rust-no-display

RustDesk headless display helper for an Ubuntu/GNOME machine that should work both with no monitor attached and with a real HDMI/DP monitor plugged in.

What This Fixes

The original headless workaround used a global Xorg dummy driver config in /etc/X11/xorg.conf. That made RustDesk work without a monitor, but it also forced the normal desktop to use only DUMMY0, so a plugged-in physical monitor stayed black or disconnected.

This project replaces that approach with the Intel Xorg driver and VirtualHeads:

• When a real monitor is connected, Xorg uses the physical output, for example HDMI1.
• When all real monitor outputs are disconnected, a hotplug helper enables VIRTUAL1 at 1920x1080.
• RustDesk can then capture the virtual display without blocking the physical monitor path.

Files

• config/xorg-intel-virtualheads.conf: Xorg config that uses the Intel driver and creates one virtual output.
• bin/rustdesk-headless-display: User-level display guard. It turns off VIRTUAL1 when a real monitor exists and turns it on when no real monitor exists.
• bin/rustdesk-display-hotplug: Root/system helper triggered by udev on DRM monitor changes.
• systemd/rustdesk-display-hotplug.service: One-shot service for the hotplug helper.
• udev/99-rustdesk-display-hotplug.rules: Starts the service on monitor plug/unplug events.
• config/rustdesk-headless-display.desktop: GNOME autostart entry for login-time setup.
• scripts/install.sh: Installs the config and helpers.
• scripts/uninstall.sh: Removes the helper files.

Requirements

• Ubuntu/GNOME using GDM on Xorg.
• Intel graphics using the Xorg intel driver.
• Packages: xrandr, xserver-xorg-video-intel, xserver-xorg-video-dummy.
• RustDesk service installed and enabled.

This was created on a machine with Intel UHD Graphics 630 and GDM configured with WaylandEnable=false.

Install

cd ~/projects/rust-no-display
sudo ./scripts/install.sh
sudo systemctl restart gdm
sudo systemctl restart rustdesk

Restarting GDM will briefly disconnect the graphical session and RustDesk.

Verify

With a monitor connected:

DISPLAY=:0 XAUTHORITY=/run/user/1000/gdm/Xauthority xrandr --query

Expected shape:

HDMI1 connected primary 1920x1080+0+0
VIRTUAL1 disconnected

With the monitor unplugged:

HDMI1 disconnected
VIRTUAL1 connected primary 1920x1080+0+0

If RustDesk still says no display after unplugging the monitor, restart RustDesk:

sudo systemctl restart rustdesk

Recovery

The install script backs up any existing global Xorg config as:

/etc/X11/xorg.conf.backup-YYYYMMDDHHMMSS

To revert manually:

sudo cp -a /etc/X11/xorg.conf.backup-YYYYMMDDHHMMSS /etc/X11/xorg.conf
sudo systemctl restart gdm

To remove the helper files:

sudo ./scripts/uninstall.sh

Notes

This project intentionally does not manage RustDesk ID servers, relay servers, passwords, or keys. It only handles display availability for monitorless RustDesk access.