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I just installed Ubuntu 22.04 LTS and was delighted to see that a remote desktop server is built in and supports MS RDP in addition to VNC. It has some quirks related to the password, which I found out about on this post: 22.04 - Remote Desktop Sharing authentication password changes every reboot

I am hoping to have remote desktop available on boot, without logging in, or if it uses auto-login it keeps the password, so that I can run the system headless and RDP/VNC into it. It looks like gnome-remote-desktop runs as a user service, not a system service, so it's not active unless the user logs in. And it starts before the keyring is unlocked, so it creates a new password every time it starts. It seems like there are many ways to get around these issue, but I'm not sure what's the best route or even if any/all of these are possible:

  1. Continue using auto-login so that remote desktop can run as a user service but somehow fix it so that it keeps the same password (ideally without disabling keyring completely).

  2. Disable the built-in remote desktop feature and install some other RDP/VNC server and manually configure it, but would that conflict with the built-in one? Not sure.

  3. Is it possible to convert the gnome-remote-desktop user service to a system service? And if so, where would it store the password if not in the user keyring? Is this even an option at all?

  4. Something else?!

Would love any suggestions. Thanks.

Hrishikesh Kadam
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goodkarma
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    If you find a workable solution, would you please post the answer? – Brandon Moretz May 16 '22 at 01:08
  • For now, I manually setup x11vnc so get the functionality I wanted. It's not perfect, but works for now while waiting for a better solution. I'm really hoping there is a way to simply switch the built-in remote desktop feature to a system service, seems like that would make it would the way I think we all assume it should. If I find out anything more I'll share it here @BrandonMoretz – goodkarma May 20 '22 at 19:59
  • @goodkarma I am sorry my answer didn't work for you. Could you tell me in comments to my answer where it failed? Thanks – user68186 May 20 '22 at 20:15
  • This solution worked for me, but as stated by the author, the default GNOME 42 UI is what is given. I was able to use this answer to fix that problem. – TerrorByte Jun 30 '22 at 03:36
  • check my answer, it absolutely work. – Michael Jul 21 '22 at 11:00
  • I used to use X2Go for this, but it stopped working in 22.04 and nothing I do fixes it https://askubuntu.com/q/1432163 – endolith Feb 06 '23 at 03:02
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    I think you are using the tool (desktop sharing) for the wrong job (establishing a remote Gnome session). The whole concept of desktop sharing is that "you" have a "local" desktop, which can then be seen and interacted with by a remote "somebody". These protocols relay window updates to the remote client, which then draws the updates there. Remote user gestures are relayed to the local windows, which are then passed to the relevant applications. If there is no "local", what are you sharing? – Terrible Tadpole Mar 11 '23 at 05:17

5 Answers5

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I have tried this solution in a VM

  1. Disable the built-in remote desktop feature and install some other RDP/VNC server and manually configure it, but would that conflict with the built-in one? Not sure.

The solution I propose here is to not to use the native desktop sharing and use xrdp server instead.

Disable the native desktop sharing (or not)

I found disabling Remote Desktop did not have any effect after I installed xrdp in the next step. After a reboot, the Remote Desktop setting reverts to look like this:

enter image description here

Make sure the Enable Legacy VNC Protocol is not checked.

Note: This settings page shows a randomly generated password. Ignore it. Use your login password when you use an xrdp client like Remmina in Ubuntu or Window's default RDP app

Install xrdp

The setting above did not work in my fresh install of Ubuntu 22.04 until I installed xrdp. You have to either physically access the headless computer or use ssh for this step.

Open a terminal by Ctrl+Alt+T and enter:

sudo apt install xrdp

You will be prompted to enter your password. As you enter your password the cursor will not move. This is normal.

If you have ufw (Uncomplicated Firewall) enabled you will have to open the port 3389 with this command:

sudo ufw allow 3389.

Verify that the xrdp server is up and running with this command:

sudo systemctl status xrdp

Remember to logout

Logging out (locally) is the most important part. If you login by physically going to the computer and connecting keyboard, mouse, monitor etc. then xrdp won't work until you logout.

A Note about xrdp local and remote login

Do not use Automatic login to the desktop when the computer starts!

Unlike RDP in Windows xrdp only works if you are not logged in to the remote computer locally. This means you physically go to the remote computer and login to it, and then leave the computer without logging out, xrdp will not work.

Similarly, while remotely logged in via xrdp you may disconnect without logging out and the session will continue. However, in this case, you won't be able to login locally until you log out remotely.

This is not a problem for a headless computer as you never login locally.

Two points for the XRDP/RDP Client

1. Session, User and Password

When you try to access the remote computer using (X)/RDP, you may see this dialog box on your RDP/XRDP client:

enter image description here

  1. Set Session to XOrg, the default.
  2. Use your remote Ubuntu Computer's username
  3. Use the remote Ubuntu computer user's login password. Do not use the randomly generated password when you set up the (x)RDP client.

You won't see this dialog if you use Remmina and choose to store your username and password with the connection configuration.

2. Desktop may look different

When I used Remmina to xrdp into the Ubuntu22.04 in the VM, I didn't get the default Ubuntu desktop. Instead I got the Gnome 42 desktop that looks like this:

enter image description here

There may be some way to change it back to the Ubuntu desktop, but I didn't explore that.

To change the appearance of the desktop from the default gnome to Ubuntu, create the hidden file /home/$USER/.xsessionrc with the following content:

export GNOME_SHELL_SESSION_MODE=ubuntu
export XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=ubuntu:GNOME
export XDG_CONFIG_DIRS=/etc/xdg/xdg-ubuntu:/etc/xdg

Source: How to login to the Ubuntu (not GNOME) session on a remote server using xRDP?

Thanks to Torres and AgentRev for bringing this solution to my notice.

hope this helps

user68186
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  • Thanks @user68186 for the detailed xdrp explanation. It's a great option. I might try that. I really like the ability to have the remote and local session be the same session, which is how it's working with xvnc, and I'm kinda getting used to it. I may try your suggestion soon and see if I adjust to it. Thanks again. – goodkarma Jul 01 '22 at 18:56
  • @goodkarma you are welcome. Let me know if it works for you. I understand where you are coming from. I made the same transition from vnc to xrdp a few years ago. As long as you remember to logout of local and remote sessions you will be fine. – user68186 Jul 01 '22 at 19:05
  • Sometimes When I log in again using the same user. It creates multiple sessions. loginctl list-sessions, and at some point, a user is unable to log in unless I kill all sessions of that user, using sudo loginctl kill-user <username> or sudo loginctl kill-session <session-id> – Atif Ali Aug 17 '22 at 08:53
  • Also, is there a way to connect to the same user every time I reconnect? Multiple people use this computer at same time and have their own accounts – Atif Ali Aug 17 '22 at 08:56
  • @AtifAli please ask a new question with a link to this answer. – user68186 Aug 17 '22 at 10:45
  • I have created a new question. https://askubuntu.com/q/1424071/376806 – Atif Ali Aug 17 '22 at 11:18
  • "There may be some way to change it back to the Ubuntu desktop, but I didn't explore that." Has anyone else figured this out? – endolith Feb 06 '23 at 03:28
  • Looks like you can get a lot of the features by installing Extension Manager from Software Center and then enabling things like "Desktop Icons NG". – endolith Feb 06 '23 at 03:52
  • @endolith I haven't figured it out. Feel free to ask a new question with a link to this one and then answer it. – user68186 Feb 06 '23 at 03:52
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    this solves the Gnome/Ubuntu desktop: https://askubuntu.com/questions/1442514/how-to-login-to-the-ubuntu-not-gnome-session-on-a-remote-server-using-xrdp – Torres Apr 18 '23 at 20:58
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    One-liner to fix the desktop: printf '%s\n' 'export GNOME_SHELL_SESSION_MODE=ubuntu' 'export XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=ubuntu:GNOME' 'export XDG_CONFIG_DIRS=/etc/xdg/xdg-ubuntu:/etc/xdg' > $HOME/.xsessionrc – AgentRev Jul 22 '23 at 03:05
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Follow by this youtube video, it works.

In short, install gnome extension :allow-locked-remote-desktop and turn on it , and work like a charm.

If you did not hear gnome extension before, watch the video or google the term.

Michael
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  • How on earth would "Allow locked remote desktop" help with this? Nowhere in the question was it mentioned that they were trying to view a locked desktop? – sdaau Dec 17 '23 at 13:06
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I found your post while looking for an answer to why Remmina works fine with the monitor or TV on but gives a black screen when the monitor/TV is off. I’m thinking it might have something to do with the handshake communications between the viewing device and Ubuntu. (Getting the same issue with 20.04 to a TV and 22.04 to a monitor.)

Anyway, for Auto Login I’ve done the following. (Instructions are based on 22.04; similar for 20.04.)

Auto Login:

  1. Settings > Users > (unlock at upper right) > Automatic Login → turn on (white dot to right)
  2. Settings > Sharing →

    1. Switch at header: turn on.

    2. Remote Desktop → to on ==> the sub-menu:

      1. Remote Desktop: on
      2. ☑ Enable legacy VNC protocol
        1. Submenu: tic ‘Require a password’
      3. Remote Control on
      4. Authentication Section:
        1. User Name: barry
        2. Password
          • Used by Remmina to access system – 8 characters max.
          • This password is also reset by .config/autostart/password_fix.desktop (below)

    3. Media Sharing on, plus appropriate for the sub-menu

    4. Remote Login on, plus sub-menu allowing ssh

Create file: .config/autostart/password_fix.desktop

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=Password Fix  
Comment=Corrects password in Settings > Users for use by Remmina
Exec=/usr/bin/python3 -c "import keyring;keyring.set_password('login','user','Remmina_Password');"

The Exec= is all one line. The 'user' is your user name; the 'Remmina_Password' is whatever it is being used by Remmina to log in. The legacy VNC protocol limits passwords to eight characters.

DBolton
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Barry Martin
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0

Quoting my answer from another question, this will ensure that only the VNC/RDP password is unencrypted, everything else works with the default login keyring

I found an insecure solution to the problem. The typical solution proposed on the internet for this is to set a blank password for the login keyring using the "Passwords and keys" app. This, however, is highly inscure as all the passwords on the device would be stored in plaintext.

What I decided to do instead was to create a new keyring in the "Passwords and keys" app with no password and set it as the default keyring. Then I proceeded to delete the VNC password from the login keyring. Then I rebooted the computer to ensure that the new keyring is the default one. After the reboot, I reentered the VNC password in the screen sharing settings. This would store the VNC password in the new insecure keyring. Then back to "Passwords and keys" app and set the login keyring to default again. Rebooted again and now the VNC password stayed saved and the default keyring was also back to the login keyring, ensuring all foture passwords saved on the device will be encrypted.

So in essence, I just reduced the insecurity of saving all the passwords in plaintext to storing just the VNC password in plaintext.

Gaurav Suman
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    I have noticed though that sometimes I can't RDP into my machine (happens at random and sometimes after a reboot). I found that turning on the monitor (connected via Displayport) solves this. Haven't been able to figure out what causes this. Even considering moving back to VNC – Gaurav Suman May 21 '22 at 18:29
  • I am trying to use Windows RDP to connect to a headless Ubuntu 22.04 machine. It works, then for some unknown reason it occasionally throws the user off (me) to the login screen. Of course rdp can't utilise this and then I'm stuck. It's a pain. Actually it is highly annoying. I wish I knew what was going on. – gfmoore Apr 06 '23 at 15:34
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Headless Chrome Remote Desktop is amazing, smooth video! Faster than RDP on windows. https://cloud.google.com/architecture/chrome-desktop-remote-on-compute-engine

5tring
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