Install Xrdp on CentOS 7

Installing Xrdp on a CentOS 7 Linux guest in VirtualBox will allow Remote Desktop connections from Windows. These instructions are for CentOS 7 Linux. Click here for the Video tutorial on YouTube.

• Install Xrdp on CentOS 8 Linux: Install Xrdp on CentOS 8.
• Install Xrdp on Ubuntu 20 Linux: Remote Desktop from Windows to Ubuntu Xrdp.

Ensure Centos 7 VM and Windows are on same Network

If you are running VirtualBox on a Windows host and only have one network adapter, chances are your Windows host will not be able to communicate with your Centos 7 VM.

If you do not have an network interface that is on the same network with an IP address within the same subnet as Windows, follow the instructions below.

1. In VirtualBox, shutdown the Centos 7 VM
2. In VirtualBox with the VM selected, select Settings > Network
3. By default, Adapter 1 may be the only interface running. Select the Adapter 2 tab.
4. Check the box next to Enable Network Adapter.
5. Select Bridged Adapter as the option for the Attached to: option. No other options needed, select Ok.

6. Start the Centos 7 VM back up. You should now have an interface active on the same subnet as your Windows machine.
   1. This is where Centos 7 vs Centos 8 are different. The second network adapter was not automatically active in Centos 8. nmcli was needed to fully connect the bridged adapter.

Add the EPEL Yum Repository

1. Xrdp is available in the EPEL repository. The easiest solution is to add the epel-repository so that we may install xrdp via yum install.
2. Add the EPEL repository to your Centos 7 VM by running

sudo yum install epel-release

With the EPEL repository added, we don’t need to manually download and install xrdp.

Yum Install Xrdp on Centos 7

1. Install xrdp with Yum or dnf for Centos 8

sudo yum install xrdp

2. Ensure xrdp starts every time Centos 8 starts:

sudo systemctl enable xrdp.

3. Start xrdp service on Centos 8

sudo systemctl start xrdp

Xrdp is now installed on Centos 7 and ready to go. However, we must open port 3389 of the firewall to allow connections to the xrdp service.

Open Port 3389 For Xrdp Connections from Remote Desktop

1. In Centos 7, open port 3389 for xrdp connections with

sudo firewall-cmd --add-port=3389/tcp --permanent.

2. IMPORTANT: Restart the firewall service.

sudo firewall-cmd --reload

3. You can verify firewall port 3389 is open by running the following netstat command

[protech@localhost ~]$ sudo netstat -an |grep 3389
tcp        0      0 0.0.0.0:3389            0.0.0.0:*               LISTEN     

With verification that firewall port 3389 is open, remote desktop connections from Windows will now be able to communicate with the Xrdp service on Centos 7. Almost done!

Open a Remote Desktop Connection to Centos 7 xrdp

1. Open Remote Desktop
2. Enter the IP address of the Bridged Adapter IP (enp0s8) on the Centos 7 VM.

3. A warning will appear with the message “The identity of the remote computer cannot be verified. Do you want to continue anyway?“.
   1. The reason states a name mismatch between the computer’s name (the IP address), and the certificate (XRDP). In addition, the certificate is not trusted. As this is a basic configuration of Xrdp for Centos 7, this is to be expected, and we can accept.
4. Before selecting yes, check the box next to “Don’t ask me again for connections to this computer“.

5. An Xrdp connection windows will appear with with a session type, and username and password fields. Select Xvnc as the Session type, and enter credentials for a Centos 7 account.

6. A new Remote Desktop window will appear with the desktop for the Centos 7 user, completing the connection to Xrdp.