In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Xrdp Server on Debian 11. For those of you who didn’t know, Xrdp is an open-source implementation of the Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) that allows you to control a remote system graphically. Using Xrdp, you can log in to a remote machine same as Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP).
This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of Linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple and assumes you are running in the root account, if not you may need to add ‘sudo‘ to the commands to get root privileges. I will show you the step-by-step installation of the Xrdp server on a Debian 11 (Bullseye).
Prerequisites
- A server running one of the following operating systems: Debian 11 (Bullseye).
- It’s recommended that you use a fresh OS install to prevent any potential issues.
- A
non-root sudo useror access to theroot user. We recommend acting as anon-root sudo user, however, as you can harm your system if you’re not careful when acting as the root.
Install Xrdp Server on Debian 11 Bullseye
Step 1. Before we install any software, it’s important to make sure your system is up to date by running the following apt commands in the terminal:
sudo apt update sudo apt upgrade
Step 2. Installing Xrdp Server on Debian 11.
By default, Xrdp is available on Debian’s base repository. Now run the following command below to install it:
sudo apt install xrdp
After the installation process is complete, the service will automatically start. You can verify that the Xrdp service is running using the following command:
sudo systemctl status xrdp
Step 3. Configuring the XRDP.
Due to the features of the Debian system, you must enter the xrdp user on behalf of which XRDP is running in the system into the SSL-cert group. Run the command:
adduser xrdp ssl-cert
Then add the xrdp service to autorun and restart it to apply the changes:
sudo systemctl restart xrdp sudo systemctl enable xrdp
Step 4. Configure Firewall.
Xrdp listens on port 3389 on all interfaces, now we grant access from the external network to port 3389 in the Debian 11 firewall:
sudo ufw allow 3389
Step 5. Connecting Xrdp.
Now that you have set up your Xrdp server, it is time to open your Xrdp client and connect to the server. If you are running macOS, you can install the Microsoft Remote Desktop application from the Mac App Store. Linux users can use an RDP client such as Remmina or Vinagre.
Congratulations! You have successfully installed Xrdp. Thanks for using this tutorial for installing the latest version of the Xrdp server on Debian 11 Bullseye. For additional help or useful information, we recommend you check the official Xrdp website.
