My previous message was incorrect. I thought that I couldn't reproduce
the issue on Rocky Linux, but in fact I can. I was just testing for it
incorrectly.
The behavior of the TurboVNC Session Manager in this regard is identical
to the behavior of SSH if you specify a command to run. For example, if
you modify /etc/profile so that it exports PROFILE_READ=1 and modify
/etc/bashrc so that it exports BASHRC_READ=1:
$ ssh {host} env | grep READ
BASHRC_READ=1
However,
$ ssh {host} bash -cl env | grep READ
PROFILE_READ=1
BASHRC_READ=1
The TurboVNC Session Manager does the equivalent of 'ssh bash -c
/opt/TurboVNC/bin/vncserver', so you are correct that /etc/profile has
not been executed at the point that /opt/TurboVNC/bin/vncserver is
invoked by the Session Manager. However, if you open a shell in the
TurboVNC session, /etc/profile will be executed. Thus, the issue is
only that /etc/profile customizations will not affect the startup of the
TurboVNC Server. Those customizations will still affect applications
launched in the TurboVNC session.
If you want environment variables to affect the TurboVNC Server or the
window manager, then the preferred ways to do that are:
1. Modify /etc/turbovncserver.conf if the environment variable is for
TurboVNC configuration and has an equivalent config file variable (most do.)
2. Use a custom xstartup.turbovnc file. For example:
#!/bin/bash
export MY_ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLE=foo
exec /opt/TurboVNC/bin/xstartup.turbovnc
Then set '$xstartup = "/etc/xstartup.turbovnc";' in
/etc/turbovncserver.conf.
DRC
On 2/5/26 7:55 AM, Kimmo wrote:
I've done some testing and sorry for the confusion but this is my
understanding about the situation:
1. When a TurboVNC session is started inside a normal 'login'-type
SSH session, the TurboVNC session inherits the environmental
variables of that SSH session
1. When I use e.g. 'Mate Terminal' inside the TurboVNC-session
everything works fine because /etc/profile and ~/.profile were
sourced when the SSH session was started
2. When a TurboVNC session is started from Session Manager the
TurboVNC session doesn't inherit environmental variables set at
/etc/profile or ~/.profile
1. This indicates the TurboVNC built-in SSH client opens a
'non-login'-type shell from where the TurboVNC session is started
3. The shells started (using e.g. 'Mate Terminal') inside the
TurboVNC session are 'non-login' type which is expected to my
knowledge
1. This makes me think have I just been lucky with the correct
environmental variables inherited from the original SSH session
1. As a result I will probably just move the things I've done
in /etc/profile into /etc/bash.bashrc -> Problem solved !
torstai 5. helmikuuta 2026 klo 12.10.50 UTC+2 Kimmo kirjoitti:
Hi Michael,
The /etc/profile and /etc/turbovncserver.conf have nothing to do
with each other. /etc/profile is a system-wide environment setup
file which is loaded when an interactive login shell is started.
Same goes for ~/.profile. /etc/turbovncserver.conf is a
configuration file used when a TurboVNC-server is started. I just
provided the information about /etc/turbovncserver.conf mainly to
point out that I'm not using any custom startupx-script which
could result the /etc/profile and ~/.profile not to be loaded.
I'm not that familiar with what 'vncserver' -command actually does
but with my system it seems not to source the /etc/profile and
~/.profile -files. This causes the TurboVNC remote desktop
environment not to be configured properly.
As manual pages for bash (man bash) point out, the ~/.profile is
sourced only if one is found. Thus it doesn't mater if you don't
have one.
torstai 5. helmikuuta 2026 klo 11.28.27 UTC+2 Michael D. Setzer II
kirjoitti:
On 4 Feb 2026 at 23:35, Kimmo wrote:
Date sent:Wed, 4 Feb 2026 23:35:26 -0800 (PST)
From:Kimmo <[email protected]>
To:TurboVNC User Discussion/Support <[email protected]>
Subject:Re: [TurboVNC-Users] Re: Session Manager and
'non-login' shells
Send reply to:[email protected]
>
> Hi,
>
> I will do some more testing but the system is pretty stock Ubuntu
> 22.04.5. and can't think of any settings that would affect this. The
> TurboVNC version is 'TurboVNC Server v3.2.91 (build 20251222)'. The
> /etc/turbovncserver.conf has only 'wm' and 'resolution' set.
I found out if I
> log in with SSH and start a session by running the
'vncserver'-command,
> the session inherits the correct environmental variables. So when the
> session starts it never sources /etc/profile or ~/.profile. However it
> sources /etc/bash.bashrc and ~/.bashrc. To me this indicates the
session
> starts somehow as "non-login"-type if you get what I mean. I will let
you
> know if I find out more.
>
On my setup (Fedora 42 on this machine) have this.
tail -n2 /etc/sysconfig/tvncservers
VNCSERVERS="PP:msetzerii"
VNCSERVERARGS[PP]="-wm xfce -geometry 1920x1080"
# rpm -qa | grep -i Turbo
libjpeg-turbo-3.1.2-1.fc42.x86_64
libjpeg-turbo-devel-3.1.2-1.fc42.x86_64
turbojpeg-3.1.2-1.fc42.x86_64
libjpeg-turbo-3.1.2-1.fc42.i686
libjpeg-turbo-devel-3.1.2-1.fc42.i686
turbovnc-3.2.91-20251222.x86_64
My file only has comments??
# cat /etc/turbovncserver.conf
##
## TurboVNC Server Configuration
##
## This file uses Perl syntax, although only one-line assignments
## are allowed. Assignments can be applied to the following
variables:
##
## $autokill -- 1 to automatically kill the TurboVNC
session when the
## X startup script exits or 0 to leave it
running
## [equivalent of -noautokill command-line option]
## $depth -- color depth in bits per pixel (8, 16, 24,
30, or 32)
## [equivalent of -depth command-line option]
## $desktopName -- remote desktop name
## [equivalent of -name command-line option]
## $fontPath -- X11 font path
## [equivalent of -fp command-line option]
## $generateOTP -- 1 to generate an initial one-time
password. (OTP
## authentication must be enabled and permitted)
## [equivalent of -otp command-line option]
## $geometry -- desktop geometry, WIDTHxHEIGHT or
## W0xH0+X0+Y0[,W1xH1+X1+Y1,...,WnxHn+Xn+Yn]
## [equivalent of -geometry command-line option]
## $noVNC -- directory containing noVNC
## [equivalent of -novnc command-line option]
## $noxstartup -- 1 to start the TurboVNC session with no X
startup script
## [equivalent of -noxstartup command-line option]
## $passwdFile -- path to VNC password file to use with VNC
Password
## authentication
## $securityTypes -- comma-separated list of security types
to enable
## (passed to Xvnc in the -securitytypes argument)
## $serverArgs -- additional arguments to pass to Xvnc
(refer to the Xvnc man
## page for a list of accepted arguments)
## $userDBus -- Using a unique D-Bus session bus instance
for each TurboVNC
## session is necessary in order to run multiple TurboVNC
## sessions (or a local session and a TurboVNC
## session) simultaneously under the same user account, but
## this also causes issues with Control Group
(cgroup) v2 on
## some systems. If this variable is set to
1, then the
## TurboVNC session will use the per-user D-Bus session bus
## instance provided by systemd rather than a unique D-Bus
## session bus instance. That improves cgroup v2
## compatibility at the expense of multi-session capability.
## $useUDS -- listen on a Unix domain socket rather than
a TCP port for
## connections from VNC viewers
## [equivalent of -uds command-line option]
## $useVGL -- 1 to run the window manager using
VirtualGL. This variable
## is ignored if $xstartup or $noxstartup is
specified.
## [equivalent of -vgl command-line option]
## $vglrun -- the command used to invoke VirtualGL.
This variable can be
## used to specify the location of the vglrun
script or to
## specify additional arguments to vglrun.
## $vncUserDir -- path to TurboVNC user directory (session
information, VNC
## passwords, and log files are stored here)
## $wm -- the window manager to use (for instance,
"mate" or "2d"),
## which corresponds to a session desktop
file under
## /usr/share/xsessions or /usr/share/wayland-sessions
## (/usr/local/share/xsessions on *BSD systems.) This
## variable is ignored if $xstartup or $noxstartup is
## specified.
## [equivalent of -wm command-line option]
## $x509CertFile -- path to X.509 signed certificate file (in
PEM format) to
## use with X.509 encryption
## [equivalent of -x509cert command-line option]
## $x509KeyFile -- path to X.509 private key file (in PEM
format) to use with
## X.509 encryption
## [equivalent of -x509key command-line option]
## $xstartup -- path to alternative X startup script
## [equivalent of -xstartup command-line option]
##
## These settings are the default. Uncomment and edit to change.
#
# $autokill = 1;
# $depth = 24;
# $desktopName = "TurboVNC ($ENV{USER})";
# $fontPath = "";
# $generateOTP = 0;
# $geometry = "1240x900";
# $noVNC = "";
# $noxstartup = 0;
# $securityTypes = "TLSVnc, TLSOtp, TLSPlain, X509Vnc,
X509Otp, X509Plain, VNC, OTP, UnixLogin, Plain";
# $serverArgs = "";
# $userDBus = 0;
# $useUDS = 0;
# $useVGL = 0;
# $vglrun = "vglrun +wm";
# $vncUserDir = "$ENV{HOME}/.vnc";
# $wm = "";
# $xstartup = "${exedir}xstartup.turbovnc";
## Here is an example of setting the font path:
#
# $fontPath = "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/misc/"
# $fontPath = "$fontPath,/usr/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/";
## You might wish to create the TurboVNC user directories
under /tmp, to
## ensure that VNC passwords are always kept on the local
filesystem. To do
## that, uncomment the line below. Note that in this case,
Xvnc will search
## for the .Xauthority file in this same directory by default.
#
# $vncUserDir = "/tmp/$ENV{USER}-vnc";
## These settings are the default. Uncomment and edit to change.
#
# $passwdFile = "$vncUserDir/passwd";
# $x509CertFile = "$vncUserDir/x509_cert.pem";
# $x509KeyFile = "$vncUserDir/x509_private.pem";
the /etc/profile doesn't seem to have anything about turbovnc??
and don't have a ~.profile file
> keskiviikko 4. helmikuuta 2026 klo 16.47.35 UTC+2 DRC kirjoitti:
> I can't reproduce the issue. For me, /etc/profile is sourced properly
> for all connections made through the Session Manager. Is there
> additional information that might help me reproduce the problem, such
> as
> a special configuration on the host?
>
> DRC
>
>
> On 2/3/26 4:16 AM, Kimmo wrote:
> > Clarification to the original post:
> >
> > The shells inside all sessions are actually 'non-login' type, but
the
> > sessions started using Session Manager don't source '/etc/profile'.
> > This causes some environmental variables set using '/etc/profile'
not
> > to load.
> >
> > What would be the most elegant way to source '/etc/profile' for new
> > session while using Session Manager?
> >
>
>
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+------------------------------------------------------------+
Michael D. Setzer II - Computer Science Instructor (Retired)
mailto:[email protected]
mailto:[email protected]
mailto:[email protected]
Guam - Where America's Day Begins
G4L Disk Imaging Project maintainer
http://sourceforge.net/projects/g4l/
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