Virtual Linux Remote Desktop

I do this often but a little less complicated than what is proposed here.

* Start with an Ubuntu Server base

* Install tasksel: sudo apt install tasksel

* Install the Xubuntu core desktop: sudo tasksel install xubuntu-core

* Install XRDP: sudo apt install xrdp

Then two small changes to make XRDP work:

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

* echo "startxfce4" > ~/.Xclients

Give the machine a reboot and you're good to go. You can log in with an RDP client and continue configuring as you see fit.

> systemctl disable unattended-upgrades

That's a bad advice and it really has no place in this article. Please leave your automatic update in place.

Cool guide but I'd change one thing:

  echo mynewuser:mynewpassword | sudo chpasswd

If you set the password using echo like this it will log the plaintext password in the current user's .bash_history file.

These types of setups have their uses! I have tried to achieve similar setups in the past using a Fedora VM running VNC server and a Chromebook running VNC client. One pain point that you might not expect is how the client handles the Crtl, Alt, and Windows key modifiers. Browser-based clients especially will not pass these through, and thust interfacing with the remote system is usually not as convenient as many newcomers expect.

Maybe I am missing something, but why doesn't he just do an xforward via ssh -x?

I appreciate the general sentiment in having a reproducible work environment. But I must ask if the complexity of running and tunneling X is needed -- what desktop software are you running in this environment?

personally I found xrdp server w/ RDP client works great.