Xrdp is an open-source implementation of the Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) server. It allows you 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 Debian 10 system.

Prerequisites#

Make sure you have logged in as a root or user with sudo privileges.

Installing Desktop Environment#

By default, Linux servers do not have a desktop environment installed and managed by command line only. So first, we need to install desktop environment for Xrdp.

There are several desktop environments (DE) available in Debian repositories. We will install the Xfce desktop environment, it is perfect for the remote servers. You can install another desktop environment if you would like, but Xfce is a lightweight, stable, and fast desktop environment.

sudo apt update

sudo apt install xfce4 xfce4-goodies xorg dbus-x11 x11-xserver-utils

Installing Xrdp#

Standard Debian repositories includes Xrdp package. Run the following command to install:

sudo apt install xrdp

Once the installation complete, Xrdp service will be start automatically.

You can verify that service is running by typing:

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 Wed 2020-05-25 11:09:10 UTC; 4s ago
  ...

Next, 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

That’s it! Xrdp is installed on your Debian system and ready to use.

Configuring Firewall#

If you are using ufw to manage firewall on your Debian server, you’ll need to open the Xrdp port. The Xrdp 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 192.168.43.0/24 to any port 3389

It’s done. Now you are able to 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#

In this guide explained how to install xrdp on Debian 10 system. 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.