Using RDP in Linux and Remmina RDP client for Linux

The Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) is widely used in Microsoft Windows, originally it was introduced as Terminal Services. Essentially it allows you to control a computer remotely (i.e via another computer), you can almost do anything via RDP. When I first switched from Windows to Linux, I had found that this feature was greatly missing from Linux's array and features.

My initial questions about RDP was met with VNC as the solution. If anyone has tried VNC you may notice that it is considerably slow-er than RDP. Not only that, but the person in front of the computer that you are controlling will see exactly what you are doing. When you are at home, this is not a problem, but RDP definately offers a better package.

Recently I was advised to use xRDP,  it is RDP for X. To get xrdp its a simple process, all you have to do is punch in the following command:

sudo apt-get install xrdp

Once this is installed, all you have to do is fire-up your RDP client. This will work with the Windows RDP client on Mac and Windows. If your other client is a linux machine, then try Remmina. It's a fantastic client - but it's the first one that I've tried.

To install Remmina, again whip out your Terminal window and punch the following command:

sudo apt-get install remmina

Once you have installed remmina launch it the same way that you would normally launch an application in Linux, you will be greeted with the following screen:

Adding Hosts
The first thing you are going to have to do is add a host, to do this click on the Page icon with a green plus symbol. This is the second icon on the toolbar in the above image.

From here you are able to set the details to connect to the RDP server, I'm not going to cover all the options instead I'll cover the options that you will need to set to get you started:

1. Name - This is name of the computer that you want to connect to, this does not need to be the actual name that has been assigned to the host computer. You can choose any name that would best describe the computer and differentiate it from the others (if you plan on having multiple hosts). In my case I've set it as Secondary Computer.
2. Group - Leave this as it is - empty.
3. Protocol - Select RDP - Remote Desktop Protocol this should have already been selected for you.
4. Server - Enter the IP address of the computer, this can be an internal IP address if the computer is on the local network, or an external IP address. In my case the server is on the internal network so I've entered 192.168.1.4. 
5. User name - Enter the username that you wish to log onto your host computer. In my case I've entered myusername for demonstration purposes. 
6. Password - Enter the password for the username
7. Domain - Leave blank if required, or enter a Domain. 
8. Resolution - Either select Use client resolution or if you want to set the resolution select Custom and then select the appropriate resolution from the drop-down. In my case I've opted to use the client's resolution. 
9. Colour Depth - Select the appropriate colour depth. This is an important selection, if you select the default option of 256 colours (8bpp) and your default background is Hi-Res then you will start to see some funky colours and it is generally unworkable. I've chosen True Colour (32 bpp) to allow my hi-res wallpaper/background to be displayed. If you are on a slower connection or if you are connecting to an external machine outside of your network you may need to reduce the number of colours. 

Once you have populated the fields, you can click on Save to save your changes. You should see your entry :

You may need to repeat the above steps if you have multiple hosts. 

Editing a host

If you realise that you have entered the incorrect information, simply edit the host details by:

1. Select the host and then clicking on the pencil icon on the toolbar, or
2. Right click on the host and select Edit from the context menu

Connecting to your Host

Once you have your hosts set up, to connect to a host you can either:

1. Double click on a host
2. Select the host and click on the first icon in the toolbar - I'm not sure what the icon looks like. 
3. Right click on the host and choose Connect from the context menu

When you connect to a host the first window that will appear will let you know that it is attempting to connect :

Then, once it is connected it will go through a loading procedure that is visible to you:

Once this is loaded, the connection log window will either automatically disappear or simply click on OK.

Thanks