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Can someone explain to me how Xrdp is so much simpler to use than VNC? I setup a new CentOS workstation the other day and ended up trying to follow long tutoria

Can someone explain to me how Xrdp is so much simpler to use than VNC? I setup a new CentOS workstation the other day and ended up trying to follow long tutorials with config files and services. I gave up, installed the Xrdp package and seconds later I had a remote session going.

bitwize 6y ago
I've never had a problem setting up tightvnc or tigervnc. I've even run it to get an X session going on Android devices. Xrdp has an advantage in that it allows Windows to talk to Linux servers with its own Terminal Services client stack.
pizza234 6y ago
I guess YMMV; I couldn't make it work. VNC on the other hand is terribly slow. The only solution that worked for me, both configuration and performance wise, is sadly closed source - NX Server (which is excellent).
jasonjayr 6y ago
Xrdp also used to be difficult to setup on Linux, but (ironically) systemd + modern session management has made RDP on linux behave pretty well. Also, if you look carefully at the default config mechanism, Xrdp does RDP to VNC translation internally, and runs Xvnc for each login.
- microcolonel 6y ago
  > ...ironically... Why is it ironic? I've been using systemd since before it was part of any distribution; it has been extremely convenient and helpful from the very start, and every year it gets even better (as new components mature enough to enable, e.g. systemd-timesyncd).
  - jasonjayr 6y ago
    Ironically because the opinionated consistency Systemd's session + login management brought made Xrdp saner to operate, while changing traditional things like persistent process after log off (by default), and device-console/session attachment.
viach 6y ago
Same here - CentOS 8 + VNC, tried to setup myself for a couple of hours, then asked admin to help, ended up with Xrdp in 5 minutes.
scrooched_moose 6y ago
I haven't fully traced how it works, but Xrdp is built on top of a vnc backend (you can see the vnc folder in the github directory structure), but it manages all of the configuration and negotiations automatically. If you do a `ps -ef | grep vnc` while you're connected via Xrdp you should find the underlying vnc sessions. Something like: Xvnc :32 -auth .Xauthority -geometry 1920x1080 -depth 24 -rfbauth.... It's been a bit mixed for us. As a sysadmin for non-technical users who need some linux access, it's wonderful because it's so much easier for them to connect. The stability has left quite a bit to be desired though - I have to nuke quite a few sessions and have them start from scratch.
Arnavion 6y ago
>long tutorials with config files and services On the server: x11vnc -display :0 -noxdamage -shared -repeat -forever On the client: ssh -T server 'nc 127.0.0.1 5900' vncviewer 127.0.0.1:5900
- simcop2387 6y ago
  ssh -N -L5900:127.0.0.1:5900 user@server is usually cleaner than using nc, it doesn't require running any commands on the remote system and lets you do any port changing that you need to make things work between each side.
  - Arnavion 6y ago
    Right, I had to use `nc` instead of forwarding the port from SSH itself because I use systemd socket activation for that ssh command, with ExecStart=ssh -T server 'nc 127.0.0.1 5900' StandardInput=socket StandardOutput=socket in the service file and ListenStream=0.0.0.0:5900 in the socket file. The socket has to be connected to stdin/stdout instead of using SSH forwarding since SSH doesn't support fd-based socket activation.
    - hedora 6y ago
      Why must systemd break everything? It is like a vandal with a baseball bat.
    - simcop2387 6y ago
      Yea that's definitely a bit more of an edge case. and for the downvoted sibling commentor, this is the same kind of setup that previously would be done with inetd or xinetd and the lack of security or monitoring or logging that that usually entails. I'd be surprised if there's not some other way to do it but this seems like a perfectly fine work around otherwise.
- agapon 6y ago
  x11vnc for the win. A really useful and somewhat underappreciated tool.
jcelerier 6y ago
what setup is there to do for VNC ? just run x11vnc and connect to your ip:5900... or directly X11 forwarding

bitwize 6y ago

I've never had a problem setting up tightvnc or tigervnc. I've even run it to get an X session going on Android devices. Xrdp has an advantage in that it allows Windows to talk to Linux servers with its own Terminal Services client stack.

pizza234 6y ago

I guess YMMV; I couldn't make it work. VNC on the other hand is terribly slow. The only solution that worked for me, both configuration and performance wise, is sadly closed source - NX Server (which is excellent).

jasonjayr 6y ago

Xrdp also used to be difficult to setup on Linux, but (ironically) systemd + modern session management has made RDP on linux behave pretty well. Also, if you look carefully at the default config mechanism, Xrdp does RDP to VNC translation internally, and runs Xvnc for each login.

microcolonel 6y ago
> ...ironically... Why is it ironic? I've been using systemd since before it was part of any distribution; it has been extremely convenient and helpful from the very start, and every year it gets even better (as new components mature enough to enable, e.g. systemd-timesyncd).
- jasonjayr 6y ago
  Ironically because the opinionated consistency Systemd's session + login management brought made Xrdp saner to operate, while changing traditional things like persistent process after log off (by default), and device-console/session attachment.

viach 6y ago

Same here - CentOS 8 + VNC, tried to setup myself for a couple of hours, then asked admin to help, ended up with Xrdp in 5 minutes.

scrooched_moose 6y ago

I haven't fully traced how it works, but Xrdp is built on top of a vnc backend (you can see the vnc folder in the github directory structure), but it manages all of the configuration and negotiations automatically. If you do a `ps -ef | grep vnc` while you're connected via Xrdp you should find the underlying vnc sessions. Something like: Xvnc :32 -auth .Xauthority -geometry 1920x1080 -depth 24 -rfbauth.... It's been a bit mixed for us. As a sysadmin for non-technical users who need some linux access, it's wonderful because it's so much easier for them to connect. The stability has left quite a bit to be desired though - I have to nuke quite a few sessions and have them start from scratch.

Arnavion 6y ago

>long tutorials with config files and services On the server: x11vnc -display :0 -noxdamage -shared -repeat -forever On the client: ssh -T server 'nc 127.0.0.1 5900' vncviewer 127.0.0.1:5900

simcop2387 6y ago
ssh -N -L5900:127.0.0.1:5900 user@server is usually cleaner than using nc, it doesn't require running any commands on the remote system and lets you do any port changing that you need to make things work between each side.
- Arnavion 6y ago
  Right, I had to use `nc` instead of forwarding the port from SSH itself because I use systemd socket activation for that ssh command, with ExecStart=ssh -T server 'nc 127.0.0.1 5900' StandardInput=socket StandardOutput=socket in the service file and ListenStream=0.0.0.0:5900 in the socket file. The socket has to be connected to stdin/stdout instead of using SSH forwarding since SSH doesn't support fd-based socket activation.
  - hedora 6y ago
    Why must systemd break everything? It is like a vandal with a baseball bat.
  - simcop2387 6y ago
    Yea that's definitely a bit more of an edge case. and for the downvoted sibling commentor, this is the same kind of setup that previously would be done with inetd or xinetd and the lack of security or monitoring or logging that that usually entails. I'd be surprised if there's not some other way to do it but this seems like a perfectly fine work around otherwise.
agapon 6y ago
x11vnc for the win. A really useful and somewhat underappreciated tool.

jcelerier 6y ago

what setup is there to do for VNC ? just run x11vnc and connect to your ip:5900... or directly X11 forwarding