Install GUI Environment on CentOS 6

Managing your server with SSH alone can be intimidating. Good thing for us is that Vultr has a View Console option. To fully utilize Vultr’s VNC console capabilities, you can install GUI software. This guide will teach you how.

1. Login to your VPS by clicking “View Console” in the Vultr control panel.

2. Make sure that your packages and dependencies are up-to-date.

   yum update -y
   

3. Next, install the files required.

   yum groupinstall -y "X Window System" "Desktop"
   yum install -y gnome-core xfce4 xorg-x11-fonts
   

4. The previous commands might take a while to finish. Once they have finished:

   nano /etc/inittab
   

5. Scroll down to the bottom, until you see the line:

   id:3:initdefault:
   

6. Change the 3 to 5. The line should be the same as the line below:

   id:5:initdefault:
   

7. Press Ctrl + X, then Y, then Enter twice to save your changes.

8. Reboot your VPS by issuing the command reboot, or clicking the “Reboot” button.

9. Your VPS will now reboot with a desktop-like interface. Login using root, and your default password.

10. And you’re done! You can now do tasks with the help of GUI. You can optionally install Firefox too!