Remote desktop on AWS EC2
·1 min
Server #
Install RDP server on EC2:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y ubuntu-desktop xrdp
Configurations present at: /etc/xrdp/xrdp.ini
Install XFCE:
sudo apt install -y xfce4 xfce4-goodies
echo xfce4-session >~/.xsession
(Probably optional) Set a password for the ubuntu user: sudo passwd ubuntu.
Restart XDRP: sudo service xrdp status
Client #
Setup SSH port forwarding from laptop to EC2.
Using AutoSSH:
autossh -M 0 -o "ServerAliveInterval 30" -o "ServerAliveCountMax 3" -i ~/.ssh/ec2-keypair-1 -NfL localhost:8889:localhost:3389 ubuntu@ec2-34-216-247-145.us-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
Or the usual way:
ssh -i ~/.ssh/ec2-keypair-1 -NfL localhost:8889:localhost:3389 ubuntu@ec2-34-216-247-145.us-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com
Connect to localhost:8889 from laptop’s Microsoft RDP client.