Opening an RDP connection to the Linux local instance

https://www.nextofwindows.com/how-to-enable-wsl2-ubuntu-gui-and-use-rdp-to-remote https://medium.com/@riley.kao/wsl2-ubuntu20-04-gui-remote-desktop-connection-rdp-2bbd21d2fa71

When WSLg is enabled, it's possible to access the graphical user interface of your Linux distribution (in my case, it's Ubuntu).

This gives you the whole desktop of your WSL instance, and not just a window here and there. The Docker equivalent, if you'd rather not touch your WSL instance, is starting a full lubuntu desktop in Docker.

What an RDP session into WSL actually looks like​

By default, a WSL instance gives you a bash console. Here is the same instance, in a Windows RDP window, with a complete Xfce desktop:

Four commands and one configuration file below, and this is what you get.

Get xrdp running​

If you don't have xrdp yet, you can install it by running:

$ sudo apt update && sudo apt -y upgrade
...
$ sudo apt-get install -y xrdp
...▋

Also consider changing the port number to 3390 by running the command below and making a few minor changes. This seems to be required because, when using the default 3389 port number, you get the 'already in use' error with mstsc.

$ (
  sudo cp /etc/xrdp/xrdp.ini /etc/xrdp/xrdp.ini.bak
  sudo sed -i 's/3389/3390/g' /etc/xrdp/xrdp.ini
  sudo sed -i 's/max_bpp=32/#max_bpp=32\nmax_bpp=128/g' /etc/xrdp/xrdp.ini
  sudo sed -i 's/xserverbpp=24/#xserverbpp=24\nxserverbpp=128/g' /etc/xrdp/xrdp.ini
)
...
▋

(see https://www.nextofwindows.com/how-to-enable-wsl2-ubuntu-gui-and-use-rdp-to-remote for more in-depth information)

Once done, run sudo service xrdp start to start the service. You will see the * Starting Remote Desktop Protocol server notification in the console.

Connect from Windows​

Go back to your Windows environment and start mstsc.exe and set the computer name to localhost:3390 (or the port number you are using).

Use your local Linux user and connect.

Get the desktop environment​

At this point, you're connected, but you will just get a bash console and not the desktop illustrated at the top of this article.

If you wish the desktop and all its features, please run sudo apt-get install -y xubuntu-desktop xfce4 xfce4-goodies. You will be prompted to make a choice between gdm3 or lightdm; select the first one to get all features.

Also run sudo nano /etc/xrdp/startwm.sh to edit the file.

1. Comment out the last two lines:

   /etc/xrdp/startwm.sh▾

   # test -x /etc/X11/Xsession && exec /etc/X11/Xsession
   # exec /bin/sh /etc/X11/Xsession
   

2. Add these last two lines:

   /etc/xrdp/startwm.sh▾

   # xfce4
   startxfce4
   

Finally enable dbus:

$ (
  sudo systemctl enable dbus
  sudo /etc/init.d/dbus start
  sudo /etc/init.d/xrdp start
  sudo /etc/init.d/xrdp status
)
▋

Run sudo service xrdp restart to restart the Remote Desktop Protocol Server and start mstsc.exe again. Now, you should have the full desktop.

Set your keyboard​

By default, the keyboard is set to QWERTY so go to Applications → Settings → Keyboard.

In the third tab, find your own keyboard setting. If you are using the Français - Belgique on Windows, you should set your keyboard to Belgian (alt.) on Ubuntu.

Conclusion​

WSLg alone gives you isolated Linux windows floating on your Windows desktop; with xrdp and Xfce you get the entire desktop instead, taskbar and settings panel included, in a single RDP window you can minimize like any other.

If a whole desktop is more than you need: running a single graphical application from a container is lighter, and if you only want to reach your Linux files, Open your Linux folder in Windows Explorer is all it takes.