Error when installing and running XRDP (Remote Desktop) with Gnome Ubuntu: I encounter a Black Screen

Question

I'm trying to connect to a remote desktop (Gnome Ubuntu) using XRDP (Remote Desktop Protocol). However, when I connect with either Apache's Guacamole or Microsofts Remote Desktop, I encounter a black screen with a cursor.

I can verify that my Ubuntu server is running healthily through logs as well as ssh'ing in and running a test (proxmox interface).

Interestingly, when I use xfce4 instead of gnome, I am able to connect. However, I can't get the terminal to work properly for some reason. If I am logged into gnome using the proxmox interface I can see the terminal popping up in my gnome session when I start it in my xfce xrdp session.

Possible issues:

Possible issues may include my startup/installation script:

# placeholder for script

Thanks for the Q @Jalau --> I found this to be very helpful while I was debugging my remote desktop devops. I've made some changes to the Q to improve its state so that it can be reopened. I just need one last edit from you before pushing that forward --> could you please include your startup/installation script? (So that this becomes a replicable code Q instead of a hardware Q). Thank you! — Yaakov Bressler, Mar 25 '21 at 17:07

score 5 · Answer 1 · edited Jun 20 '20 at 09:12

5

I got the same problem and after many tries I solved it by:

1) Removing xrdp

$sudo apt-get remove xrdp

2) Reinstall xrdp

$sudo apt-get install xrdp

3) Very Important Add this lines after install:

$echo gnome-session > ~/.xsession

$chmod +x ~/.xsession

edited Jun 20 '20 at 09:12

Community

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answered Feb 11 '20 at 22:05

yehudama

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Is `chmod +x ~/.xsession` needed? Typically these files do not need x permission. – sancho.s ReinstateMonicaCellio Nov 02 '20 at 14:18
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This solution does not work on Ubutu 20.04.1 LTS. Ironically, RDP and VNC behave equally bad. Both return a black screen. – Shrimpy Dec 21 '20 at 15:55
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Could someone explain what writing gnome-session to the .xsession file does? I want to understand what is happening before I try it. – Gabriel Fair Jan 10 '21 at 15:26
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@GabrielFair That is something I would like to know too. – CuriousLearner Jan 27 '21 at 14:27
@Shrimpy Yep, didn't work for me either. 20.04 LTS. – CuriousLearner Jan 27 '21 at 14:31
I got a black screen – Mike Slinn Aug 03 '22 at 21:36

Ukr · Answer 2 · 2021-01-31T15:46:03.987

1. Remove previously installed xrdp:

$ sudo systemctl disable xrdp
$ sudo systemctl stop xrdp

$ sudo apt purge xrdp
$ sudo apt purge xserver-xorg-core
$ sudo apt purge xserver-xorg-input-all
$ sudo apt purge xorgxrdp

2. Re-install xrdp & required packages:

$ sudo apt install xrdp
$ sudo apt install xserver-xorg-core
$ sudo apt install xserver-xorg-input-all
$ sudo apt install xorgxrdp

You also need to grant access to the /etc/ssl/private/ssl-cert-snakeoil.key file for xrdp user. It is available to members of the ssl-cert group by default.

$ sudo adduser xrdp ssl-cert           # add xrdp into ssl-cert group

$ sudo systemctl start xrdp            # start xrdp service
$ systemctl is-active xrdp             # display current xrdp service state
...
active

$ sudo systemctl enable xrdp           # start xrdp on system startup

3. Reboot system:

$ sudo reboot

4. Firewall configuration (optional):

You need to open access on port 3389.

$ sudo ufw allow 3389

It is more secure to open it only for your IP address or network. For example:

$ sudo ufw allow from 10.5.5.0/24 to any port 3389

The best practice is to use an SSH tunnel to connect to the remote desktop and make xRDP listen only for local connections.

5. Setup your RDP-client

Please note that in some cases the user who will connect to xRDP must log out before doing so!

Connect to your server using any RDP client.
Enter the user credentials of your Ubuntu computer.
Now you can see the remote desktop initial screen.

Related commands:

$ sudo systemctl status xrdp           # display current xrdp status

$ sudo systemctl start xrdp            # start xrdp service
$ sudo systemctl stop xrdp             # stop xrdp service
$ sudo systemctl restart xrdp          # restart xrdp service

$ sudo systemctl enable xrdp           # enable xrdp on system startup
$ sudo systemctl disable xrdp          # disable xrdp on system startup

I found this solution and accompanied explanations quite helpful. Thank you! — Yaakov Bressler, Mar 26 '21 at 19:20
I got a black screen. `~/.xsession` contains `gnome-session` — Mike Slinn, Aug 03 '22 at 21:40
This didn't work for me until I also did https://stackoverflow.com/a/65744987/470749 . Thanks for this answer! — Ryan, Feb 06 '23 at 17:18
Now I'm on Ubuntu 22 so I will look at https://askubuntu.com/a/1445829/48214 and https://askubuntu.com/a/1404412/48214 — Ryan, Feb 06 '23 at 22:31

score 4 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 15 '21 at 23:46

4

This worked perfectly for me in Ubutu 20.04.1 LTS

echo gnome-session > ~/.xsession
chmod +x ~/.xsession
sudo reboot

answered Jan 15 '21 at 23:46

Audstanley

89
6

1

Worked for me. In my .xsession was mate configured... – Matthias Hamann Sep 10 '21 at 07:17
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Additionally, need to monitor what kind of environment you are in! Otherwise, the `~/` file will be at root after `sudo su`=) – KUL Sep 27 '21 at 07:04

Gabriel Fair · Answer 4 · 2021-02-25T14:06:09.003

1

I have found an alternative solution:

apt-get install x2goserver

This will install x2go, which is opensource remote desktop (RDP) server for Linux with x2goclient available both for Linux and Windows.

But I personally use chrome remote desktop. As the install was straightforward and I have never had any driver/config/software issues with it so far.

edited Feb 25 '21 at 14:06

answered Jan 10 '21 at 16:05

Gabriel Fair

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