed with
result 'exit-code'.
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu systemd[1]: Failed to start Systemd TigerVNC
server startup script for Ubuntu 20.04.


and

$ sudo journalctl -xeu vncserver at 1.service
¦¦ Support: http://www.ubuntu.com/support
¦¦
¦¦ A start job for unit vncserver at 1.service has begun execution.
¦¦
¦¦ The job identifier is 2524.
mar 13 14:27:17 polaris-ubuntu vncserver[115810]: ssh: Could not resolve
hostname /dev/null: Name or service not known
mar 13 14:27:17 polaris-ubuntu vncserver[115796]: vncserver: Command 'ssh
/dev/null tigervncserver '-kill' ':1'' failed: 65280
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu vncserver[115879]: New Xtigervnc server
'polaris-ubuntu:1 (bosse)' on port 5901 for display :1.
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu vncserver[115879]: Use xtigervncviewer
-SecurityTypes VncAuth,TLSVnc -passwd /home/bosse/.vnc/passwd polaris-ubuntu>
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu vncserver[115879]: =================== tail
/home/bosse/.vnc/polaris-ubuntu:5901.log ===================
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu vncserver[115879]:
=====================================================================================
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu vncserver[115879]: Session startup via
'/home/bosse/.vnc/xstartup' cleanly exited too early (< 3 seconds)!
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu vncserver[115879]: Maybe try something simple
first, e.g.,
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu vncserver[115879]:         tigervncserver
-xstartup /usr/bin/xterm
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu dbus-daemon[115892]: [session uid=1000
pid=115890] AppArmor D-Bus mediation is enabled
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu vncserver[115879]: The X session cleanly exited!
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu vncserver[115879]: Killing Xtigervnc process ID
115880... success!
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu systemd[1]: vncserver at 1.service: Control process
exited, code=exited, status=255/EXCEPTION
¦¦ Subject: Unit process exited
¦¦ Defined-By: systemd
¦¦ Support: http://www.ubuntu.com/support
¦¦
¦¦ An ExecStart= process belonging to unit vncserver at 1.service has exited.
¦¦
¦¦ The process' exit code is 'exited' and its exit status is 255.
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu systemd[1]: vncserver at 1.service: Failed with
result 'exit-code'.
¦¦ Subject: Unit failed
¦¦ Defined-By: systemd
¦¦ Support: http://www.ubuntu.com/support
¦¦
¦¦ The unit vncserver at 1.service has entered the 'failed' state with result
'exit-code'.
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu systemd[1]: Failed to start Systemd TigerVNC
server startup script for Ubuntu 20.04.
¦¦ Subject: A start job for unit vncserver at 1.service has failed
¦¦ Defined-By: systemd
¦¦ Support: http://www.ubuntu.com/support
¦¦
¦¦ A start job for unit vncserver at 1.service has finished with a failure.
¦¦
¦¦ The job identifier is 2524 and the job result is failed.
lines 1172-1210/1210 (END)
¦¦ Support: http://www.ubuntu.com/support
¦¦
¦¦ A start job for unit vncserver at 1.service has begun execution.
¦¦
¦¦ The job identifier is 2524.
mar 13 14:27:17 polaris-ubuntu vncserver[115810]: ssh: Could not resolve
hostname /dev/null: Name or service not known
mar 13 14:27:17 polaris-ubuntu vncserver[115796]: vncserver: Command 'ssh
/dev/null tigervncserver '-kill' ':1'' failed: 65280
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu vncserver[115879]: New Xtigervnc server
'polaris-ubuntu:1 (bosse)' on port 5901 for display :1.
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu vncserver[115879]: Use xtigervncviewer
-SecurityTypes VncAuth,TLSVnc -passwd /home/bosse/.vnc/passwd polaris-ubuntu>
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu vncserver[115879]: =================== tail
/home/bosse/.vnc/polaris-ubuntu:5901.log ===================
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu vncserver[115879]:
=====================================================================================
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu vncserver[115879]: Session startup via
'/home/bosse/.vnc/xstartup' cleanly exited too early (< 3 seconds)!
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu vncserver[115879]: Maybe try something simple
first, e.g.,
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu vncserver[115879]:         tigervncserver
-xstartup /usr/bin/xterm
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu dbus-daemon[115892]: [session uid=1000
pid=115890] AppArmor D-Bus mediation is enabled
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu vncserver[115879]: The X session cleanly exited!
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu vncserver[115879]: Killing Xtigervnc process ID
115880... success!
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu systemd[1]: vncserver at 1.service: Control process
exited, code=exited, status=255/EXCEPTION
¦¦ Subject: Unit process exited
¦¦ Defined-By: systemd
¦¦ Support: http://www.ubuntu.com/support
¦¦
¦¦ An ExecStart= process belonging to unit vncserver at 1.service has exited.
¦¦
¦¦ The process' exit code is 'exited' and its exit status is 255.
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu systemd[1]: vncserver at 1.service: Failed with
result 'exit-code'.
¦¦ Subject: Unit failed
¦¦ Defined-By: systemd
¦¦ Support: http://www.ubuntu.com/support
¦¦
¦¦ The unit vncserver at 1.service has entered the 'failed' state with result
'exit-code'.
mar 13 14:27:18 polaris-ubuntu systemd[1]: Failed to start Systemd TigerVNC
server startup script for Ubuntu 20.04.
¦¦ Subject: A start job for unit vncserver at 1.service has failed
¦¦ Defined-By: systemd
¦¦ Support: http://www.ubuntu.com/support
¦¦
¦¦ A start job for unit vncserver at 1.service has finished with a failure.
¦¦
¦¦ The job identifier is 2524 and the job result is failed.



-- 
Bo Berglund
Developer in Sweden