The following window manager configurations have been tested either by us or by the TurboVNC community using TurboVNC 3.0.x or later. If you know of any issues that are not described here, please submit a bug report. If you have information about other WM configurations, please contact us.
| O/S | Window Manager | Prerequisites | -wm / $wm Value | Notes |
|---|
| Fedora 31-41 | GNOME 3.34.x-47.x | > sudo dnf group install gnome-desktop | | Run the window manager using VirtualGL to improve performance
See complete list of known GNOME 3+ issues and workarounds here |
| | GNOME 3.34.x-47.x (classic) | > sudo dnf install gnome-classic-session | 2d | See complete list of known GNOME 3+ issues and workarounds here |
| | MATE 1.24.x-1.28.x | > sudo dnf group install mate-desktop | mate | No known issues |
| | Xfce 4.14.x-4.18.x | > sudo dnf group install xfce-desktop | xfce | No known issues |
| FreeBSD 11.4 | MATE 1.24.x | > sudo pkg install mate-desktop mate | mate | No known issues |
| | Xfce 4.14.x | > sudo pkg install xfce | xfce | No known issues |
| FreeBSD 12.1-12.3, 13.1 | MATE 1.22.x-1.26.x | > sudo pkg install mate-desktop mate | mate | No known issues |
| | Xfce 4.14.x-4.16.x | > sudo pkg install xfce | xfce | No known issues |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 (and derivatives) | GNOME 2.28.x | | | No known issues |
| | KDE 4.3.x | | kde | No known issues |
| | Xfce 4.8.x | Add the EPEL repository
> sudo yum groupinstall Xfce | xfce | No known issues |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 (and derivatives) | GNOME 3.14.x-3.28.x | > sudo yum groupinstall GNOME | | Run the window manager using VirtualGL to improve performance
See complete list of known GNOME 3+ issues and workarounds here |
| | GNOME 3.14.x-3.28.x (classic) | > sudo yum install gnome-classic-session | 2d | See complete list of known GNOME 3+ issues and workarounds here |
| | KDE 4.10.x | > sudo yum groupinstall KDE | 1-kde-plasma-standard | No known issues |
| | MATE 1.14.x-1.16.x | Add the EPEL repository
> sudo yum groupinstall MATE | mate | No known issues |
| | Xfce 4.12.x | Add the EPEL repository
> sudo yum groupinstall Xfce | xfce | No known issues |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 (and derivatives) | GNOME 3.28.x-3.32.x | > sudo dnf group install gnome-desktop | | Run the window manager using VirtualGL to improve performance
See complete list of known GNOME 3+ issues and workarounds here |
| | GNOME 3.28.x-3.32.x (classic) | > sudo dnf install gnome-classic-session | 2d | See complete list of known GNOME 3+ issues and workarounds here |
| | Xfce 4.14.x-4.16.x | Add the EPEL repository
> sudo dnf group install Xfce | xfce | No known issues |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 (and derivatives) | GNOME 40.x | > sudo dnf group install gnome-desktop | | Run the window manager using VirtualGL to improve performance
See complete list of known GNOME 3+ issues and workarounds here |
| | GNOME 40.x (classic) | > sudo dnf install gnome-classic-session | 2d | See complete list of known GNOME 3+ issues and workarounds here |
| | Xfce 4.16.x | Add the EPEL repository
> sudo dnf group install Xfce | xfce | No known issues |
| Solaris 11.3 | GNOME 2.30.x | | | No known issues |
| Solaris 11.4 | GNOME 3.24.x | | | Run the window manager using VirtualGL to improve performance
See complete list of known GNOME 3+ issues and workarounds here |
| SuSE Linux Enterprise 12 | GNOME 3.14.x-3.20.x | | | Run the window manager using VirtualGL to improve performance
See complete list of known GNOME 3+ issues and workarounds here |
| | GNOME 3.14.x-3.20.x (classic) | | 2d | See complete list of known GNOME 3+ issues and workarounds here |
| SuSE Linux Enterprise 15 (and equivalents) | GNOME 3.26.x-41.x | > sudo zypper in -t pattern gnome_basic gnome gnome_x11 | | Run the window manager using VirtualGL to improve performance
See complete list of known GNOME 3+ issues and workarounds here |
| | GNOME 3.26.x-41.x (classic) | > sudo zypper install gnome-shell-classic | 2d | See complete list of known GNOME 3+ issues and workarounds here |
| | KDE Plasma 5.24.x | > sudo zypper install -t pattern kde kde_plasma | plasma5 | Windows are blank when running the window manager using VirtualGL's EGL back end |
| | MATE 1.20.x-1.26.x | > sudo zypper -n in patterns-mate-mate | mate | No known issues |
| Ubuntu 14.04 LTS | GNOME 3.8.x (fallback) | | 2d | No known issues |
| | MATE 1.8.x | > sudo apt-get install ubuntu-mate-desktop | mate | No known issues |
| | Unity 7.2.x | | | Run the window manager using VirtualGL to improve performance |
| Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | GNOME 3.18.x (flashback-metacity) | | 2d | No known issues |
| | MATE 1.12.x | > sudo apt install mate
NOTE: This installs the basic window manager. Use sudo apt install ubuntu-mate-desktop to install the complete Ubuntu MATE desktop environment. | mate | No known issues |
| | Unity 7.4.x | | | Run the window manager using VirtualGL to improve performance
See complete list of known Unity 7.4 issues and workarounds here |
| | Xfce 4.12.x | > sudo apt install xfce4
NOTE: This installs the basic window manager. Use sudo apt install xubuntu-desktop to install the complete Ubuntu Xfce desktop environment. | xfce | No known issues |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | GNOME 3.28.x | | | Run the window manager using VirtualGL to improve performance
See complete list of known GNOME 3+ issues and workarounds here |
| | MATE 1.20.x | > sudo apt install ubuntu-mate-desktop | mate | No known issues |
| | Xfce 4.12.x | > sudo apt install xfce4
NOTE: This installs the basic window manager. Use sudo apt install xubuntu-desktop to install the complete Ubuntu Xfce desktop environment. | xfce | No known issues |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | GNOME 3.36.x | > sudo apt install ubuntu-desktop | | Run the window manager using VirtualGL to improve performance
See complete list of known GNOME 3+ issues and workarounds here |
| | MATE 1.24.x | > sudo apt install ubuntu-mate-desktop | mate | No known issues |
| | Xfce 4.14.x | > sudo apt install xfce4
NOTE: This installs the basic window manager. Use sudo apt install xubuntu-desktop to install the complete Ubuntu Xfce desktop environment. | xfce | No known issues |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | GNOME 42.x | > sudo apt install ubuntu-desktop | | Run the window manager using VirtualGL to improve performance
See complete list of known GNOME 3+ issues and workarounds here |
| | MATE 1.26.x | > sudo apt install ubuntu-mate-desktop | mate | No known issues |
| | Xfce 4.16.x | > sudo apt install xfce4
NOTE: This installs the basic window manager. Use sudo apt install xubuntu-desktop to install the complete Ubuntu Xfce desktop environment. | xfce | No known issues |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | GNOME 46.x | > sudo apt install ubuntu-desktop | | Run the window manager using VirtualGL to improve performance
See complete list of known GNOME 3+ issues and workarounds here |
| | MATE 1.26.x | > sudo apt install ubuntu-mate-desktop | mate | No known issues |
| | Xfce 4.18.x | > sudo apt install xfce4
NOTE: This installs the basic window manager. Use sudo apt install xubuntu-desktop to install the complete Ubuntu Xfce desktop environment. | xfce | No known issues |
Some modern window managers (GNOME 3+ and later, in particular) require OpenGL, and other window managers may optionally require OpenGL in order to enable desktop effects. The TurboVNC Server includes a software OpenGL implementation that can be used to run these window managers, but the performance will not be stellar. You can improve the performance of compositing window managers by running them using VirtualGL (VirtualGL 2.4 or later required.) To enable this feature, pass -vgl to /opt/TurboVNC/bin/vncserver or set $useVGL=1; in /etc/turbovncserver.conf or ~/.vnc/turbovncserver.conf. Otherwise, it is recommended that a non-compositing ("2D") window manager, such as MATE or Xfce, be used.
