Situation:
I have a cloud server running Ubuntu Linux. I want to add a desktop environment to it. I want to be able to use the server as a desktop computer without using Docker.
I want to run each component on-demand (e.g. by SSHing and running them inside tmux) without using e.g. systemd.
I want to remotely access the desktop environment from my laptop via VNC.
Install a desktop environment
sudo apt install tigervnc-standalone-server xfce4 xfce4-terminal
Create a password file
vncpasswd
Start VNC + X server
Xtigervnc -geometry 1920x1080 -listen tcp -localhost -AlwaysShared -AcceptKeyEvents -AcceptPointerEvents -SendCutText -AcceptCutText -PasswordFile ~/.vnc/passwd :0
Start desktop environment
env DISPLAY=:0 xfce4-session