[SOLVED] Start X server on Google Cloud (Debian) Compute Engine

Issue

I have set up a Debian(jessie) VM on Google cloud. I have installed Xfce with needed dependencies. Now I am trying to start the X display server with command 'startx' But I get following error

--------
Using system config directory "/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d"
(EE) 
Fatal server error:
(EE) no screens found(EE) 
--------

Following messages are present in /var/log/Xorg.0.log

----------------------------------
many lines before this

[  3535.932] (WW) Falling back to old probe method for modesetting
[  3535.932] (EE) open /dev/dri/card0: No such file or directory
[  3535.932] (WW) Falling back to old probe method for fbdev
[  3535.932] (II) Loading sub module "fbdevhw"
[  3535.932] (II) LoadModule: "fbdevhw"
[  3535.932] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libfbdevhw.so
[  3535.932] (II) Module fbdevhw: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[  3535.932]    compiled for 1.16.4, module version = 0.0.2
[  3535.932]    ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 18.0
[  3535.932] (EE) open /dev/fb0: No such file or directory
[  3535.932] (WW) Falling back to old probe method for vesa
[  3535.932] (EE) No devices detected.
[  3535.932] (EE)
--------------------------------------------------------

There are a few solutions proposed on the internet and most of them suggest sshd config changes. My sshd_config file now has following entries(amongst others)

-----------
X11Forwarding yes
X11UseLocalhost no
X11DisplayOffset 10
AddressFamily inet
-----------

X11Forwarding is set to yes on my local machine as well.

Is there is a known limitation/setting of Google cloud that is causing this?

Thanks for your help and suggestions!

Solution

If you're not interested in using the remotely running XFCE and you only want an X server for test automation, use Xvfb instead x.org. It does not require video hardware to be installed.

On the remote host:

Xvfb :1 & #upper case X
export DISPLAY=:1
startxfce4 &

Answered By - Joni

Answer Checked By - Mary Flores (WPSolving Volunteer)