According to this page: https://documentation.suse.com/sles/16.0/html/SLES-gnome-remote-desktop/index.html , when I install gnome-remote-desktop, a user with that name should be created. The page is for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.
I am trying to follow the same instructions for openSUSE Leap 15.6 (that is the version my ISP has provided), and the gnome-remote-desktop user has not been created. Should I create the user myself, with no password, and proceed from there?
That is the first issue: Leap 15.6 reached end-of-life earlier this year. Ask them to provide Leap 16.0 and/or Tumbleweed.
I am not in a position to make that request, unfortunately. I have to work with what is provided. Does my course of action (creating the user myself) seem reasonable, and does it have a chance of working as intended?
Never had to deal with this, but does it work now? If so I could not see what would be wrong with it. I’m confused, IMHO a remote app should not be able to create user accounts.
Then I suggest you look for another provider? Or your not worried about security?
What is your end goal for this setup and need for a desktop environment?
The remote app will not create a user account.
The article says that installing gnome-remote-desktop creates a user. Since it didn’t, my plan is to log in to the server, then sudo useradd to create that user. Then I will be able to proceed with the rest of the instructions to set up the GNOME remote desktop, thus allowing the server’s other users to get a graphic login to the server.
At no point will there be an app that people who log in remotely can use to create more users.
You are using docs for SLE 16.0 but you want the same things working in SLE 15.6?
First of all, AFAIK gnome-remote-desktop requires Gnome >46, but SLE 15.6 was on Gnome 45; I might be wrong, not an expert on this specific subject, but please check that what you are trying to do is at all possible (I found no reference in 15.6 docs after a quick search).
That said, I had recently gnome-remote-desktop working on Tumbleweed, and:
the gnome-remote-desktop user is there:
gnome-remote-desktop system 451 451 GNOME Remote Desktop /var/lib/gnome-remote-desktop /usr/sbin/nologin
and it was created by a script upon install of the gnome-remote-desktop package:
/usr/sbin/sysusers2shadow gnome-remote-desktop-sysusers.conf <<"EOF"
u gnome-remote-desktop - "GNOME Remote Desktop" /var/lib/gnome-remote-desktop
so docs for 16.0 look correct for systems that support the feature.
Checked gnome-remote-desktop-45.1-150600.1.2.x86_64.rpm, its post-install scripts are a fraction of those in later versions and the user creation is notably missing:
LT-B:~ # rpm -q --scripts <path to file>/gnome-remote-desktop-45.1-150600.1.2.x86_64.rpm
postinstall scriptlet (using /bin/sh):
if [ -x /usr/bin/systemctl ]; then
for service in gnome-remote-desktop.service ; do
if [ -e "/run/systemd/rpm/needs-user-preset/$service" ]; then
/usr/bin/systemctl --global preset "$service" || :
rm "/run/systemd/rpm/needs-user-preset/$service" || :
fi
done
fi
preuninstall scriptlet (using /bin/sh):
if [ $1 -eq 0 -a -x /usr/bin/systemctl ]; then
# Package removal, not upgrade
/usr/bin/systemctl --global disable gnome-remote-desktop.service || :
fi
LT-B:~ #
EDIT: many basic features were indeed only added in Gnome 46.0, see gnome-remote-desktop NEWS
I thought that some things might be backward-compatible. After all, why would the gnome-remote-desktop package even be available in 15.6 if it could not be used?
I might try to use the migration tool to upgrade to 16.0 at some later point when I have sufficient time.