Notes

VirtualGL

When you use ssh with X forwarding, you might have noticed that you cannot execute programs that require 3D acceleration. That's where VirtualGL comes into play.

VirtualGL is an open source toolkit that gives any Unix or Linux remote display software the ability to run OpenGL applications with full 3D hardware acceleration.

With VirtualGL, the OpenGL commands and 3D data are instead redirected to a 3D graphics accelerator (AKA "graphics processing unit" or "GPU") in the application server, and only the rendered 3D images are sent to the client machine.
Inititalization

Download the following packages for the server:

The .deb package for VirtualGL on sourceforge
The .deb package for TurboVNC on sourceforge

Installation

Make sure you have installed the proprietary drivers for your graphics card (at least for Nvidia that I have tested this setup).

Install virtualgl on Ubuntu, by installing the deb file you already downloaded:

sudo dpkg -i virtualgl_*.deb

Shutdown the display manager and configure virtualgl server:

# login as root
# If you are using KDE, install lightdm (sudo apt-get install lightdm)
# otherwise the following configuration steps do not work with SDDM (yet)
service lightdm stop
/opt/VirtualGL/bin/vglserver_config
# Go through the questions until the configuration is done.
sudo reboot

# Sanity check for restricted access to 3D X Server
xauth merge /etc/opt/VirtualGL/vgl_xauth_key
xdpyinfo -display :0
/opt/VirtualGL/bin/glxinfo -display :0 -c
# Check that the Graphic card is indeed used and not Mesa

Install TurboVNC:

sudo dpkg -i turbovnc_*.deb

For the TurboVNC clients, you can find them at the same address
Use

Launch /opt/TurboVNC/bin/vncserver on the server. Possible options:
-otp: enable One Time Password
-geometry x: specify size of the window
Connect using TurboVNC client (/opt/TurboVNC/bin/vncviewer). (The screen will appear black but X is launched)
In a terminal on the server
export the DISPLAY variable to the value used by vncserver

export DISPLAY=:1 # if your vncserver started in DISPLAY :1

Launch an X App (with vglrun to have 3D acceleration)

# Example command
vglrun glxgears

Tips

To get a window manager up and running (in order to not have the black screen) do the following:
With the command vncserver -list find the started vnc server. This command will give you an output that looks like this:

$ vncserver -list

TurboVNC server sessions:

X DISPLAY # PROCESS ID
:1 8972

Kill the started VNC server with the command vncserver -kill :1. Change the :1 with the X DISPLAY value returned by the vncserver -list command earlier.

Make sure that the commands xfce4-panel and xfce4-session exist in your system (if not install them), and append the following line at the end of the file ~/.vnc/xstartup.turbovnc.

xfce4-session &

Now start the vncserver again:

/opt/TurboVNC/bin/vncserver

Export PATH variables:

export PATH=/opt/TurboVNC/bin:$PATH



oot@gork:~# dmidecode -t memory | grep -iE "Size|Type:|Speed"
Error Correction Type: Multi-bit ECC
Size: 2048 MB
Type: DDR3
Speed: 1600 MHz
Configured Clock Speed: 1600 MHz
Size: No Module Installed
Type: Unknown
Speed: Unknown
Configured Clock Speed: Unknown
Size: 2048 MB
Type: DDR3
Speed: 1600 MHz
Configured Clock Speed: 1600 MHz
Size: No Module Installed
Type: Unknown
Speed: Unknown
Configured Clock Speed: Unknown
Size: No Module Installed
Type: Unknown
Speed: Unknown
Configured Clock Speed: Unknown
Size: 2048 MB
Type: DDR3
Speed: 1600 MHz
Configured Clock Speed: 1600 MHz
Size: No Module Installed
Type: Unknown
Speed: Unknown
Configured Clock Speed: Unknown
Size: 2048 MB
Type: DDR3
Speed: 1600 MHz
Configured Clock Speed: 1600 MHz


root@gork:~# cat /proc/cpuinfo
processor : 0
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 45
model name : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-1620 0 @ 3.60GHz
stepping : 7
microcode : 0x710
cpu MHz : 1217.812
cache size : 10240 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 8
core id : 0
cpu cores : 4
apicid : 0
initial apicid : 0
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 13
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf eagerfpu pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid dca sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx lahf_lm epb kaiser tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid xsaveopt dtherm ida arat pln pts
bugs :
bogomips : 7182.52
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 46 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor : 1
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 45
model name : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-1620 0 @ 3.60GHz
stepping : 7
microcode : 0x710
cpu MHz : 1216.687
cache size : 10240 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 8
core id : 1
cpu cores : 4
apicid : 2
initial apicid : 2
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 13
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf eagerfpu pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid dca sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx lahf_lm epb kaiser tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid xsaveopt dtherm ida arat pln pts
bugs :
bogomips : 7182.52
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 46 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor : 2
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 45
model name : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-1620 0 @ 3.60GHz
stepping : 7
microcode : 0x710
cpu MHz : 1262.390
cache size : 10240 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 8
core id : 2
cpu cores : 4
apicid : 4
initial apicid : 4
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 13
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf eagerfpu pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid dca sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx lahf_lm epb kaiser tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid xsaveopt dtherm ida arat pln pts
bugs :
bogomips : 7182.52
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 46 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor : 3
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 45
model name : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-1620 0 @ 3.60GHz
stepping : 7
microcode : 0x710
cpu MHz : 1218.937
cache size : 10240 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 8
core id : 3
cpu cores : 4
apicid : 6
initial apicid : 6
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 13
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf eagerfpu pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid dca sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx lahf_lm epb kaiser tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid xsaveopt dtherm ida arat pln pts
bugs :
bogomips : 7182.52
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 46 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor : 4
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 45
model name : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-1620 0 @ 3.60GHz
stepping : 7
microcode : 0x710
cpu MHz : 1210.500
cache size : 10240 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 8
core id : 0
cpu cores : 4
apicid : 1
initial apicid : 1
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 13
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf eagerfpu pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid dca sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx lahf_lm epb kaiser tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid xsaveopt dtherm ida arat pln pts
bugs :
bogomips : 7182.52
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 46 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor : 5
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 45
model name : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-1620 0 @ 3.60GHz
stepping : 7
microcode : 0x710
cpu MHz : 1199.953
cache size : 10240 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 8
core id : 1
cpu cores : 4
apicid : 3
initial apicid : 3
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 13
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf eagerfpu pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid dca sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx lahf_lm epb kaiser tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid xsaveopt dtherm ida arat pln pts
bugs :
bogomips : 7182.52
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 46 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor : 6
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 45
model name : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-1620 0 @ 3.60GHz
stepping : 7
microcode : 0x710
cpu MHz : 1201.359
cache size : 10240 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 8
core id : 2
cpu cores : 4
apicid : 5
initial apicid : 5
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 13
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf eagerfpu pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid dca sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx lahf_lm epb kaiser tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid xsaveopt dtherm ida arat pln pts
bugs :
bogomips : 7182.52
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 46 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor : 7
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 45
model name : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-1620 0 @ 3.60GHz
stepping : 7
microcode : 0x710
cpu MHz : 1298.250
cache size : 10240 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 8
core id : 3
cpu cores : 4
apicid : 7
initial apicid : 7
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 13
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf eagerfpu pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid dca sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx lahf_lm epb kaiser tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid xsaveopt dtherm ida arat pln pts
bugs :
bogomips : 7182.52
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 46 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

root@gork:~#