The script hereafter is outdated and has been replaced by a newer version.  Please Check the Download page for latest version.

 

Hello World, 

Lately, we have been working a lot on xRDP software package and Ubuntu 18.04. In the last weeks, we have been publishing a lot of posts about xRDP, how to install it and how to fix some of the most common issues encountered.  We have spend so much time in refining the standard installation script that we have not check yet the custom installation process and what can be improved when compiling from source.   

As a reminder, the following posts have been published around xrdp and Ubuntu 18.04

• Ubuntu 18.04 – Install xRDP the easy way (Scripted Installation – Version 0.2
• xRDP – The Infamous “Authentication Required to Create Managed Color Device” Explained
• xRDP – How to Fix the Infamous system crash popups in Ubuntu 18.04 (and previous versions)
• xRDP – How to Fix Theme issues in Ubuntu 18.04 remote session
• xRDP – Install xRDP the easy way (Scripted Installation – Version 0.3)
• xRDP – How to Fix different lock screen colors in Ubuntu 18.04 remote session

Today, this post will provide an updated version of the Standard installation script.   The version of the script will be set to 0.4 and include the logic to fix the gdm visual aspect of the lock screen when remotely connected.  This updated version of the script offer the possibility to implement the fix for the GDM lock screen or to simply perform a standard installation where no gdm fixes will be implemented 

So, Let’s proceed….

The Standard Installation Script – Version 0.4

Overview

The version 0.4 of the script perform a standard installation of xRDP (i.e using the xRDP package available in the Official Ubuntu Repository) and perform also the additional configuration tasks needed to have a workable xRDP solution.  Version 0.4 includes the logic to implement a visual fix related to the gdm lock screen (for more info – check this post).   Because we are modifying some gdm system files, the script will not enforce the fix.  The user running the script will have the option to implement the fix or not.  The script will accept parameters to detect if the fixgdm option is selected or not… 

Assumptions

Before running this script, be aware of the following assumptions

• We have tested the script on Ubuntu 17.10 and later
• No additional desktop interface has been installed. 
• We have performed the test on a Virtual Machine running on Virtual box and Hyper-V Virtual machine (on Windows 2012 R2)
• The following procedure has been performed on Ubuntu 18.04 where xorg is the default Display manager

Prerequisites

We assume that you have internet connection on the Ubuntu machine.  The internet connection is needed to download the necessary packages that will be installed on your system.

The script version 0.4

Important Note :

If you copy/paste the script, you might encounter some issues because font formatting might be not maintained during the copy/paste operation. Please ensure that format is  accurate before launching the script. A downloadable version of the script is available at the bottom of the post

Disclaimer : As usual, use this at your own risk !!

#####################################################################################################
# Script_Name : Std-Xrdp-install-0.4.sh
# Description : Perform an automated standard installation of xrdp
# on ubuntu 17.10 and later
# Date : May 2018
# written by : Griffon
# Web Site :http://www.c-nergy.be - http://www.c-nergy.be/blog
# Version : 0.4
# History : 0.4 - Add parameter option to fix gdm lock screen in remote session
# 0.3 - Adding logic to fix theme and extensions for any users login through xrdp
# 0.2 - Added Logic for Ubuntu 17.10 and 18.04 detection 
# - Updated the polkit section
# - New formatting and structure 
# 0.1 - Initial Script 
# Disclaimer : Script provided AS IS. Use it at your own risk....
####################################################################################################

echo
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;36m#-------------------------------------------------------------#\e[0m"
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;36m# Standard XRDP Installation Script - Ver 0.4 #\e[0m"
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;36m# Written by Griffon - June 2018 - www.c-nergy.be #\e[0m"
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;36m#-------------------------------------------------------------#\e[0m"
echo

#---------------------------------------------------#
# Step 0 - Try to Detect Ubuntu Version.... 
#---------------------------------------------------#

echo
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;33m#---------------------------------------------#\e[0m"
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;33m! Detecting Ubuntu version # \e[0m"
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;33m#---------------------------------------------#\e[0m"
echo

version=$(lsb_release -d | awk -F":" '/Description/ {print $2}')

if [[ "$version" = *"Ubuntu 17.10"* ]] || [[ "$version" = *"Ubuntu 18.04"* ]];
then
echo
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;32m.... Ubuntu Version :$version\e[0m"
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;32m.... Supported version detected....proceeding\e[0m"
else
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;31m!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!\e[0m"
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;31mYour system is not running Ubuntu 17.10 Edition.\e[0m"
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;31mThe script has been tested only on Ubuntu 17.10...\e[0m"
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;31mThe script is exiting...\e[0m"
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;31m!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!\e[0m"
echo
exit
fi

#---------------------------------------------------#
# Step 1 - Install xRDP Software.... 
#---------------------------------------------------#
echo
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;33m#---------------------------------------------#\e[0m"
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;33m! Installing XRDP Packages...Proceeding... # \e[0m"
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;33m#---------------------------------------------#\e[0m"
echo

sudo apt-get install xrdp -y

#---------------------------------------------------#
# Step 2 - Install Gnome Tweak Tool.... 
#---------------------------------------------------#
echo
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;33m#---------------------------------------------#\e[0m"
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;33m! Installing Gnome Tweak...Proceeding... # \e[0m"
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;33m#---------------------------------------------#\e[0m"
echo

sudo apt-get install gnome-tweak-tool -y

#---------------------------------------------------#
# Step 3 - Allow console Access .... 
#---------------------------------------------------#
echo
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;33m#---------------------------------------------#\e[0m"
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;33m! Granting Console Access...Proceeding... # \e[0m"
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;33m#---------------------------------------------#\e[0m"
echo

sudo sed -i 's/allowed_users=console/allowed_users=anybody/' /etc/X11/Xwrapper.config

#---------------------------------------------------#
# Step 4 - create policies exceptions .... 
#---------------------------------------------------#
echo
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;33m#---------------------------------------------#\e[0m"
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;33m! Creating Polkit File...Proceeding... # \e[0m"
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;33m#---------------------------------------------#\e[0m"
echo

sudo bash -c "cat >/etc/polkit-1/localauthority/50-local.d/45-allow.colord.pkla" <<EOF
[Allow Colord all Users]
Identity=unix-user:*
Action=org.freedesktop.color-manager.create-device;org.freedesktop.color-manager.create-profile;org.freedesktop.color-manager.delete-device;org.freedesktop.color-manager.delete-profile;org.freedesktop.color-manager.modify-device;org.freedesktop.color-manager.modify-profile
ResultAny=no
ResultInactive=no
ResultActive=yes
EOF

#---------------------------------------------------#
# Step 5 - Fixing Theme and Extensions .... 
#---------------------------------------------------#
echo
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;33m#---------------------------------------------#\e[0m"
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;33m! Fix Theme and extensions...Proceeding... # \e[0m"
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;33m#---------------------------------------------#\e[0m"
echo
#Check if script has already run.... 
if grep -xq "#fixGDM-by-Griffon" /etc/xrdp/startwm.sh; then
echo "Skip theme fixing as script has run at least once..."
else
#Set xRDP session Theme to Ambiance and Icon to Humanity
sudo sed -i.bak "4 a #fixGDM-by-Griffon\ngnome-shell-extension-tool -e ubuntu-appindicators@ubuntu.com\ngnome-shell-extension-tool -e ubuntu-dock@ubuntu.com\n\nif [ -f ~/.xrdp-fix-theme.txt ]; then\necho 'no action required'\nelse\ngsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme 'Ambiance'\ngsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface icon-theme 'Humanity'\necho 'check file for xrdp theme fix' >~/.xrdp-fix-theme.txt\nfi\n" /etc/xrdp/startwm.sh
fi
echo

#---------------------------------------------------#
# Step 6 - Fix GDM Lock screen color .... 
#---------------------------------------------------#

#Detect if argument passed
ARGS=$1
echo $ARGS

if [ "$ARGS" = "--fixGDM" ]; 
then 
echo
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;33m#---------------------------------------------#\e[0m"
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;33m! Fix for GDM Lock Screen color... # \e[0m"
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;33m#---------------------------------------------#\e[0m"
echo
# Step 1 - Install prereqs for compilation later on
sudo apt-get -y install libglib2.0-dev-bin
sudo apt-get -y install libxml2-utils

# extract gresource info (from url...)
workdir=${HOME}/shell-theme
if [ ! -d ${workdir}/theme ]; then
mkdir -p ${workdir}/theme
mkdir -p ${workdir}/theme/icons

fi
gst=/usr/share/gnome-shell/gnome-shell-theme.gresource

for r in `gresource list $gst`; do
gresource extract $gst $r >$workdir/${r#\/org\/gnome\/shell/}
done

# create the xml file 
bash -c "cat >${workdir}/theme/gnome-shell-theme.gresource.xml" <<EOF
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<gresources>
<gresource prefix="/org/gnome/shell/theme">
<file>calendar-arrow-left.svg</file>
<file>calendar-arrow-right.svg</file>
<file>calendar-today.svg</file>
<file>checkbox-focused.svg</file>
<file>checkbox-off-focused.svg</file>
<file>checkbox-off.svg</file>
<file>checkbox.svg</file>
<file>close-window.svg</file>
<file>close.svg</file>
<file>corner-ripple-ltr.png</file>
<file>corner-ripple-rtl.png</file>
<file>dash-placeholder.svg</file>
<file>filter-selected-ltr.svg</file>
<file>filter-selected-rtl.svg</file>
<file>gnome-shell.css</file>
<file>gnome-shell-high-contrast.css</file>
<file>logged-in-indicator.svg</file>
<file>no-events.svg</file>
<file>no-notifications.svg</file>
<file>noise-texture.png</file>
<file>page-indicator-active.svg</file>
<file>page-indicator-inactive.svg</file>
<file>page-indicator-checked.svg</file>
<file>page-indicator-hover.svg</file>
<file>process-working.svg</file>
<file>running-indicator.svg</file>
<file>source-button-border.svg</file>
<file>summary-counter.svg</file>
<file>toggle-off-us.svg</file>
<file>toggle-off-intl.svg</file>
<file>toggle-on-hc.svg</file>
<file>toggle-on-us.svg</file>
<file>toggle-on-intl.svg</file>
<file>ws-switch-arrow-up.png</file>
<file>ws-switch-arrow-down.png</file>
</gresource>
</gresources>
EOF
cd ${workdir}/theme
sed -i -e 's/background: #2e3436/background: #2c00e1/g' ~/shell-theme/theme/gnome-shell.css

##Delete the file noise-texture.png (grey one)
rm ${workdir}/theme/noise-texture.png

#Download the noise-texture.png with purple background 
wget http://www.c-nergy.be/downloads/noise-texture.png

#Compile file and copy to correct location....
cd ${workdir}/theme
glib-compile-resources gnome-shell-theme.gresource.xml

# make a backup of the file and copy the file....
sudo cp /usr/share/gnome-shell/gnome-shell-theme.gresource /usr/share/gnome-shell/gnome-shell-theme.gresource.bak
sudo cp ${workdir}/theme/gnome-shell-theme.gresource /usr/share/gnome-shell/gnome-shell-theme.gresource
else 
echo "No Parameter Pass for GDM FIX....."
fi

#---------------------------------------------------#
# Step 6 - Credits .... 
#---------------------------------------------------#
echo
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;36m#-----------------------------------------------------------------------#\e[0m"
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;36m# Installation Completed\e[0m"
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;36m# Please test your xRDP configuration....\e[0m"
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;36m# Written by Griffon - June 2018 - Ver 0.4 - Std-Xrdp-Install-0.4.sh\e[0m"
/bin/echo -e "\e[1;36m#-----------------------------------------------------------------------#\e[0m"
echo

How to Use the Script

Set Execute Right on the script

Download the Std-Xrdp-install-0.4.sh script to your system.  You need to mark the script as executable . To do this, perform the following action in a terminal console

chmod +x  ~/Downloads/Std-Xrdp-Install-0.4.sh  

Click on picture for better resolution

Note : Adjust the path where the Std-Xrdp-Install-0.4.sh script to reflect your environment

Execute the script

With this version of the script, you have basically the possibility to pass some parameters.  These parameters allow the script to perform some additional configuration tasks if desired by the user.  Before running it, ensure that internet connection is available (so you can download the necessary packages needed for the installation) 

Standard way

In the standard way, you simply execute the script with no parameters.  In this scenario, no fix for the GDM visual issue will be implemented. This mode is basically equivalent to running the Std-Install-Xrdp-0.3.sh script.    

and simply open a Terminal console.  In the Terminal console, Browse to the location where the script has been stored and then issue the following command 

 ./Std-Xrdp-Install-0.4.sh

The script will start executing and when the xrdp installation package will start, you be requested to enter your password 

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Provide the password and proceed with the installation. Wait for completion of the script.  The machine will not reboot automatically when done so you can review the actions performed by the script….

Click on picture for better resolution

You can see in the screenshot above that the script has detected that no fixGDM parameters has been provided so no actions have been performed to fix the different color background in local and remote session.  

Advanced way

The Std-Xrdp-Install script version 0.4 accepts a single parameter (so far, more options might be added in the future…).  To implement the fix for the visual GDM lock screen issue, you will run the script using the parameter “fixGDM”. So, in the Terminal console, you will need to type the following 

 ./Std-Xrdp-Install-0.4.sh  --fixGDM

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Again, the script will ask for a password.  Provide it and let the script complete. 

 

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Here, the script has detected that the “fixGDM” parameter has been passed to the command line and that an additional action will be executed by the script

Click on picture for better resolution

Note : 

In the  screenshot above, you can see an additional message displayed “skip theme fixing….” . An Additional check has been included in the script to see if the script has run at least once. This check is there to ensure that the fix for the theme does not get overwritten if the script is run multiple times.  Actually, you could run the script without the – – fixGDM parameter first and if later you change your mind, you could technically re-run the script to implement to fix avoiding to break your previous installation.

 

At completion, it’s recommended to reboot the machine so the changes made to the GDM files can be applied to the system. 

Click on picture for better resolution

 

 

Test your configuration

To Test your configuration, you need to perform the following steps 

• step 1 – Logout from the Ubuntu machine because you can only have a single connection to the machine for the same user (either local either remote)
• step 2 – Start your favorite remote desktop client and provide the ip address or hostname of your ubuntu machine 
• step 3 –  At this stage, you should see the xRDP login page. Provide your credentials
• step 4 – At this stage, you should see your standard Ubuntu Gnome Desktop with the Dock visible, the Ambiance theme displayed and the icons set are set correctly as well 

Click on picture for better resolution

• step 5 –  Lock the remote session and unlock it again.   If you have executed the script with the fixGDM parameter, the background color should be purple (and not gray)… 

 

Click on picture for better resolution

Download the Script 

Please download the script :  Std-Xrdp-Install-0.4.zip

Final Notes

That’s it for today ! 

xRDP is becoming a good option for remote session and performs actually quite well.  There are still some hickup, issues, unexpected behavior (which will be covered in a coming post) but all in all the solution is workable. The version 0.4 of the script does provide again a fix for a minor issue (the gdm lock screen color discrepancy).  This version of the script actually bring an additional level of flexibility and usability as we have introduced the use of parameters.  This might lead us to revisit again the script and re-write it to make it even better.  

Stay tuned and do not forget to check for the latest version of the script… 

Provide feedback and let us know if you like the changes or if you have some ideas that could make the script better

Till next time 

See ya