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Remote Desktop Connection to Windows from Linux using RDP clients

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Have you ever used the Windows app Remote Desktop Connection? This app, included in all Windows installations, allows you to remotely access another Windows PC or a server with Windows Server. For this purpose, it employs the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP).

Organizations can install applications on a central server instead of various computers. To use those applications, employees must remotely access that server. Such centralization can make maintenance and troubleshooting easier. This technology was formerly known as Terminal Services (TS). Currently, web systems are more common. But, in some scenarios, Windows remote apps are still needed.

In those scenarios, Linux users can remotely access Windows computers and servers from their favorite system using an RDP client.

There are a few RDP clients available for Linux and we are going to talk about them today:

You can choose the one you like best or the one that best suits your needs.

Out of curiosity, FreeRDP is both an app and a library, which provides reusable features for other apps. Except for rdesktop, all of the other clients above use the FreeRDP library.

Enabling remote desktop on Windows

First of all, you must set up the computer you want to connect to so it allows remote connections. On the Windows machine you want to connect to, logged on with an administrator account, open the Start menu and click Settings. To do that, on the window that appears, open the System category, and then Remote Desktop. Finally, enable it:

Note that you can’t connect to computers running a Windows Home edition (for instance, Windows 10 Home). This screen informs you, if that is the case:

Your Home edition of Windows 10 doesn’t support Remote Desktop.

Source of the image: Digital Citizen

If you want more information about remote desktop on Windows, take a look at:

Remmina

Remmina is a remote desktop client that supports many remote access protocols such as RDP, VNC, NX, XDMCP and SSH. It aims to be useful for system administrators and travellers, who need to work with lots of remote desktops and/or servers. Remmina is included in the Ubuntu Linux distribution and is its default remote desktop client.

To install Remmina on Linux Kamarada and openSUSE, run:

Once installed, to start Remmina, if you use the GNOME desktop environment, open the Activities menu, on the top-left screen corner, type remmina and click its icon:

To quickly start a remote access, select the RDP protocol, type the hostname or IP address of the computer you want to connect to (e.g. 10.0.0.251 ) and hit Enter:

If it’s the first time you connect to this computer, Remmina asks whether to trust its certificate, click Yes:

On the next screen, enter your User name and Password on the remote computer. Also inform the Domain, if necessary. Optionally, you can choose to Save password. Click OK:

You will see the remote computer’s desktop in the Remmina window:

From now on, you are using that computer, but remotely, without sitting in front of it. Each clicking and typing is sent to be processed on the remote computer.

If the remote computer is a Windows desktop, its screen is locked during remote access.

If you are going to access this computer often, consider saving the connection settings, so that remote access can be easily initiated. To do this, click the Create a new connection profile button on the top-left corner of the Remmina main window:

On the next screen, give a Name to identify the connection, select RDP in the Protocol field and enter the connection settings: Server, User name, User password and Domain (if necessary). When you’re finished, click Save:

After that, the connection becomes listed on the Remmina main window:

When you want to remotely access that computer, just double-click it on the list.

FreeRDP

FreeRDP is a free implementation of the Remote Desktop Protocol following the Microsoft Open Specifications. This implementation provides both the client and the server applications as well as a library, which allows other applications to use the RDP protocol. Today, we are interested in the FreeRDP client application.

To install the FreeRDP client on Linux Kamarada and openSUSE, run:

The FreeRDP client does not have a main screen like Remmina. To start a remote access using the FreeRDP client, run this command from a terminal:

Making the appropriate substitutions. For example:

If you need to inform the computer’s domain, use the /d parameter:

If it’s the first time you connect to this computer, the FreeRDP client asks whether to trust its certificate:

Type Y (yes) and hit Enter. Then type your user password on the remote computer and hit Enter:

After that, the remote desktop connection is initiated:

If you have ever started the remote desktop connection on Windows by the Command Prompt (using the mstsc command), you may have noticed that the FreeRDP client uses the same command syntax. It was implemented that way on purpose, to keep compatibility.

If you are a curious person and want to check it out by yourself:

rdesktop

rdesktop was the first RDP client for Linux and, for many years, it was the most used. But since November 2019, the project is looking for a new maintainer.

In contrast, FreeRDP was born in 2009 as a fork of rdesktop, when Microsoft decided to open the RDP specifications. As time passed and the FreeRDP project evolved, it became the standard RDP client on systems where no native Microsoft client is available.

I present rdesktop here for information purposes only. Unless you have a good reason to use it, you are advised to use one of the other RDP clients, based on FreeRDP.

To install rdesktop on Linux Kamarada and openSUSE, run:

Then, to start a remote access using rdesktop, invoke it from a terminal followed by the hostname or IP address of the computer you want to connect to. For example:

In the past, that would suffice and rdesktop would just work. But now we face a problem that comes from the lack of proper maintenance and updates:

At some point, Microsoft released an Windows update that has since made the use of Network Level Authentication (NLA) required by default. FreeRDP does support NLA, while rdesktop does not. You can still use rdesktop for remote access, as long as you disable NLA on the computer you want to connect to. Note that this makes the connection less secure.

To disable NLA on the Windows machine you want to connect to, logged on with an administrator account, open the Control Panel, open the System and Security category, then click the System icon. On the next screen, click the Remote settings link by the left. On the dialog box that appears, select the Remote tab. Finally, disable the option Allow connections only from computers running Remote Desktop with Network Level Authentication and click OK:

With NLA disabled, back to the Linux computer that will start the remote access, try again:

This time, rdesktop will work. A window presents the Windows logon screen. Enter your username and password and press Enter to start the remote access:

If you want more information about that rdesktop bug, see:

Vinagre

Vinagre is the default remote desktop client for the GNOME desktop. That’s why it is also the default remote desktop client for Linux Kamarada 15.1, the current stable release. Like Remmina, it supports some connection protocols: SSH, RDP, SPICE and VNC. However, like rdesktop, Vinagre is unmaintained for some time now.

When trying a RDP access, Vinagre only displays a black screen, as I reported on the openSUSE mailing list some time ago:

On some distributions, like Debian, Vinagre works. I believe that those distributions applied some patch to Vinagre.

Probably, the next Linux Kamarada release will come with Remmina instead of Vinagre, following the Ubuntu Linux distribution.

Because of that, I present Vinagre here just for information purposes as well.

Vinagre comes already installed by default on Linux Kamarada and openSUSE, if you chose the GNOME desktop, but if you need or want to install it, you can do this by running:

To start Vinagre, which appears as Remote Desktop Viewer on the applications list, open the Activities menu, on the top-left screen corner, type remote or vinagre and click the corresponding icon:

On the Vinagre main screen, click Connect:

Fill in the next screen fields with the connection settings:

• on the Protocol field, select RDP;
• on the Host field, enter the hostname or IP address of the computer to connect to;
• enter your Username on the remote computer; and
• enter the Domain, if necessary.

When you are finished, click Connect.

If it’s the first time you connect to this computer, Vinagre asks whether to trust its certificate:

Tell it to do so by clicking Connect.

Enter your Password, optionally enable Remember this credential and click Authenticate:

At this point, you should see the remote computer’s desktop. You can notice it has its screen locked (as it normally does during RDP accesses). But, as I said, Vinagre only displays a black screen:

Like Remmina, Vinagre allows you to memorize the connection settings, to easily connect to the same computer again in the future. To do this, during the remote access, open the Bookmarks menu and click Add Bookmark.

After you created the bookmark, it will now be listed on the Bookmarks menu. When you want to remotely access this computer again, just open this menu and click the bookmark.

References

Since it’s not possible to remotely access computers running Windows 10 Home, to write this how-to I used a VirtualBox virtual machine with a Windows 10 Enterprise evaluation version legally downloaded from:

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11 Best Tools to Access Remote Linux Desktop

Accessing a remote desktop computer is made possible by the remote desktop protocol (RDP), a proprietary protocol developed by Microsoft. It gives a user a graphical interface to connect to another/remote computer over a network connection. FreeRDP is a free implementation of the RDP.

RDP works in a client/server model, where the remote computer must have RDP server software installed and running, and a user employs RDP client software to connect to it, to manage the remote desktop computer.

In this article, we will share a list software for accessing a remote Linux desktop: the list starts off with VNC applications.

VNC (Virtual Network Computing) is a server-client protocol which allows user accounts to remotely connect and control a distant system by using the resources provided by the Graphical User Interface (GUI).

Zoho Assist

Zoho Assist is a free, fast, cross-platform remote support software that allows you to access and support Linux desktops or servers without remote connection protocols like RDP, VNC, or SSH. Remote connections can be established from your favorite browser or a desktop plugin, regardless of the remote computer’s network.

With a whole host of features like remote file transfer, multi-monitor navigation, and clipboard sharing to aid MSPs, IT support technicians, and helpdesk technicians, debugging a Linux remote desktop is easy sailing with Zoho Assist.

Zoho Assist is extremely secure with two-factor authentication, action log viewer, and antivirus compatability. SSL and 256-bit AES encryption ensures all session-related information is passed through an encrypted tunnel.

A clutter-free user interface makes working easy for first-timers. You can customize email templates, and rebrand the Linux remote desktop application to use your company’s name, logo, favicon, and portal URL.

With Zoho Assist, you can configure all major variations of Linux computers and servers like Ubuntu, Redhat, Cent, Debian Linux Mint, and Fedora for unattended access, and seamlessly access them anytime.

Zoho Assist Remote Desktop Sharing

1. TigerVNC

TigerVNC is a free, open source, high-performance, platform-neutral VNC implementation. It is a client/server application that allows users to launch and interact with graphical applications on remote machines.

Unlike other VNC servers such as VNC X or Vino that connect directly to the runtime desktop, tigervnc-vncserver uses a different mechanism that configures a standalone virtual desktop for each user.

It is capable of running 3D and video applications, and it attempts to maintain consistent user interface and re-use components, where possible, across the various platforms that it supports. In addition, it offers security through a number of extensions that implement advanced authentication methods and TLS encryption.

2. RealVNC

RealVNC offers cross-platform, simple and secure remote access software. It develops VNC screen sharing technologies with products such as VNC Connect and VNC Viewer. VNC connect gives you the ability to access remote computers, provide remote support, administer unattended systems, share access to centralized resources and much more.

You can get VNC connect for free for home use, which is limited to five remote computers and three users. However, for any professional and enterprise use, requires a subscription fee.

3. TeamViewer

Teamviewer is a popular, powerful, secure and cross-platform remote access and control software that can connect to multiple devices simultaneously. It is free for personal use and there is a premium version for businesses users.

It is an all-in-one application for remote support used for remote desktop sharing, online meetings and file transfer between devices connected over the Internet. It supports more than 30 languages around the world.

4. Remmina

Remmina is a free and open-source, fully featured and powerful remote desktop client for Linux and other Unix-like systems. It is written in GTK+3 and intended for system administrators and travelers, who need to remotely access and work with many computers.

It is efficient, reliable and supports multiple network protocols such as RDP, VNC, NX, XDMCP and SSH. It also offers an integrated and consistent look and feel.

Remmina allows users to maintain a list of connection profiles, organized by groups, supports quick connections by users directly putting in the server address and it provides a tabbed interface, optionally managed by groups plus many more features.

5. NoMachine

NoMachine is a free, cross platform and high quality remote desktop software. It offers you a secure personal server. Nomachine allows you to access all your files, watch videos, play audio, edit documents, play games and move them around.

It has an interface that lets you concentrate on your work and is designed to work in a fast manner as if you are seated right in front of your remote computer. In addition, it has remarkable network transparency.

6. Apache Guacamole

Apache Guacamole is a free and open source client-less remote desktop gateway. It supports standard protocols like VNC, RDP, and SSH. It requires no plugins or client software; simply use an HTML5 web application such as a web browser.

This means that, use of your computers is not tied to any one device or location. Furthermore, if you want to employ it for business use, you can get dedicated commercial support via third-party companies.

7. XRDP

XRDP is a free and open source, simple remote desktop protocol server based on FreeRDP and rdesktop. It uses the remote desktop protocol to present a GUI to the user. It can be used to access Linux desktops in conjunction with x11vnc.

It greatly, integrates with LikwiseOPEN thus enabling you to login to a Ubuntu server via RDP using active directory username/password. Although, XRDP is good project, it needs a number of fixes such as taking over an existing desktop session, running on Red Hat-based Linux distributions and more. The developers also need to improve its documentation.

8. FreeNX

FreeNX is an open source, fast and versatile remote access system. It is a secure (SSH based) client /server system, and it’s core libraries are provided by NoMachine.

Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, the link to the FreeNX website did not work, but we have provided links to the distro-specific web pages:

9. X2Go

X2Go is an open source cross platform remote desktop software similar to VNC or RDP, that offers remote access to a Linux system’s graphical user environment over the network using a protocol, which is tunneled through the Secure Shell protocol for better encryption of data.

10. Xpra

Xpra or X is an open source cross-platform remote display server and client software, which offers you to access remote applications and desktop screens over SSH sockets with or without SSL.

It enables you to execute applications on a remote host by displaying their screen on your local machine without losing any state after disconnect. It also supports forwarding of sound, clipboard and printing features.

That’s all! In this article, we reviewed eight best tools to access remote Linux desktops. Feel free to share your thoughts with us via the comment form below.

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