When Everywhere Feels Like Home - xRDP

TL;DR ✨

The previous part showed remote access over SSH. Sometimes, however, it is useful to have a graphical environment in which to work. This is a rather tricky proposition on every operating system.

On Windows, remote access (RDP) is available with Windows Professional, or with Windows Server and Terminal Services. Linux works differently.

From the archive

This article was first published on 2017-06-18. It is also a snapshot of its time, so some details and recommendations may no longer reflect the current situation.

The previous part showed remote access over SSH. Sometimes, however, it is useful to have a graphical environment in which to work. This is a rather tricky proposition on every operating system.

On Windows, remote access (RDP) is available with Windows Professional, or with Windows Server and Terminal Services. Linux works differently.

1. xRDP

Enter the following commands on the Linux machine to download xrdp and the Xfce desktop environment:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install xrdp
sudo apt-get install xfce4

Create a default session:

echo xfce4-session >~/.xsession

That is all. Restart xRDP and it is ready to go:

sudo service xrdp restart

Using the Microsoft RDP application (the mstsc command) or Remmina, simply enter the machine's IP address, username, and password:

Log in. The Linux machine can then be used remotely.

Finally, if there are any problems with xRDP, trying to configure a VNC server is recommended. An English installation guide is available, for example, here.

Remote access to a local IP address (shown as 10.14.50.125 in this example) requires the provider to arrange one of the following:

1. Port forwarding from the main gateway all the way to the machine behind the router. This means configuring port forwarding on the provider's main gateway, on the customer's antenna, and then on the home router.
2. Routing the provider's public IP address directly from the gateway to the machine.