Test out Voyager Gnome (latest version based on Ubuntu 19.10) and x2go rdp

1) install voyager gnome OS from iso; install all updates; plug laptop into 27" monitor and looks very nice;
$ sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade

After all is said and done, xrdp is much easier to configure in this scenario, connecting from client Ubuntu 19.03 to server Voyager/Ubuntu 19.10;
Although I was able to get x2go to work properly, after installing


Setting up/installing x2go components (server/client) on linux and windows hosts.

2 machines; one for server app install and one for client install;
server hw: dell precision m3800 laptop; 16gb ram; 500gb hd; nvidia graphics;
client hw: dell precision 7520 laptop; 64gb ram; 512gb nvme; nvidia graphics;

install Voyager-GE-19.10-amd64.iso (based on Ubuntu 19.10) OS;
use Rufus utility on win10 to write this ISO to usb 2.0 flash drive and is bootable.

[See below for Server/Client uname info]

After initial OS install on server (client system was installed over a year ago);
normal updates using GUI and $ sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade

Steps to install x2go client on dell precision 7520 running Ubuntu 19.04 OS;
Quick howto to install the x2goclient:
$ sudo apt-add-repository ppa:x2go/stable
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install x2goclient


X2Go Server installation    https://wiki.x2go.org/doku.php/doc:installation:x2goserver
NOTE: add-apt-repository is already installed for Voyager GE-19.10, so run these commands:
$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:x2go/stable
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install x2goserver x2goserver-xsession    ;installs 33 packages


Using X2Go; https://wiki.x2go.org/doku.php/doc:usage:start

Test first if I can ssh from client to server;
$ ssh efudd@123.34.45.56    ;this was successful.

So after the server & client packages install, I opened up the x2go client on my 19.04 host and configure a session;
used the IP address; tried the gnome session type;

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Session name: m3800GNOME
Host: 123.34.45.56
Login: efudd
SSH port: 22
Session type: GNOME
Input/Output tab: Display/Custom: width: 2048 height: 1536
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Then clicked to start session; it brings up credentials prompt;
efudd + <pw>
it displayed a black screen with "x2go" in the session screen, the exited almost immediately;

So browse to this page: Using X2Go
https://wiki.x2go.org/doku.php/doc:usage:start
And on this page, it says this:
"Newer versions of the GNOME 3 and UNITY desktop environments have compatibility issues with X2Go. See the page Desktop Environment Compatibility for more details."

So what to do? I tried these session types: LXDE (not LXQt), XFCE, & MATE but none of these worked. Probably because these desktops are not installed by default on x2go server host Voyager/Ubuntu 19.10;
So I thought, just install mate desktop on the server host and see if this will work.  And it did.

Install MATE desktop on Voyager 19.10 (Ubuntu 19.10); which installs dozens and dozens of packages; looks like it installed 266 packages!
$ sudo apt install ubuntu-mate-desktop

Then try x2go client session connection and it worked just fine.
One thing, after the initial screen opens up to remote desktop, then it appears to autosize the window if you grab the corner and move it larger or smaller. Very nice.

More later;






=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
SERVER INFO: $ uname -a && cat /etc/*release
Linux M3800Voyager 5.3.0-19-generic #20-Ubuntu SMP Fri Oct 18 09:04:39 UTC 2019 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=19.10
DISTRIB_CODENAME=eoan
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 19.10"
NAME="Ubuntu"
VERSION="19.10 (Eoan Ermine)"
ID=ubuntu
ID_LIKE=debian
PRETTY_NAME="Ubuntu 19.10"
VERSION_ID="19.10"
HOME_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://help.ubuntu.com/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/"
PRIVACY_POLICY_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/legal/terms-and-policies/privacy-policy"
VERSION_CODENAME=eoan
UBUNTU_CODENAME=eoan

CLIENT INFO:
$ uname -a && cat /etc/*release
Linux cob-doliphan-19u4 5.0.0-32-generic #34-Ubuntu SMP Wed Oct 2 02:06:48 UTC 2019 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=19.04
DISTRIB_CODENAME=disco
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 19.04"
NAME="Ubuntu"
VERSION="19.04 (Disco Dingo)"
ID=ubuntu
ID_LIKE=debian
PRETTY_NAME="Ubuntu 19.04"
VERSION_ID="19.04"
HOME_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://help.ubuntu.com/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/"
PRIVACY_POLICY_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/legal/terms-and-policies/privacy-policy"
VERSION_CODENAME=disco
UBUNTU_CODENAME=disco
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Test out new ubuntu OS version xubuntu 19.10 and xrdp;

I have tried many times over the past 10 years to find a windows-style rdp solution to connect from windows to a Linux host, but didn't find a consistent, usable method. UNTIL NOW!

Of course, I may be just an old dufus who is hopelessly befuddled and not a clue to actually configure correctly and get this to work. Very possible.

I was searching for a way to connect from win to linux using vnc and found a web site with some very simple instructions to setting up xrdp to allow rdp login from win to linux.

How to Establish Remote Desktop Access to Ubuntu From Windows
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-establish-simple-remote-desktop-access-between-ubuntu-and-windows/

With these two install/setup/configure steps:
1) sudo apt install xrdp
2) sudo systemctl enable xrdp     ;xrdp starts/runs on bootup

This didn't work initially until I read that I needed to logout of the laptop running xubuntu 19.10. Then it connected normally per rdp. YIPPIE!!

One thing I notice is from host 19u4 to linux host late7250 with xrdp installed, it logs me in but I don't see the dock on the left side; it looks like the dock in RHEL 8; autohides and centered between top and bottom.

I'm going to try this on RHEL 7u6 host I have available to test on. RHEL 7u6 worked like a charm.

Install xrdp on CentOS 7 / RHEL 7 By Raj Last updated Mar 29, 2018
https://www.itzgeek.com/how-tos/linux/centos-how-tos/install-xrdp-on-centos-7-rhel-7.html

Prerequisites
1. First, install Gnome GUI on CentOS 7 / RHEL 7
So all of my rhel 7 hosts have gnome installed by default during initial install;

2. xrdp is available in EPEL repository, so Install and configure EPEL repository.
# rpm -Uvh https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/epel-release-latest-7.noarch.rpm

Install xrdp on CentOS 7
# yum -y install xrdp tigervnc-server

Once xrdp is installed, start the xrdp service using the following command.
# systemctl start xrdp

xrdp should now be listening on 3389. You can confirm this by using netstat command.
netstat -antup | grep xrdp

and the firewall and selinux are turned off on these virtual machines running inside a protected environment.