I am a novice to linux so have used the instructions on the internet with a superficial understanding of what they are, so please bare with my ignorance here, thnx in advance.

I have an Ubuntu 20.04 headless server on Contabo and had to use tasksel to install Lubuntu desktop for an XRDP login to work from windows 10 remote.

Now when logging in the desktop there is no task bar with icons to access apps like terminal and browser etc ... I right click on the desktop then choose settings at which point a window with all the apps appears but i cannot access any of the apps from there either.

I detected that im running gnome with
systemctl status display-manager

I then according to this only relevant link : https://askubuntu.com/questions/1231...-icons-missing
ran :
sudo apt install gnome-shell-extension-desktop-icons

But it says already has latest version.

How do I get the icons bar to appear on the desktop so that i can start using the applications. Is there a Linux command i can run to correct this. I want to keep a minimal desktop and spare resources for web applications. Is there also a way for me to start removing unwanted desktop features i will never be using and free up resources for the web apps.

Should I rather choose a different display manager that is less resource intensive, one that accommodates Mysql, Glassfish Console reachable with Internet Browser to
view local host to do domain admin of web apps.

THANKS FOR THE REPLIES, I SOLVED MY ISSUE AND WILL TAKE THE ADVICE AS GIVEN BY THE LAST POSTS. CLOSED ISSUE BUT WANTED TO THANK FOR HELP.

gnome is definitely not a lightweight desktop. If you wish to have a low resource desktop try to install Lubuntu, Xubuntu or similar.

XRDP can work but it usually has lots of quirks that can be daunting if you are a newbie.
Try using nomachine instead. Its friendly and trouble free, been using it on different servers and clients without a glitch or headaches like RDP.
Install and allow port 4000 tcp/udp or whatever you want to set for it on your server's firewall.

Tweak the graphic options for the connection. I used Contabo some time ago and the instances are on 100 mbps connections so a lightweight DE will help here.