rdesktop is free and open-source remote desktop client for Linux to take a remote session of Windows Remote Desktop Services. rdesktop is released under the GNU General Public License (GPL), version 3. In this post, we will see the rdesktop installation steps. Also see how to configure Windows to accept rdesktop connections and open an RDP connection to the Windows machine from Linux.
Following are main changes with rdesktop v1.9.0 release:
. Use GnuTLS and nettle instead of OpenSSL
. Improved certificate handling
. Add support for dynamic resize of sessions
. Add support for alpha cursors
. Add PulseAudio support
. Add Kerberos support on macOS
. Kerberos support no longer requires libgssglue
. Remove support for rdesktop’s custom microphone extension
. Several fixes to improve compatibility with modern desktops
. macOS compatibility fixes
. Improved handling of redirections
. Many smart card bug fixes
. Many disk redirection bug fixes
. Improved logging
. Lots of other small bug fixes
Windows Settings:
1. Open run windows dialog box pressing “Windows+R” key, and type “systempropertiesremote” to open System Properties dialog box.
2. Click on “Remote” tab and tick on “Allow Remote Assistance connections to this computer” option.
3. Open RDP defaul port 3389 if firewall exist.
4. Need a User and password.
Install rdesktop on Linux
Once the above settings is done, let’s move further for installation steps. rdesktop is not available on default repositories, so we will download & install using tarball (Click on picture on to enlarge it).
# tar xvzf rdesktop-1.9.0.tar.gz
# cd rdesktop-1.9.0
# ./configure –disable-credssp –disable-smartcard
If you get dependencies message during above command. Install the following packages.
# dnf install libX11-devel libXcursor* libtasn1* nettle* gnutls* [RHEL/CentOS]
# make
# make install
Starting the RDP connection.
Connect your Windows host from Linux system using Windows username and password. Following is the command to connect.
# rdesktop -u [username] IP/Hostname
Note: Sorry guys, i’m unable to show the RDP connection because one of my Windows 10 Lappy doesn’t allow because it’s a Windows 10 home edition, i will update the post once i get the things done. (Click on picture on to enlarge it).
If you want more information about remote desktop on Windows, take a look at:
. How to use Remote Desktop
. Remote Desktop – Allow access to your PC
. Also Read: How to take a Remote Desktop Session of Ubuntu 20.04/18.04 from Windows Operating System
. Click here to know more about rdesktop