xrdp is a
free and open-source implementation of
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation, multinational technology company, technology corporation producing Software, computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at th ...
RDP
RDP may refer to:
Computing
* Ramer–Douglas–Peucker algorithm, an algorithm for polygonal simplification
* Recombination detection program, for analysing genetic recombination
* Recursive descent parser, a type of top-down parser
* Remote Des ...
(Remote Desktop Protocol)
server that enables
operating systems other than
Microsoft Windows (such as
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which i ...
and
BSD-style operating systems) to provide a fully functional RDP-compatible
remote desktop experience. It works by bridging graphics from the
X Window System
The X Window System (X11, or simply X) is a windowing system for bitmap displays, common on Unix-like operating systems.
X provides the basic framework for a GUI environment: drawing and moving windows on the display device and interacting ...
to the client and relaying controls from the client back to X Window Server.
According to the developers, the protocol works with
rdesktop, FreeRDP and Microsoft's own Remote Desktop Client.
Modes of operation
In order to relay the graphics and controls between the X Window System and the user, XRDP can utilize several forwarding modes:
* Xvnc: This mode works by using a
VNC server installation.
* xorgxrdp / X11rdp: In this mode, XRDP can communicate directly with the X server in order to bridge the graphics.
History
The project was started in mid-2004 by Jay Sorg based on the work of
rdesktop and
FreeRDP that had previously explored implementations of the
proprietary Remote Desktop Protocol, including
RemoteFX.
The initial versions of the XRDP project relied on a local VNC server installation that had to be present alongside the program, in order to relay the graphics and controls between the user and the server
(known as the "VNC forwarding mode"). However, this mode is currently not recommended to use anymore, due to its slow performance.
Due to the slow performance of forwarding to a VNC server, the developers introduced the X11rdp mode – which allowed for direct communication with the X Window Server, resulting in improved draw times and an overall better user experience. In 2019, the XRDP developers announced th
xorgxrdpproject as the replacement to the X11rdp mode, which is the default mode that XRDP uses in new installations.
See also
*
Comparison of remote desktop software
References
More reading
*
*
External links
* {{Official website
Free and open-source software
Remote desktop protocols
Free software