Install XRDP onUbuntu 16.04

How to install XRDP on Ubuntu 16.04 

Important Note :

If you want to use xRDP in conjunction with the Unity Desktop interface, please check the following post : XRDP – How To Remote Connect to Unity Desktop on Ubuntu 16.04

Hello World,

In our previous post, we have quickly provided a step by step instructions on how to perform a fresh installation of Ubuntu 16.04. If you are working with Ubuntu since a long time, you know that no major changes have been introduced in the setup process and wizard.  It’s quite straightforward.

xrdp is a great solution when you need to have coexistence between Windows machines and Linux machine.  xrdp is basically a piece of software that allows you to remote desktop into your Ubuntu machine from a Windows computer.  On the Windows machine, you do not need to install any tools, you simply use the standard and builtin tool Remote Desktop Connection.

In the past, we have described how to install xrdp on the previous releases of Ubuntu( 15.10,15.04,14.10,14.04,..).  The process described to install xrdp on Ubuntu 16.04 is exactly the same as the one described for machines running Ubuntu 15.10. So, instead of going really deep into details, we will provide hereafter the necessary steps needs to be performed in order to have xrdp installed on your system.

So, let’s go

Standard XRDP installation on Ubuntu 16.04

Assumptions

For this post, we have make some assumptions.

• Ubuntu 16.04 (Final Release version) is used
• The Mate-desktop will be installed on the machine (as alternative desktop environment)
• We will configure our system to match on localized version (i.e. we are using a Belgian french keyboard)
• Since Ubuntu 15.04, upstart has been replaced by systemd component. The systemd component is used in our scenario
• No additional configuration is needed to reconnect to the same session if you are using the latest version of the xrdp package found in the Ubuntu Repository

Installation Process 

Step 1 – Install XRDP Package from Ubuntu Repository

A standard installation for us means that we will be using the xrdp package available within the Ubuntu repository. To install the xrdp software from Ubuntu repository, you will need to issue the following command in a terminal.

sudo apt-get install xrdp

Because of the sudo command, you will be prompted for a password. After entering your password, you will be asked to confirm your action by pressing Y (see screenshot below)

Click on picture for better resolution

Step 2 – Install an alternative Desktop 

xrdp and Unity desktop (or Gnome 3) are not working well together.  If you do not install another desktop environment, when you will try to connect to your Ubuntu machine, you will see only a gray screen.  The workaround to this situation is to install an alternate desktop that can work with xrdp software solution.

Our preferred desktop alternative is Mate-Desktop.  This post will show you how to install the Mate-Desktop and have it working with the xrdp software solution.

To install the Mate-desktop, issue the following command from the Terminal Session

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install mate-core mate-desktop-environment mate-notification-daemon

Note :

Desktop interface such as xfce, LXDE,LXQT, KDE  are all potential candidates.  Check the following links for more information and installation and configuration procedures

• Ubuntu 14.10 – KDE as alternative Desktop for XRDP sessions
• Ubuntu 14.10 – LXQT as alternative Desktop for XRDP
• Ubuntu 14.04 – LXDE Desktop Alternative for XRDP
• Ubuntu 14.04 – How to install xrdp in Ubuntu 14.04 (for xfce interface)

Step 3 – Configuring xRDP to use your desktop environment

At this stage, we need to configure our system in order to tell xrdp that an alternate desktop needs to be used.  In our case, we have to tell xrdp that we want to use Mate-Desktop as alternate desktop. With the previous version of Ubuntu, you would need to create the ~/.xsession file.  In Ubuntu 16.04, it seems that this approach is not working anymore.  We need to configure the system differently when working with Ubuntu 16.04

Starting the alternate desktop environment 

Important Note : 
In our scenario, we have installed mate-desktop, If you have installed another Desktop alternative, you will have to adapt the configuration of the startwm.sh file to reflect your settings.

If you use the  ~/.xsession file approach, you will experience the same symptoms as before i.e. grey screen. We will need to configure the system in a different way.  To have xRDP working in Ubuntu 16.04, you will need to  update the /etc/xrdp/startwm.sh file. To configure this, issue the following command in your Terminal console

sudo sed -i.bak '/fi/a #xrdp multiple users configuration \n mate-session \n' 

/etc/xrdp/startwm.sh

Click on picture for better resolution

Note :

Remember that the command above is to be used when you have installed the Mate-Desktop.  If you have installed a different desktop environment, you will need to adapt the command accordingly. Please check the following links

• Ubuntu 14.10 – KDE as alternative Desktop for XRDP sessions
• Ubuntu 14.10 – LXQT as alternative Desktop for XRDP
• Ubuntu 14.04 – LXDE Desktop Alternative for XRDP
• Ubuntu 14.04 – How to install xrdp in Ubuntu 14.04 (for xfce interface)

Step 4 – Configuring xRDP Keyboard 

By default, the xRDP login screen will use an en-us keyboard layout. You remote session will also be using the en-us keyboard layout.  If you are using a different keyboard layout than the english one, you need to perform the following actions in order to update the configuration of the xrdp software.

In my case, I’m using a Belgian French keyboard, so I had to tell xrdp to use the belgian french keyboard as well.  To do that, you need to perform the following actions :

Step 1 : You go to the /etc/xrdp directory

Step 2 : you issue the command setxkbmap -layout <%your layout%> to define which keyboard map/layout to use

Click on Picutre for better Resolution 

Step 3 : create a copy of the km-0409.ini file into the same directory. It seems that this is the default file used by xrdp to define the keyboard layout. You will need to use sudo in order to be able to write into the directory

Step 4 : Check that you have a backup of your file by typing the dir or ls command

Step 5 : update the file by issuing the following command sudo xrdp-genkeymap km-0409.ini

Click on Picutre for better Resolution 

Step 5 – Reconnect to the Same Session

Since Ubuntu 14.10, a new xrdp package has been made available in the Ubuntu repository. This package fixes a long time issue related to the fact that users could not reconnect to the same session.  If you are using the package xrdp 0.6.1-1, you do not need to perform any customization, you will reconnect automatically to the same session.

Final Notes

As we can see, the installation process has not changed much and after performing all the necessary configuration steps, you should be able to connect remotely to your Ubuntu machine using the Remote Desktop Connection tool.

Some people are still facing some issues while using xrdp.  If you have any issues, connecting or using xrdp, please leave a comment and will contact you back in order centralize and collect as much information possible about the issue and publish the workaround founded (if any) for the mentioned problem.