How to Install Xrdp (Remote Desktop) on Ubuntu

Remote Desktop (Xrdp) is a free and open-source implementation of the Microsoft RDP server that enables Linux operating systems other than Microsoft Windows to provide a fully functional RDP-compatible remote desktop experience.

Installing Desktop Environment in Ubuntu

In the Linux servers don’t have remote desktop installed. if you need to install RDP on Ubuntu first install X11 and a lightweight desktop environment that will act as a backend for Xrdp.

In ubuntu repositories there are several desktop environments available. We will be installing Xfce . It is a fast, stable, and lightweight desktop desktop environment.

Type the following commands as a sudo user for install Xfce on your server:

1. first need to update your server using following command.

$ sudo apt-get update

2. After update completed now install Xfce.

$ sudo apt install xfce4 xfce4-goodies xorg dbus-x11 x11-xserver-utils

Installing Xrdp

1. Xrdp package is available in the default Ubuntu repositories. for install Xrdp use the following command.

$ sudo apt install xrdp

2. check the status of xrdp service using following command.

$ sudo systemctl status xrdp

By default Xrdp uses the /etc/ssl/private/ssl-cert-snakeoil.key file which is readable only by That users who are members of the “ssl-cert” group. Run the following command to add the user to the group :

$ sudo adduser itsuupport ssl-cert

The Xrdp configuration files are located in the /etc/xrdp directory. If you require only conect Xrdp connections then you no need to any changes to the configuration files. By default Xrdp uses X Window desktop, which in this case, is XFCE. The main configuration file is named xrdp.ini. If you make any changes in the configuration file you need to restart the Xrdp service using following command.

$ sudo systemctl restart xrdp