I just learned about x2go and wanted to try it out for a remote session to a host I have so far done using vnc serving a xfce desktop. But sadly my observation is that x2go is *much* slower and less responsive than VNC. For example just moving around a window on the desktop (same size) works smoothly with VNC but is done in a very coarse fashion in x2go with the window jumping around slowly and with considerable delay. Both connections go over the same ssh tunnel, same kind of LAN so all other things the same, the problem must lie with x2go or the x2go settings.
Is there any explanation for this or anything that could be changed to increase the speed of x2go? Is x2go not *supposed* to be faster than VNC? I have experimented a bit with the connection speed and compression settings but that did not change anything either.
Hi,
are you starting an NEW xfce session or are you connecting to a running X session? The latter one is much slower than the former one because it cannot benefit from all optimizations of the underlying compression library nx.
Uli
On Wed, Sep 30, 2020 at 12:28 PM Johann Petrak <johann.petrak@gmail.com> wrote:
I just learned about x2go and wanted to try it out for a remote session to a host I have so far done using vnc serving a xfce desktop. But sadly my observation is that x2go is *much* slower and less responsive than VNC. For example just moving around a window on the desktop (same size) works smoothly with VNC but is done in a very coarse fashion in x2go with the window jumping around slowly and with considerable delay. Both connections go over the same ssh tunnel, same kind of LAN so all other things the same, the problem must lie with x2go or the x2go settings.
Is there any explanation for this or anything that could be changed to increase the speed of x2go? Is x2go not *supposed* to be faster than VNC? I have experimented a bit with the connection speed and compression settings but that did not change anything either.
x2go-user mailing list x2go-user@lists.x2go.org https://lists.x2go.org/listinfo/x2go-user
Thanks for the suggestion!
I am starting a new xfce session, and I am not bothered with the time that takes (XFCE starts up pretty fast anyway). But once the xfce session is established, simple tasks like opening a window, moving a window or typing text are rather sluggish in comparison to the VNC session over the same connection. For example, moving a terminal window works smoothly with VNC, but with x2go the window appears to be "jumping" along the movement. Then when typing into the terminal after the move, there is a delay in x2go until the letters show up in the window, while with VNC it happens immediately. I tried this with the default settings for speed and compression and with setting 4k for compression and LAN for speed but this did not make any discernible difference.
Maybe the compression is actually slowing down the whole thing when the internet connection is fast anyway? What would be the fastest setting for the algorithm? I am use 24bit colour with VNC how does x2go do this and can it be changed? (BTW I use the same resolution for both).
I really like how easy it is to get x2go going over ssh and an ssh proxy but so far the slower speed makes me stick with VNC for actual work.
On Wed, 30 Sep 2020 at 13:20, Ulrich Sibiller <uli42@gmx.de> wrote:
Hi,
are you starting an NEW xfce session or are you connecting to a running X session? The latter one is much slower than the former one because it cannot benefit from all optimizations of the underlying compression library nx.
Uli
On Wed, Sep 30, 2020 at 12:28 PM Johann Petrak <johann.petrak@gmail.com> wrote:
I just learned about x2go and wanted to try it out for a remote session
to a host I have so far done using vnc serving a xfce desktop.
But sadly my observation is that x2go is *much* slower and less responsive than VNC. For example just moving around a window on the desktop (same size) works smoothly with VNC but is done in a very coarse fashion in x2go with the window jumping around slowly and with considerable delay. Both connections go over the same ssh tunnel, same kind of LAN so all other things the same, the problem must lie with x2go or the x2go settings.
Is there any explanation for this or anything that could be changed to increase the speed of x2go? Is x2go not *supposed* to be faster than VNC? I have experimented a bit with the connection speed and compression settings but that did not change anything either.
x2go-user mailing list x2go-user@lists.x2go.org https://lists.x2go.org/listinfo/x2go-user
Am 30.09.20 um 14:13 schrieb Johann Petrak:
Thanks for the suggestion!
I am starting a new xfce session, and I am not bothered with the time that takes (XFCE starts up pretty fast anyway). But once the xfce session is established, simple tasks like opening a window, moving a window or typing text are rather sluggish in comparison to the VNC session over the same connection. For example, moving a terminal window works smoothly with VNC, but with x2go the window appears to be "jumping" along the movement. Then when typing into the terminal after the move, there is a delay in x2go until the letters show up in the window, while with VNC it happens immediately. I tried this with the default settings for speed and compression and with setting 4k for compression and LAN for speed but this did not make any discernible difference.
This sounds very wrong.
On the other hand, it is hard to debug without further info.
Please provide us with the following:
- Client OS and Version
- Version of X2GoClient (Help/About X2GoClient)
- Session configuration (preferably the "sessions" file/registry entries, rather than screenshots)
- Server OS and Version
- X2Go package source (your distribution's standard repo vs. X2Go's stable repo vs. X2Go's nightly repo)
- Version numbers of all X2Go/NX-related packages (on Debian-based distros: dpkg -l | egrep "x2go|nx" )
- Available Bandwidth and type of network connection (WiFi, LAN cable; mobile network like UMTS/LTE, ...)
By the way, if you want to basically disable X2Go compression etc. completely, Connection Speed "LAN" and Compression Method "nopack" are the options you are looking for.
Kind Regards, Stefan Baur
-- BAUR-ITCS UG (haftungsbeschränkt) Geschäftsführer: Stefan Baur Eichenäckerweg 10, 89081 Ulm | Registergericht Ulm, HRB 724364 Fon/Fax 0731 40 34 66-36/-35 | USt-IdNr.: DE268653243
Thanks a lot! Find all the details below!
Cheers, Johann
On Thu, 1 Oct 2020 at 12:52, Stefan Baur <X2Go-ML-1@baur-itcs.de> wrote:
Please provide us with the following:
- Client OS and Version
Ubuntu 20.04
- Version of X2GoClient (Help/About X2GoClient)
v. 4.1.2.2 (Qt - 4.8.7)
- Session configuration (preferably the "sessions" file/registry entries, rather than screenshots)
I have pasted the content to the end of this email
- Server OS and Version
Ubuntu 18.04.5 LTS
- X2Go package source (your distribution's standard repo vs. X2Go's stable repo vs. X2Go's nightly repo)
x2goserver version is 4.1.0.3-0~1708~ut The following repo is added: http://ppa.launchpad.net/x2go/stable/ubuntu bionic main
- Version numbers of all X2Go/NX-related packages (on Debian-based distros: dpkg -l | egrep "x2go|nx" )
Server:
ii libnx-x11-6:amd64 2:3.5.99.22-0~201908271346~ubuntu18.04.1 amd64 nxagent's libNX_X11 client-part library ii libx2go-log-perl 4.1.0.3-0~1708~ubuntu18.04.1 all Perl X2Go::Log package ii libx2go-server-db-perl 4.1.0.3-0~1708~ubuntu18.04.1 amd64 Perl X2Go::Server:DB package ii libx2go-server-perl 4.1.0.3-0~1708~ubuntu18.04.1 all Perl X2Go::Server package ii nx-x11-common 2:3.5.99.22-0~201908271346~ubuntu18.04.1 all nx-X11 (common files) ii nxagent 2:3.5.99.22-0~201908271346~ubuntu18.04.1 amd64 Nested Xserver (aka NX Agent) supporting the NX compression protocol ii x2goserver 4.1.0.3-0~1708~ubuntu18.04.1 amd64 X2Go server ii x2goserver-common 4.1.0.3-0~1708~ubuntu18.04.1 amd64 X2Go Server (common files) ii x2goserver-extensions 4.1.0.3-0~1708~ubuntu18.04.1 all X2Go Server (extension support) ii x2goserver-fmbindings 4.1.0.3-0~1708~ubuntu18.04.1 all X2Go Server (file manager bindings) ii x2goserver-printing 4.1.0.3-0~1708~ubuntu18.04.1 all X2Go server (printing support) ii x2goserver-x2goagent 4.1.0.3-0~1708~ubuntu18.04.1 amd64 X2Go Server's X2Go Agent ii x2goserver-xsession 4.1.0.3-0~1708~ubuntu18.04.1 all X2Go Server (Xsession runner)
- Available Bandwidth and type of network connection (WiFi, LAN cable; mobile network like UMTS/LTE, ...)
Cable with at least 10Mbps to the ssh gateway, then very fast GBit LAN As I said, both VPN and X2GO use exactly the same connection with the same bandwidth
By the way, if you want to basically disable X2Go compression etc. completely, Connection Speed "LAN" and Compression Method "nopack" are the options you are looking for.
I tried this and it it did not make much difference, maybe a tiny bit less sluggish, but hard to tell .. windows are still jumpy and there are delays when opening a window until it gets shown that are much longer than with VNC.
x2goclient sessions file:
[20200930000412523] speed=3 pack=4k-jpeg quality=6 fstunnel=true export= iconvto=UTF-8 iconvfrom=ISO8859-1 useiconv=false fullscreen=false multidisp=false display=1 maxdim=false rdpclient=rdesktop directrdpsettings= xdmcpclient=Xnest directxdmcpsettings= width=1550 height=950 dpi=96 setdpi=true xinerama=false clipboard=both usekbd=true type=auto sound=true soundsystem=pulse startsoundsystem=true soundtunnel=true defsndport=true sndport=4713 print=true name=pflaume icon=:/img/icons/128x128/x2gosession.png host=[targethostname] user=johann key= rdpport=3389 sshport=22 autologin=false krblogin=false krbdelegation=false directrdp=false directxdmcp=false kdrive=false rootless=false published=false applications=WWWBROWSER, MAILCLIENT, OFFICE, TERMINAL command=XFCE rdpoptions= rdpserver= xdmcpserver=localhost usesshproxy=true sshproxytype=SSH sshproxyuser= sshproxykeyfile= sshproxyhost=ssh.[somehere.org] sshproxyport=22 sshproxysamepass=true sshproxysameuser=true sshproxyautologin=true sshproxykrblogin=false
Thanks for that. Still no idea. Can you try with another client machine? Or another client os?
Uli
On Thu, Oct 1, 2020 at 1:19 PM Johann Petrak <johann.petrak@gmail.com> wrote:
Thanks a lot! Find all the details below!
Cheers, Johann
On Thu, 1 Oct 2020 at 12:52, Stefan Baur <X2Go-ML-1@baur-itcs.de> wrote:
Please provide us with the following:
- Client OS and Version
Ubuntu 20.04
- Version of X2GoClient (Help/About X2GoClient)
v. 4.1.2.2 (Qt - 4.8.7)
- Session configuration (preferably the "sessions" file/registry entries, rather than screenshots)
I have pasted the content to the end of this email
- Server OS and Version
Ubuntu 18.04.5 LTS
- X2Go package source (your distribution's standard repo vs. X2Go's stable repo vs. X2Go's nightly repo)
x2goserver version is 4.1.0.3-0~1708~ut The following repo is added: http://ppa.launchpad.net/x2go/stable/ubuntu bionic main
- Version numbers of all X2Go/NX-related packages (on Debian-based distros: dpkg -l | egrep "x2go|nx" )
Server:
ii libnx-x11-6:amd64 2:3.5.99.22-0~201908271346~ubuntu18.04.1 amd64 nxagent's libNX_X11 client-part library ii libx2go-log-perl 4.1.0.3-0~1708~ubuntu18.04.1 all Perl X2Go::Log package ii libx2go-server-db-perl 4.1.0.3-0~1708~ubuntu18.04.1 amd64 Perl X2Go::Server:DB package ii libx2go-server-perl 4.1.0.3-0~1708~ubuntu18.04.1 all Perl X2Go::Server package ii nx-x11-common 2:3.5.99.22-0~201908271346~ubuntu18.04.1 all nx-X11 (common files) ii nxagent 2:3.5.99.22-0~201908271346~ubuntu18.04.1 amd64 Nested Xserver (aka NX Agent) supporting the NX compression protocol ii x2goserver 4.1.0.3-0~1708~ubuntu18.04.1 amd64 X2Go server ii x2goserver-common 4.1.0.3-0~1708~ubuntu18.04.1 amd64 X2Go Server (common files) ii x2goserver-extensions 4.1.0.3-0~1708~ubuntu18.04.1 all X2Go Server (extension support) ii x2goserver-fmbindings 4.1.0.3-0~1708~ubuntu18.04.1 all X2Go Server (file manager bindings) ii x2goserver-printing 4.1.0.3-0~1708~ubuntu18.04.1 all X2Go server (printing support) ii x2goserver-x2goagent 4.1.0.3-0~1708~ubuntu18.04.1 amd64 X2Go Server's X2Go Agent ii x2goserver-xsession 4.1.0.3-0~1708~ubuntu18.04.1 all X2Go Server (Xsession runner)
- Available Bandwidth and type of network connection (WiFi, LAN cable; mobile network like UMTS/LTE, ...)
Cable with at least 10Mbps to the ssh gateway, then very fast GBit LAN As I said, both VPN and X2GO use exactly the same connection with the same bandwidth
By the way, if you want to basically disable X2Go compression etc. completely, Connection Speed "LAN" and Compression Method "nopack" are the options you are looking for.
I tried this and it it did not make much difference, maybe a tiny bit less sluggish, but hard to tell .. windows are still jumpy and there are delays when opening a window until it gets shown that are much longer than with VNC.
x2goclient sessions file:
[20200930000412523] speed=3 pack=4k-jpeg quality=6 fstunnel=true export= iconvto=UTF-8 iconvfrom=ISO8859-1 useiconv=false fullscreen=false multidisp=false display=1 maxdim=false rdpclient=rdesktop directrdpsettings= xdmcpclient=Xnest directxdmcpsettings= width=1550 height=950 dpi=96 setdpi=true xinerama=false clipboard=both usekbd=true type=auto sound=true soundsystem=pulse startsoundsystem=true soundtunnel=true defsndport=true sndport=4713 print=true name=pflaume icon=:/img/icons/128x128/x2gosession.png host=[targethostname] user=johann key= rdpport=3389 sshport=22 autologin=false krblogin=false krbdelegation=false directrdp=false directxdmcp=false kdrive=false rootless=false published=false applications=WWWBROWSER, MAILCLIENT, OFFICE, TERMINAL command=XFCE rdpoptions= rdpserver= xdmcpserver=localhost usesshproxy=true sshproxytype=SSH sshproxyuser= sshproxykeyfile= sshproxyhost=ssh.[somehere.org] sshproxyport=22 sshproxysamepass=true sshproxysameuser=true sshproxyautologin=true sshproxykrblogin=false
x2go-user mailing list x2go-user@lists.x2go.org https://lists.x2go.org/listinfo/x2go-user
Am 01.10.20 um 13:17 schrieb Johann Petrak:
- Available Bandwidth and type of network connection (WiFi, LAN cable; mobile network like UMTS/LTE, ...)
Cable with at least 10Mbps to the ssh gateway, then very fast GBit LAN As I said, both VPN and X2GO use exactly the same connection with the same bandwidth
Ah, so you're using an SSH proxy/jump host. I wonder if maybe our code for that is broken somehow? Is that ssh proxy/jump host a Linux machine or some proprietary solution?
Could you test by setting up an SSH connection first, like so:
ssh -p 22 -L2222:[targethostname]:22 johann@ssh.[somehere.org]
After that connection has been established, please create a new X2Go session configuration (_don't_ alter the existing one) that connects to localhost:2222, without setting an SSH proxy, with XFCE as your DE, and using your "johann" account, but leave all the other options set to their default values. Then try to use that. Does it change the speed/responsiveness in any way?
Kind Regards, Stefan Baur
-- BAUR-ITCS UG (haftungsbeschränkt) Geschäftsführer: Stefan Baur Eichenäckerweg 10, 89081 Ulm | Registergericht Ulm, HRB 724364 Fon/Fax 0731 40 34 66-36/-35 | USt-IdNr.: DE268653243
Thanks for this suggestion! I used the ssh connection (I am doing the equivalent thing for VNC as well) and with this, it feels less sluggish! Still not quite as smooth as VNC but it is now much better and maxing x2go usable in comparison. I experimented with different speed and compression settings, also tried to disable audio forwarding and printing but that did not change much. Of course it is hard to really test this properly since the connection I use may not always provide the same bandwidth and since there is no way to accurately measure this, it is just my subjective feeling of what is faster.
I can live with establishing that ssh proxy connection manually, but I am still a bit confused that even now the comparison with VPN is still showing VPN as being faster. Have you guys tested this and got consistent results which shows the opposite?
Once I have more time on my hands I will try this with different machines and connections I have plenty where I could try this out.
Completely different question: the way this works, would it in principle be possible to also have a windows client? I am almost exclusively using linux but with vnc I can use it from a windows machine as well, if needed. At the moment this actually works better than on linux in HDPI multi monitor configuration because windows is able to seamlessly scale the vnc client window according to the monitor dpi, while linux (at least Ubuntu 20.04) still cannot do this properly.
Cheers, j.
On Thu, 1 Oct 2020 at 15:12, Stefan Baur <X2Go-ML-1@baur-itcs.de> wrote:
Am 01.10.20 um 13:17 schrieb Johann Petrak:
- Available Bandwidth and type of network connection (WiFi, LAN cable; mobile network like UMTS/LTE, ...)
Cable with at least 10Mbps to the ssh gateway, then very fast GBit LAN As I said, both VPN and X2GO use exactly the same connection with the same bandwidth
Ah, so you're using an SSH proxy/jump host. I wonder if maybe our code for that is broken somehow? Is that ssh proxy/jump host a Linux machine or some proprietary solution?
Could you test by setting up an SSH connection first, like so:
ssh -p 22 -L2222:[targethostname]:22 johann@ssh.[somehere.org]
After that connection has been established, please create a new X2Go session configuration (_don't_ alter the existing one) that connects to localhost:2222, without setting an SSH proxy, with XFCE as your DE, and using your "johann" account, but leave all the other options set to their default values. Then try to use that. Does it change the speed/responsiveness in any way?
Kind Regards, Stefan Baur
-- BAUR-ITCS UG (haftungsbeschränkt) Geschäftsführer: Stefan Baur Eichenäckerweg 10, 89081 Ulm | Registergericht Ulm, HRB 724364 Fon/Fax 0731 40 34 66-36/-35 | USt-IdNr.: DE268653243
Am 01.10.20 um 20:34 schrieb Johann Petrak:
Thanks for this suggestion! I used the ssh connection (I am doing the equivalent thing for VNC as well) and with this, it feels less sluggish! Still not quite as smooth as VNC but it is now much better and maxing x2go usable in comparison.
So it seems that SOMETHING is messing with the SSH connection. I think we have received previous reports about commercial Firewalls/SSH Gateways causing problems, but am unable to find that in the archives.
When you log in to that jump host, is there any way to find out what it is running? Like, Linux, some BSD, or something commercial/closed source? Can you run commands like "uname -a" there?
I experimented with different speed and compression settings, also tried to disable audio forwarding and printing but that did not change much.
Well, as long as you're not actually using audio and printing, those connections will just sit there idle, so that is to be expected.
I can live with establishing that ssh proxy connection manually, but I am still a bit confused that even now the comparison with VPN is still showing VPN as being faster. Have you guys tested this and got consistent results which shows the opposite?
Oh, so you have the option of using a VPN connection instead of going through that jump host? In that case, it would be interesting to see what happens when you set up a jump host of your own (preferably based on Debian Buster) on your internal network (i.e. in the same network where your X2Go Server resides). If you can connect via the VPN to the Jump Host under your control, and from there to the X2Go Server, and it feels almost as fast or just as fast as connecting directly to the server (via VPN), then that would be an indication that your "official" jump host is having issues with our client. If, on the other hand, you're seeing the same lag again, it would mean that something's broken on our end, i.e. in X2GoClient.
Once I have more time on my hands I will try this with different machines and connections I have plenty where I could try this out.
Completely different question: the way this works, would it in principle be possible to also have a windows client? I am almost exclusively using linux but with vnc I can use it from a windows machine as well, if needed.
Um, sounds like you haven't looked at the X2Go web page yet? https://wiki.x2go.org/doku.php -> the green box labeled "Get X2Go"
At the moment this actually works better than on linux in HDPI multi monitor configuration because windows is able to seamlessly scale the vnc client window according to the monitor dpi, while linux (at least Ubuntu 20.04) still cannot do this properly.
Well, X2GoClient allows you to set the DPI for your session (third tab in the session config), and it also allows you to enable or disable XINERAMA there. Maybe that helps?
Kind Regards, Stefan Baur
-- BAUR-ITCS UG (haftungsbeschränkt) Geschäftsführer: Stefan Baur Eichenäckerweg 10, 89081 Ulm | Registergericht Ulm, HRB 724364 Fon/Fax 0731 40 34 66-36/-35 | USt-IdNr.: DE268653243
On Thu, 1 Oct 2020 at 20:51, Stefan Baur <X2Go-ML-1@baur-itcs.de> wrote:
When you log in to that jump host, is there any way to find out what it is running? Like, Linux, some BSD, or something commercial/closed source? Can you run commands like "uname -a" there?
Debian 10 (buster)
I can live with establishing that ssh proxy connection manually, but I am
still a bit confused that even now the comparison with VPN is still showing VPN as being faster. Have you guys tested this and got consistent results which shows the opposite?
Oh, so you have the option of using a VPN connection instead of going through that jump host? In that case, it would be interesting to see what happens when you set up a jump host of your own (preferably based on Debian Buster) on your internal network (i.e. in the same network where your X2Go Server resides). If you can connect via the VPN to the Jump Host under your control, and from there to the X2Go Server, and it feels almost as fast or just as fast as connecting directly to the server (via VPN), then that would be an indication that your "official" jump host is having issues with our client. If, on the other hand, you're seeing the same lag again, it would mean that something's broken on our end, i.e. in X2GoClient.
Sorry, that was a mistake, I meant VNC not VPN. What I meant is that I am still confused that even with those improvements of x2go, vnc is still noticably faster.
I do have a different config to a server which I can reach both via an ssh jump host (running ubuntu) or a VPN, I will test this when I get some time.
Once I have more time on my hands I will try this with different machines and connections I have plenty where I could try this out.
Completely different question: the way this works, would it in principle be possible to also have a windows client? I am almost exclusively using linux but with vnc I can use it from a windows machine as well, if needed.
Um, sounds like you haven't looked at the X2Go web page yet? https://wiki.x2go.org/doku.php -> the green box labeled "Get X2Go"
OK, so now I am blind as well, sorry.
At the moment this actually works better than on linux in HDPI multi monitor configuration because windows is able to seamlessly scale the vnc client window according to the monitor dpi, while linux (at least Ubuntu 20.04) still cannot do this properly.
Well, X2GoClient allows you to set the DPI for your session (third tab in the session config), and it also allows you to enable or disable XINERAMA there. Maybe that helps?
Thanks for that info and all your help!
Cheers, johann
-
Johann Petrak -
Stefan Baur -
Ulrich Sibiller