Remote Desktop from Windows 10 to Linux

• Performed on CentOS 6.7
• The yum repo that came with my CentOS distribution does not have xrdp available.
• It does however have xfreerdp. Xfreerdp will not suffice if you want to connect INTO this Linux machine from a windows 10 desktop. Hence, we need xrdp in order to be able to connect from a Windows machine with Remote Desktop INTO a linux machine running xr
• First, we need to install xrdp on the Linux machine.  Navigate to www.xrdp.org, and download the xrdp tar file.
• Untar the file:

tar xf xrdp-v0.6.1.tar.gz

• cd into the newly created directory.Attempt to run the ./bootstrap.  You may get a few errors stating you need to install certain things.  For example, before I was able to successfully run ./bootstrap, I had to install the following with yum.
  • autoconf
  • automake
  • libtool
• Once the ./bootstrap worked, attempt to run ./configure.  The same issue occured as before.  Simply install what is prompted.  I had to install the following.
  • libssl-devel
  • pam-devel
  • libXfixes-devel
• Once ./configure is working properly, run make
• Then run make install
• xrdp is now installed, we just have to start the service up, so that Windows Remote Desktop has something to connect into

/etc/xrdp/xrdp.sh start

• Connect with windows desktop, entering the IP of the VM you just installed xrdp on.

• If it works, you should see the glorious image below.  Make sure the Sesman-Xvnc option is select as seen in the image.  Login with credentials on the workstation.

• Success!  I see my desktop and I’ve got a crystal clear resolution with which I can run terminator!

BONUS

I want xrdp to start automatically every time my Linux boots up.  To enable this, we have to add a line to the bottom of the /etc/rc.local file.  As the file states, anything specified here will be executed after all the other services have started up.  I added the following line:

/etc/xrdp/xrdp.sh start

I rebooted my server, and vuala!  I was able to xrdp right in!

 

BONUS #2

I want to be able to start the service using the service ___ start/stop commands.  To do this, I created a symlink from /etc/init.d to the /etc/xrdp/xrdp.sh program with the following command:

ln -s /etc/xrdp/xrdp.sh /etc/init.d/xrdp 

Now I can issue service commands to xrdp!

service xrdp start