Turning Ubuntu Server Into a Light XFCE Desktop

Sometimes a box that was set up as a server ends up next to a monitor, and you'd like a real desktop on it without reinstalling. Ubuntu makes that an apt install away. My note on this is short and mostly commands, so here it is, checked and with a couple of corrections.

Checked against the Ubuntu package archive and the Xfce docs in September 2026, for 24.04 and 26.04.

Before you install anything

A quick reality check first. Installing a desktop on Server works fine as far as apt is concerned, but it isn't a recommended server setup. Ubuntu's old community page on it says most server developers advise against a GUI on a server. For a box that's turning into a workstation, that's fine. For a box that still serves things to your house, go in knowing it'll use more memory and boot a bit slower.

The note's safety list still holds:

• Back up anything you care about.
• Write down what's running now, so you can tell afterward if something changed:

systemctl list-units --type=service --state=running > ~/services-before.txt

Installing a desktop doesn't wipe anything, and your services keep running. But it's much easier to answer "was that running before?" when you saved the answer.

Pick the right package

My note offered ubuntu-desktop "or a lighter alternative." That's burying the lead. ubuntu-desktop is the full GNOME desktop, which is the heaviest option on the list. XFCE is the reason you're here.

Package	What you get
xubuntu-desktop-minimal	XFCE, the login screen and the basics. The one I'd pick
xubuntu-desktop	Everything above plus Xubuntu's full app set
xfce4 plus lightdm	Bare XFCE and a login screen, with nothing extra
ubuntu-desktop-minimal	GNOME, the standard Ubuntu desktop, minus most of the apps

The install:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
sudo apt install xubuntu-desktop-minimal
sudo systemctl set-default graphical.target
sudo reboot

The display manager is the login screen that starts your desktop session. The Xubuntu packages bring LightDM along, so you don't need to install it separately. That set-default line tells the system to boot to the login screen instead of a text console. If you ever want the console back, set it to multi-user.target.

Tip

If the installer asks which display manager to use (it can happen if GNOME's GDM is already there), pick LightDM. It's the one Xubuntu is built around.

Making it dark

This is the fun part, and it's all doable from a terminal with xfconf-query, XFCE's settings tool. First, the themes. These are in the Ubuntu archive:

sudo apt install greybird-gtk-theme blackbird-gtk-theme arc-theme papirus-icon-theme

Here's one correction to my note. It installs a nordic-theme package, and there isn't one in the Ubuntu archive. Nordic is a theme from EliverLara on GitHub, and you install it by unzipping it into ~/.themes. It's a lovely theme. It's just not an apt package.

Then point XFCE at the dark versions. This sets the app theme, the icons and the window borders:

xfconf-query -c xsettings -p /Net/ThemeName -s "Greybird-dark"
xfconf-query -c xsettings -p /Net/IconThemeName -s "Papirus-Dark"
xfconf-query -c xfwm4 -p /general/theme -s "Greybird-dark"

Swap in Blackbird, Arc-Dark or Nordic (once it's unzipped) to try the others.

A dark terminal

The terminal keeps its own colors. Since version 1.1.0, xfce4-terminal stores its settings in xfconf, which both current Ubuntu releases ship. So the same tool works there too. The -n -t part creates the setting if it isn't there yet:

xfconf-query -c xfce4-terminal -p /color-foreground -n -t string -s "#F8F8F2"
xfconf-query -c xfce4-terminal -p /color-background -n -t string -s "#282A36"
xfconf-query -c xfce4-terminal -p /background-mode -n -t string -s "TERMINAL_BACKGROUND_TRANSPARENT"
xfconf-query -c xfce4-terminal -p /background-darkness -n -t double -s 0.95

That's a soft off-white on a dark slate, with a little see-through. For plain white on black, use #FFFFFF and #000000, and turn the darkness up to 0.9 or leave it solid with TERMINAL_BACKGROUND_SOLID.

Or skip the conversion

If the machine is going to be a desktop from now on and there's nothing on it you'd miss, a fresh install of a desktop distro is cleaner. My everyday laptop is a straightforward Linux Mint install on a ThinkPad, and for a machine that's a desktop first, that's the road I'd take. The conversion earns its keep when the server side needs to stay put, and that's when the services list from the first step is worth having. It's the same "get a baseline first" habit from keeping an old project alive, just for a whole machine.