I am having an issue that has so many moving parts involved I'm not
sure where the problem lies. I am trying to build an LTSP server
using Ubuntu 18.04. For those not familiar with LTSP (Linux Terminal
Server Project), it creates an image suitable for downloading to
thick clients via tftp at boot. The greeter is LDM, but it uses an
ssh session to the server for authentication. We have used it for
many years, with Gnome Flashback (Metacity) our desktop of choice
since it became available in Ubuntu LTS. Recently LTSP for Ubuntu
development has focused on Ubuntu MATE (instructions for 18.04 at
http://wiki.ltsp.org/wiki/Installation/Ubuntu). Following these
instructions, I added the package gnome-session-flashback, and
booted a thick client. The session list gives both GNOME Flashback
(Compiz) and GNOME Flashback (Metacity). No matter which one I
choose, I get compiz. I started over building the server with
standard Ubuntu Desktop and added the gnome-session-flashback
package, which suggested but did not install the compiz package. The
session list gives only GNOME Flashback (Metacity), but when logging
in it gives a black screen with a spinning cursor for a moment, then
goes back to the login. Both methods show similar messages in
syslog:
systemd[1857]:
Started GNOME Session Manager.
systemd[1857]: Reached target User systemd services for the GNOME
Flashback sessions.
sh[2103]: + [ gnome-flashback-compiz != gnome-classic ]
sh[2103]: + export GNOME_SESSION_XDG_SESSION_PATH=
sh[2103]: + [ gnome-flashback-compiz = gnome-flashback-metacity ]
sh[2103]: + exec gnome-session --session=gnome-flashback-compiz
If I log in at the console of the server and choose Metacity, I get
Metacity. The syslog looks like this:
systemd[4589]: Started GNOME Session
Manager.
sh[5053]: + [ gnome-flashback-metacity != gnome-classic ]
sh[5053]: + export
GNOME_SESSION_XDG_SESSION_PATH=/org/freedesktop/DisplayManager/Session1
sh[5053]: + [ gnome-flashback-metacity = gnome-flashback-metacity
]
sh[5053]: + exec gnome-session --session=gnome-flashback-metacity
--disable-acceleration-check
systemd[4589]: Reached target User systemd services for the GNOME
Flashback sessions.
Can someone more familiar with the inner workings of GNOME Flashback
point me to where the issue might be, or advise what might give
better info for troubleshooting?
