Updated: 28 September 2026 · Applies to: AlmaLinux 9 / Rocky Linux 9 and RHEL 9 (xrdp)
RHEL 8 is still supported, but these steps are for version 9 (AlmaLinux 9 / Rocky Linux 9, and RHEL 9). xrdp lets you connect to a Linux desktop with Windows Remote Desktop (RDP) or any RDP client.
Install
dnf groupinstall "Server with GUI" # a desktop, if not installed dnf install epel-release && dnf install xrdp systemctl enable --now xrdp
Open the firewall
firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=3389/tcp && firewall-cmd --reload
Connect
In Windows, open Remote Desktop Connection, enter the server's IP, and log in with a Linux user. Log the user out of any local desktop session first; the same user cannot usually be logged in locally and over RDP at the same time.
Note: RDP should not be open to the whole internet. Allow port 3389 only from your IP (a firewalld rich rule), or connect through a VPN or SSH tunnel (ssh -L 3389:localhost:3389 user@SERVER-IP).
On Ubuntu 24.04 use apt install xrdp; Ubuntu desktop also has its own Remote Desktop setting under Settings › System.
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