How to Install XFCE Desktop and RealVNC Server on CentOS 7

XFCE is a lightweight, responsive desktop environment ideal for remote graphical management on headless CentOS 7 servers without consuming excessive RAM. However, launching an XFCE session inside RealVNC Server (vncserver-virtual) on CentOS 7 often fails or displays a blank screen because default Xsession startup scripts target GNOME.

Environment: CentOS 7 • XFCE Desktop • RealVNC Server

1. Installing XFCE and RealVNC

yum groupinstall "Xfce" -y
yum install tigervnc-server -y # Or install RealVNC Server RPM

2. Configuring the VNC Virtual Session (/etc/vnc/xstartup.custom)

To ensure RealVNC launches the XFCE desktop environment properly, create or edit /etc/vnc/xstartup.custom:

#!/bin/sh
[ -x /etc/vnc/xstartup ] && exec /etc/vnc/xstartup
[ -r $HOME/.Xresources ] && xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
startxfce4 &

Make the script executable and launch the VNC virtual display:

chmod +x /etc/vnc/xstartup.custom
vncserver-virtual :1