Connected to GNOME desktop environment instead of ubuntu-gnome custom version

[giuliotripi]

I installed xrdp on a fresh Ubuntu 20.04.1 install.
When I connect from xrdp I expect to land in the Ubuntu version of Gnome, like I do when I login form the physical PC.
I tried to add a .xsession file in the home of the user I was logging in to, with content

gnome-session --session=ubuntu

but it didn't change anything.

That's what the desktop looks like when I log in from a remote PC

That's what the desktop looks like when I log in from the local PC

[drewer]

apply to ~/.xsessionrc

export GNOME_SHELL_SESSION_MODE=ubuntu
export XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=ubuntu:GNOME
export XDG_CONFIG_DIRS=/etc/xdg/xdg-ubuntu:/etc/xdg

[matt335672]

Thanks to @drewer for an excellent answer. I was looking for a bit more explanation as to what is happening here, and the above post put me very much on the right track.

I can't add much to @drewer's answer, except for the following two things.

1. The standard login scripts /etc/profile.d/xdg_dirs_desktop_session.sh and /etc/X11/Xsession.d/60x11-common_xdg_path use the DESKTOP_SESSION variable (if defined) to set both XDG_CONFIG_DIRS and XDG_DATA_DIRS. So rather than the set above, you should probably use:-

   export DESKTOP_SESSION=ubuntu
   export GNOME_SHELL_SESSION_MODE=ubuntu
   export XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=ubuntu:GNOME
   

2. if you want to do this on a global level, add the three lines above to the pre_start() function in /etc/xrdp/startwm.sh.

The reason that the xrdp default screen is different is simply that the GDM display manager works somewhat differently from the /etc/X11/Xsession script used by xrdp startwm.sh.

GDM sets some environment variables, parses a session file in /usr/share/xsessions, and then calls a totally different script /etc/gdm3/Xsession, passing the Exec= line from the session file as a parameter. This script is only available on systems which have gdm3 installed.

@giuliotripi, @drewer - are you both happy with what I've added here? Can I close this?

[giuliotripi]

Perfect, thank you both!