Q:

vnc using lightdm and x11vnc disconnects immediately after valid login

starting with a precise 64-bit server install, I configured the following;
sudo apt-get install lightdm x11vnc
sudo dpkg-reconfigure lightdm

in /etc/init/x11vnc.conf, I placed;
start on login-session-start
script
/usr/bin/x11vnc -xkb -auth /var/run/lightdm/root/:0 -noxrecord -noxfixes -noxdamage -forever -bg -rfbport 5900 -o /var/log/x11vnc.log
end script

Using UltraVNC from windows, I connect and enter valid login information, and the window immediately closes.  The vnc log shows;
30/04/2013 16:52:01 Got connection from client 10.0.2.2
30/04/2013 16:52:01   other clients:
30/04/2013 16:52:01 Disabled X server key autorepeat.
30/04/2013 16:52:01   to force back on run: 'xset r on' (3 times)
30/04/2013 16:52:01 incr accepted_client=1 for 10.0.2.2:61281  sock=8
30/04/2013 16:52:01 Client Protocol Version 3.8
30/04/2013 16:52:01 Protocol version sent 3.8, using 3.8
30/04/2013 16:52:01 rfbProcessClientSecurityType: executing handler for type 1
30/04/2013 16:52:01 rfbProcessClientSecurityType: returning securityResult for client rfb version >= 3.8
30/04/2013 16:52:01 copy_tiles: allocating first_line at size 33
30/04/2013 16:52:02 Pixel format for client 10.0.2.2:
30/04/2013 16:52:02   32 bpp, depth 24, little endian
30/04/2013 16:52:02   true colour: max r 255 g 255 b 255, shift r 16 g 8 b 0
30/04/2013 16:52:02 no translation needed
30/04/2013 16:52:02 rfbProcessClientNormalMessage: ignoring unsupported encoding type Enc(0x0000000A)
30/04/2013 16:52:02 rfbProcessClientNormalMessage: ignoring unsupported encoding type zlibhex
30/04/2013 16:52:02 Using compression level 6 for client 10.0.2.2
30/04/2013 16:52:02 Enabling X-style cursor updates for client 10.0.2.2
30/04/2013 16:52:02 Enabling full-color cursor updates for client 10.0.2.2
30/04/2013 16:52:02 Enabling cursor position updates for client 10.0.2.2
30/04/2013 16:52:02 Using image quality level 6 for client 10.0.2.2
30/04/2013 16:52:02 rfbProcessClientNormalMessage: ignoring unsupported encoding type xorEnable
30/04/2013 16:52:02 Enabling LastRect protocol extension for client 10.0.2.2
30/04/2013 16:52:02 Enabling NewFBSize protocol extension for client 10.0.2.2
30/04/2013 16:52:02 rfbProcessClientNormalMessage: ignoring unsupported encoding type cacheEnable
30/04/2013 16:52:02 rfbProcessClientNormalMessage: ignoring unsupported encoding type Enc(0xFFFF8000)
30/04/2013 16:52:02 rfbProcessClientNormalMessage: ignoring unsupported encoding type Enc(0xFFFF8001)
30/04/2013 16:52:02 rfbProcessClientNormalMessage: ignoring unsupported encoding type Enc(0xFFFF8002)
30/04/2013 16:52:02 rfbProcessClientNormalMessage: ignoring unsupported encoding type Enc(0xFFFF8003)
30/04/2013 16:52:02 rfbProcessClientNormalMessage: ignoring unsupported encoding type Enc(0xC0A1E5CE)
30/04/2013 16:52:02 Using ZRLE encoding for client 10.0.2.2
30/04/2013 16:52:03 Pixel format for client 10.0.2.2:
30/04/2013 16:52:03   32 bpp, depth 24, little endian
30/04/2013 16:52:03   true colour: max r 255 g 255 b 255, shift r 16 g 8 b 0
30/04/2013 16:52:03 no translation needed
30/04/2013 16:52:03 rfbProcessClientNormalMessage: ignoring unsupported encoding type Enc(0x0000000A)
30/04/2013 16:52:03 rfbProcessClientNormalMessage: ignoring unsupported encoding type zlibhex
30/04/2013 16:52:03 Using compression level 6 for client 10.0.2.2
30/04/2013 16:52:03 Enabling X-style cursor updates for client 10.0.2.2
30/04/2013 16:52:03 Enabling full-color cursor updates for client 10.0.2.2
30/04/2013 16:52:03 Enabling cursor position updates for client 10.0.2.2
30/04/2013 16:52:03 Using image quality level 6 for client 10.0.2.2
30/04/2013 16:52:03 rfbProcessClientNormalMessage: ignoring unsupported encoding type xorEnable
30/04/2013 16:52:03 Enabling LastRect protocol extension for client 10.0.2.2
30/04/2013 16:52:03 Enabling NewFBSize protocol extension for client 10.0.2.2
30/04/2013 16:52:03 rfbProcessClientNormalMessage: ignoring unsupported encoding type Enc(0xFFFF8000)
30/04/2013 16:52:03 rfbProcessClientNormalMessage: ignoring unsupported encoding type Enc(0xFFFF8001)
30/04/2013 16:52:03 rfbProcessClientNormalMessage: ignoring unsupported encoding type Enc(0xFFFF8002)
30/04/2013 16:52:03 rfbProcessClientNormalMessage: ignoring unsupported encoding type Enc(0xFFFF8003)
30/04/2013 16:52:03 rfbProcessClientNormalMessage: ignoring unsupported encoding type Enc(0xC0A1E5CE)
30/04/2013 16:52:03 Switching from ZRLE to hextile Encoding for client 10.0.2.2
30/04/2013 16:52:03 client_set_net: 10.0.2.2  0.0015
caught XIO error:
30/04/2013 16:52:07 deleted 32 tile_row polling images.
tail: x11vnc.log: file truncated
30/04/2013 16:52:08 passing arg to libvncserver: -rfbport
30/04/2013 16:52:08 passing arg to libvncserver: 5900

Any ideas what I'm missing?

A:

The issue turns out to be relatively simple, I hadn't installed an underlying desktop provider.  Also, my appliance has no video card and no video driver, so, no frame buffer in which to render.  
The solution that worked for me was found in this post.

