How to Install Xrdp Server (Remote Desktop) on Ubuntu 20.04

Xrdp is an open-source implementation of the Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) server. It provides facility to graphically control a remote machine. Using Xrdp, you can login to remote machine same as Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Xrdp (Remote Desktop) on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS.

Prerequisites#

Before starting with the Xrdp installation process, make sure you have logged in as a non-root user with sudo privileges.

Installing Desktop Environment#

By default, Ubuntu servers do not have a desktop environment installed and managed using command line only. You can skip this step if you are already have desktop environment.

We are going to install the Xfce desktop environment as it is perfect for the remote servers. Xfce is a lightweight, stable, and fast desktop environment.

sudo apt update

sudo apt install xubuntu-desktop

Installing Xrdp#

Xrdp is available in the default Ubuntu repositories. Run the following command to install:

sudo apt install xrdp

After completion of installation, Xrdp service will be start automatically.

To verify the installation type:

sudo systemctl status xrdp

It will show output like below:

● xrdp.service - xrdp daemon
     Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/xrdp.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
     Active: active (running) since Fri 2020-05-25 06:12:10 UTC; 52min ago
  ...

After that you have to add the xrdp user to the group “ssl-cert” group:

sudo adduser xrdp ssl-cert

Restart the Xrdp service for changes to take effect:

sudo systemctl restart xrdp

It’s done. Xrdp is installed on your Ubuntu server and ready to use it.

Configuring Firewall#

If firewall is running on your Ubuntu server, you’ll need to open the Xrdp port. The Xrdp daemon listens on port 3389 on all interfaces.

For example to give access to the Xrdp server to a specific IP address or IP range, run the following command:

sudo ufw allow from 192.168.0.0/16 to any port 3389

That’s it. Now you can connect your Xrdp server using RDP client on Windows system. If you are running macOS, you can install the Microsoft Remote Desktop application from the Mac App Store. Linux users can use an RDP client such as Remmina or Vinagre.

Conclusion#

This tutorial shown you how to install xrdp on Ubuntu 20.04 server. You can connect Xrdp server and manage through graphic interface from Windows, macOS or Linux system.

If you have any questions or feedback, feel free leave a comment below.