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Virtual Linux Remote Desktop

by wheresvic1 on 7/3/19, 7:25 PM with 12 comments

  • by amanzi on 7/4/19, 2:19 AM

    I do this often but a little less complicated than what is proposed here.

    * Start with an Ubuntu Server base

    * Install tasksel: sudo apt install tasksel

    * Install the Xubuntu core desktop: sudo tasksel install xubuntu-core

    * Install XRDP: sudo apt install xrdp

    Then two small changes to make XRDP work:

    * sed -i 's/allowed_users=console/allowed_users=anybody/g' /etc/X11/Xwrapper.config

    * echo "startxfce4" > ~/.Xclients

    Give the machine a reboot and you're good to go. You can log in with an RDP client and continue configuring as you see fit.

  • by viraptor on 7/3/19, 8:51 PM

    > systemctl disable unattended-upgrades

    That's a bad advice and it really has no place in this article. Please leave your automatic update in place.

  • by microwavecamera on 7/3/19, 8:41 PM

    Cool guide but I'd change one thing:

      echo mynewuser:mynewpassword | sudo chpasswd
    If you set the password using echo like this it will log the plaintext password in the current user's .bash_history file.

  • by equalunique on 7/3/19, 9:54 PM

    These types of setups have their uses! I have tried to achieve similar setups in the past using a Fedora VM running VNC server and a Chromebook running VNC client. One pain point that you might not expect is how the client handles the Crtl, Alt, and Windows key modifiers. Browser-based clients especially will not pass these through, and thust interfacing with the remote system is usually not as convenient as many newcomers expect.

  • by number6 on 7/4/19, 5:19 AM

    Maybe I am missing something, but why doesn't he just do an xforward via ssh -x?

  • by couchand on 7/3/19, 8:41 PM

    I appreciate the general sentiment in having a reproducible work environment. But I must ask if the complexity of running and tunneling X is needed -- what desktop software are you running in this environment?

  • by dekhn on 7/3/19, 8:44 PM

    personally I found xrdp server w/ RDP client works great.