Had same problem. Couldn't find a solution online. Here is what worked for me. (assuming you already have Gnome installed)
My xstartup file:
#!/bin/sh
# Uncomment the following two lines for normal desktop:
unset SESSION_MANAGER
# exec /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc
gnome-session –session=gnome-classic &
gnome-panel&
[ -x /etc/vnc/xstartup ] && exec /etc/vnc/xstartup
[ -r $HOME/.Xresources ] && xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
xsetroot -solid grey
vncconfig -iconic &
x-terminal-emulator -geometry 80x24+10+10 -ls -title "$VNCDESKTOP Desktop" &
x-window-manager &
I added:
gnome-session –session=gnome-classic &
gnome-panel&
and uncommented:
unset SESSION_MANAGER
Also modified $defaultXStartup section of /usr/bin/vncserver so that the default xstartup is the same as above:
$defaultXStartup
= ("#!/bin/sh\n\n".
"# Uncomment the following two lines for normal desktop:\n".
"unset SESSION_MANAGER\n".
"# exec /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc\n".
"gnome-session –session=gnome-classic &\n".
"gnome-panel&\n\n".
"[ -x /etc/vnc/xstartup ] && exec /etc/vnc/xstartup\n".
"[ -r \$HOME/.Xresources ] && xrdb \$HOME/.Xresources\n".
"xsetroot -solid grey\n".
"vncconfig -iconic &\n".
"x-terminal-emulator -geometry 80x24+10+10 -ls -title \"\$VNCDESKTOP Desktop\" &\n".
"x-window-manager &\n");
And that did the trick for me!