No desktop during VNC session

Question

I have followed this guide: Configure VNC Server in RHEL to setup a vnc connection on my AlmaLinux 9.3 machine. I am running into an issue with the actual desktop that is displayed during the VNC session, which looks like this:

I don't know why I am getting a Firefox and XTerm window appearing and not the expected xfce4-session. However if I were to enter the command: startx the xfce4 desktop will appear.

When I check the status of the service file nothing seem immediately obvious to me.

● vncserver@:2.service - Remote desktop service (VNC)
     Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/vncserver@:2.service; disabled; preset: disabled)
     Active: active (running) since Fri 2024-01-05 17:22:54 GMT; 53s ago
    Process: 11707 ExecStartPre=/bin/sh -c /usr/bin/vncserver -kill :2 > /dev/null 2>&1 || : (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
    Process: 11712 ExecStart=/usr/bin/vncserver :2 -geometry 1280x1024 (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   Main PID: 11719 (Xvnc)
      Tasks: 243 (limit: 48083)
     Memory: 368.7M
        CPU: 3.734s
     CGroup: /system.slice/system-vncserver.slice/vncserver@:2.service
             ├─11719 /usr/bin/Xvnc :2 -alwaysshared -geometry 1920x1080 -securitytypes vncauth,tlsvnc -auth /home/user/.Xauthority -desktop "localhost:2 (user)" -fp catalogue:/etc/X11/fontpath.d -pn -rfbauth /home/user/.vnc/passwd -rfbport 5902
             ├─11737 dbus-launch --sh-syntax --exit-with-session
             ├─11738 /usr/bin/dbus-daemon --syslog --fork --print-pid 5 --print-address 7 --session
             ├─11773 /usr/bin/xterm -geometry 80x50-50+150
             ├─11774 /usr/lib64/firefox/firefox /usr/share/doc/HTML/index.html
             ├─11795 bash
             ├─11893 /usr/libexec/gvfsd
             ├─11912 /usr/libexec/xdg-desktop-portal
             ├─11919 /usr/libexec/xdg-document-portal
             ├─11925 /usr/libexec/xdg-permission-store
             ├─11932 fusermount -o rw,nosuid,nodev,fsname=portal,auto_unmount,subtype=portal -- /home/user/.cache/doc
             ├─11947 /usr/libexec/xdg-desktop-portal-gtk
             ├─11957 /usr/libexec/at-spi-bus-launcher
             ├─11964 /usr/bin/dbus-daemon --config-file=/usr/share/defaults/at-spi2/accessibility.conf --nofork --print-address 3
             ├─11971 /usr/libexec/at-spi2-registryd --use-gnome-session
             ├─12078 /usr/lib64/firefox/firefox -contentproc -parentBuildID 20231129035847 -prefsLen 27636 -prefMapSize 237382 -appDir /usr/lib64/firefox/browser {675b4206-c092-4a32-ab77-a4582e559da7} 11774 socket
             ├─12159 /usr/lib64/firefox/firefox -contentproc -childID 1 -isForBrowser -prefsLen 27830 -prefMapSize 237382 -jsInitLen 240916 -parentBuildID 20231129035847 -appDir /usr/lib64/firefox/browser {4e1242e4-50f6-4731-9502-01745913ab95} 11774 tab
             ├─12223 /usr/lib64/firefox/firefox -contentproc -childID 2 -isForBrowser -prefsLen 32519 -prefMapSize 237382 -jsInitLen 240916 -parentBuildID 20231129035847 -appDir /usr/lib64/firefox/browser {be1c4cbc-6d2c-4174-ae32-65e69f2566b1} 11774 tab
             ├─12269 /usr/lib64/firefox/firefox -contentproc -childID 3 -isForBrowser -prefsLen 32576 -prefMapSize 237382 -jsInitLen 240916 -parentBuildID 20231129035847 -appDir /usr/lib64/firefox/browser {1ca48e96-b7d0-4844-9d74-b269aa003429} 11774 tab
             ├─12303 /usr/lib64/firefox/firefox -contentproc -childID 4 -isForBrowser -prefsLen 28144 -prefMapSize 237382 -jsInitLen 240916 -parentBuildID 20231129035847 -appDir /usr/lib64/firefox/browser {56c69dce-39f9-40bf-bff1-b24208d9e6c7} 11774 tab
             ├─12306 /usr/lib64/firefox/firefox -contentproc -childID 5 -isForBrowser -prefsLen 28144 -prefMapSize 237382 -jsInitLen 240916 -parentBuildID 20231129035847 -appDir /usr/lib64/firefox/browser {e114b097-4c1b-40ea-86c5-53d6d9cc3928} 11774 tab
             └─12310 /usr/lib64/firefox/firefox -contentproc -childID 6 -isForBrowser -prefsLen 28144 -prefMapSize 237382 -jsInitLen 240916 -parentBuildID 20231129035847 -appDir /usr/lib64/firefox/browser {feaa6536-974f-4dc1-a1ff-bd923039c8d3} 11774 tab

Jan 05 17:22:55 localhost dbus-daemon[11738]: [session uid=1000 pid=11736] Successfully activated service 'org.freedesktop.portal.Documents'
Jan 05 17:22:55 localhost dbus-daemon[11738]: [session uid=1000 pid=11736] Activating service name='org.freedesktop.impl.portal.desktop.gtk' requested by ':1.5' (uid=1000 pid=11912 comm="/usr/libexec/xdg-desktop-portal " label="kernel")
Jan 05 17:22:55 localhost dbus-daemon[11738]: [session uid=1000 pid=11736] Activating service name='org.a11y.Bus' requested by ':1.8' (uid=1000 pid=11947 comm="/usr/libexec/xdg-desktop-portal-gtk " label="kernel")
Jan 05 17:22:55 localhost dbus-daemon[11738]: [session uid=1000 pid=11736] Successfully activated service 'org.a11y.Bus'
Jan 05 17:22:55 localhost org.a11y.Bus[11964]: dbus-daemon[11964]: Activating service name='org.a11y.atspi.Registry' requested by ':1.0' (uid=1000 pid=11947 comm="/usr/libexec/xdg-desktop-portal-gtk " label="kernel")
Jan 05 17:22:55 localhost org.a11y.Bus[11964]: dbus-daemon[11964]: Successfully activated service 'org.a11y.atspi.Registry'
Jan 05 17:22:55 localhost org.a11y.Bus[11971]: SpiRegistry daemon is running with well-known name - org.a11y.atspi.Registry
Jan 05 17:22:55 localhost dbus-daemon[11738]: [session uid=1000 pid=11736] Successfully activated service 'org.freedesktop.impl.portal.desktop.gtk'
Jan 05 17:22:55 localhost xdg-desktop-por[11912]: Failed connect to PipeWire: Couldn't connect to PipeWire
Jan 05 17:22:55 localhost dbus-daemon[11738]: [session uid=1000 pid=11736] Successfully activated service 'org.freedesktop.portal.Desktop'

My guess is that VNC is trying to load the gnome desktop by default, however I am solely using the xfce desktop. I don't know how or where I can set my default desktop. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Contents of my ~/.vnc/xstarup file:

#!/bin/sh

unset SESSION_MANAGER
unset DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS
/etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc
# Assume either Gnome will be started by default when installed
# We want to kill the session automatically in this case when user logs out. In case you modify
# /etc/X11/xinit/Xclients or ~/.Xclients yourself to achieve a different result, then you should
# be responsible to modify below code to avoid that your session will be automatically killed
if [ -e /usr/bin/gnome-session ]; then
    vncserver -kill $DISPLAY
fi