Hello World,

I have done my home work as you will see.  On October 23, 2014, Ubuntu 14.10 has been released to the public. We have already posted some information about ubuntu 14.10 (the beta version) and xrdp package coming from the ubuntu repository.  We have seen that the installation and tweaking process has not changed much.   However, we have noticed that the xrdp package has been updated from version 0.6.0-1 to version 0.6.1-1 (or something similar).  So, the ubuntu package has been updated in order to include some bug fixes.

I was working with my beta version of Ubuntu and had received the popup box asking me if I wanted to update.  I decided to update my system.  I didn’t notice immediately the xrdp package update.  So, I started performing the installation of xrdp and tested it.  And……..

Surprisingly, I was able to reconnect to the same session with no changes in the configuration file or with no need to perform a custom installation.  So, they really did something in this package.

In this post, we will go again through the setup process for xrdp and take into account the fact that the xrdp package has been updated and that you do not need anymore tweaks to reconnect to your session.

Let’s go !

Some Assumptions 

In this post, we assume that you have installed the Ubuntu 14.10 version (Final version).

We also assume that you have experience in Ubuntu.  Because we have written some many posts about how to install xrdp on ubuntu, we will only provide main instructions needed to install the xrdp package on your ubuntu.

In this post, we will install as alternative desktop the MATE-Desktop interface which is for us the most  appropriate when working via xrdp.  If you want to install a different desktop environment (xfce or lxde), please refer to this post for instructions – Ubuntu 14.10 – How to install XRDP and have it working

We will perform everything from the command line……

So in order to access your terminal box, perform the following actions

• Using the Dash button, in the search box, type Terminal

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• Click on the terminal icon and the Terminal console will open

Install XRDP Package from Ubuntu Repository

In this post, we will be using the Ubuntu xrdp package (the version 0.6.1-1) which allows you to reconnect to an existing session.. (Man, this is so cool!)

In the Terminal, type the following command

sudo apt-get install xrdp

You will be prompted for your password

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You will be then informed about the package size. To proceed with the installation, press Y

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Wait for the completion

When done, you need to install an alternate desktop environment. So, let ‘s move to the next section….

 

Install Mate-Desktop software

As you know, we need to install an alternate desktop environment when connecting through xrdp.  The Unity is not supported and not working when performing your remote desktop connection with xrdp.  This is why we need to install the mate desktop environment so when performing the xrdp connection, we have access to the mate-desktop interface.  Again, from the command line, you will execute the following commands

sudo apt-get update

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

 

Note : 

Some people encountered some issues using the command above in order to install the mate-desktop.  The workaround (see comments) consist of using the ubuntu repository.  So, you can install ubuntu  remix mate desktop 1.8.1 executing the following commands

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ubuntu-mate-dev/ppa

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ubuntu-mate-dev/trusty-mate

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

sudo apt-get install –no-install-recommends ubuntu-mate-core ubuntu-mate-desktop

Read this post (Ubuntu 14.10 – How to install XRDP and have it working) – Section MATE-Desktop because the last time we tried this command, the greeter configuration was changed.  Something you might want to be aware of.  This might have changed since. So please provide feedback so other people can benefit from your experience

 

Configure the xsession file 

 

Now, we have to tell xrdp that when connecting it needs to use the mate-desktop interface.  One way to configure this is to create ad update the .xsession file.   For this post, we assume that you have only one user login into your Ubuntu machine.

In order to configure your xsession file for Mate-Desktop Interface, you will need to execute the following operations

echo mate-session >~/.xsession

Restart the xrdp service by issuing the following command

sudo service xrdp restart

Note :

If you have multiple users on the system that needs to connect, you will need to configure the xsession file for each user !  You can achieve this by having users logged in into the system and execute the above commands or you can automate the process by updating your startwm.sh file. A post is being prepared in order to explain how to configure xrdp when multiple users needs access to your system….

Configure your Keyboard layout at the xrdp Login screen

By default, the xrdp login screen keyboard layout is set to english. If your keyboard layout is set to something else than english, when entering your credentials in the xrdp login box, you should either

• remember that you have an english keyboard and you have to be sure that what you type is the correct password value (use the username textbox to check what’s your are typing…)
• change the keyboard layout to the one you are using

 If you need to change it to another xrdp keyboard layout, you should proceed with the following actions while login into the ubuntu system directly (not via the xrdp session)

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 (ex. setxkbmap -layout be – for Belgian keyboard)

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

 

Test your connection(s) 

At this stage, you should be ready to test your installation.

Go to your windows machine, start remote Desktop client and enter the ip address/name of your ubuntu machine

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You should see then the login screen of xrdp presented to you. As mentioned above, we have normally changed the keyboard layout.  You can check that your keyboard is set correctly by typing the password in the username textbox. So, you will be sure that you have the correct keyboard layout.

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Enter your username and password and Press OK

You will see a dialog box showing the login process

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If everything is configured correctly,you should see your desktop loading and you should be able to perform your work through this desktop environment.

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Open calcutor or customize your desktop.  Disconnect and try to reconnect again…..

And you should be reconnecting to the same session with no additional configuration……You are done

 

Final Notes

This is it for this post !  Finally, the xrdp package has been updated and bring an important feature with it.  You can now reconnect to an existing session with no additional configurations.  The xrdp installation is become easier and there is less and less post configuration needed.  From now on, you have everything you need in order to perform remote desktop session connections to your Ubuntu machine and you will be able to reconnect easily to your existing session and take back your work where you left it.

This is a great news for all the xrdp users out there…So, yes, upgrade to Ubuntu 14.10 or upgrade to the lasted ubuntu xrdp package

Till next time

See ya