VDI Path: Access Linux Desktop remotely using RDP

Update 20220123: Works well for 20.04.

	#!/bin/bash -e
	#
	# ubuntu-install-xrdp.sh
	# Tested in Ubuntu 20.04: Bidirectional clipboard does work.
	#
	# One line installer (change ubuntu by the username that you want to remotely login):
	# curl -L https://gist.github.com/nestoru/fee24a59804d60ccba1a/raw | sudo bash -s ubuntu
	#
	START=$(date +%s)
	if ! [ $(id -u) = 0 ]; then
	echo "I will work only under root!"
	exit 1
	fi
	USAGE="Usage: `basename $0` <user>"
	if [ $# -ne "1" ]
	then
	echo $USAGE
	exit 1
	fi
	user=$1
	if [ "$user" == "root" ]; then
	user_home=/root
	else
	user_home=/home/$user
	fi
	apt-get update -y
	apt-get install -y ubuntu-desktop
	apt-get install -y xrdp
	adduser xrdp ssl-cert
	systemctl restart xrdp
	echo Run the below commands if RDP is still not running to find out the cause:
	echo " sudo systemctl status xrdp"
	echo " tail -100 /var/log/xrdp-sesman.log"
	END=$(date +%s)
	DIFF=$(( $END - $START ))
	echo "Finished in $DIFF seconds"

view raw ubuntu-install-xrdp.sh hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Update 20190511: In 18.04 clipboard does work again

Update 20161201: In 16.04 Clipboard is not longer working.

Update 20150731: Clipboard works great in Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, however Unity is not supported.

Original post for historical reasons: RDP has been for ages a great protocol giving Windows the big advantage on the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) competition. The FreeRDP GitHub project is changing that little by little especially thanks to XRDP. Here is a POB Recipe to install XRDP. For the latest version of the script please pull the recipe from github pob-recipes project.

#!/bin/bash -e
# common/ubuntu/xrdp-reinstall.sh

apt-get -q -y remove xrdp
apt-get -q -y update
apt-get -q -y clean
apt-get -q -y purge xrdp
apt-get -q -y install xrdp

After you have done so the Ubuntu Desktop will then be available via RDP so you can use any RDC to connect to it on default port 8309. You must login with an existing linux user so make sure the user you are trying to connect with is in /etc/passwd

I have found a very good performance after setting the desktop background to a simple color. Also restarting the desktop is recommended to make sure after a fresh reboot RDP will be available.

You can configure the port and a lot of other settings from ini files in /etc/xrdp/

RDP Sessions

XRDP does a great job and by default it does what you would expect if you are disconnected from your session: Upon reconnection you will continue working using the very same session you were when you got disconnected. Just make sure you do not change the resolution of your client before you completely logout from an existing session because that will end up creating a brand new session.