Note: Cisco only supports Red Hat and Ubuntu Linux distributions.
Step 1
Download the.gzinstall archive to the desktop.
Step 2
Extract the archive to the desktop of Ubuntu in the following folderanyconnect-linux64-…
Note:In the fileanyconnect-linux64-4.6.01103,the numbers after the dash are the version number (e.g., 4.6.01103) and will change as ITS updates the AnyConnect software package.
Step 3
Open a terminal window and navigate to the extracted folder in the terminal—for example,cd ~/Desktop/anyconnect-linux64-4.7.0.036/vpn
Step 4
Typesudo sh vpn_install.sh
Step 5
When prompted enter your root password then hit Return.
Step 6
Hit return and typeythen hitReturnagain. The installation should now start and walk you through the setup.
Any connect should now be installed and ready to use.
In
this tutorial we’ll cover the steps to install xRDP on your remote
CentOS 7 machine, and how to connect to it via Remote Desktop
Connection. We’ll also show you how to install and connect to different
Desktop Environments on your remote CentOS 7 machine.
xRDP is a a
free and open source Remote Desktop Protocol Server that allows other
operating systems, other than Windows, to provide a fully functional
remote desktop experience.
xRDP is fully compatible with rdesktop, FreeRDP and even Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Client.
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Step 2 – Install Your Preferred Desktop Environment
Now we can install the desktop environment we’ll be using. In this guide we’ll try out XFCE, MATE, and GNOME.
If you’re looking for a lightweight and resource friendly solution, install XFCE.
NOTE: If you can’t connect via Remote Desktop Connection after you’ve installed the desktop environment, then open port 3389/tcp using the firewall-cmd command mentioned above.
1. Install XFCE Desktop Environment
XFCE
is one of the most lightweight desktop environments. It’s fast, low on
system resources, while still visually appealing. Additionally, it has a
very active community, so there are many customization options
available.
To do this, we’ll just have to install the GNOME Desktop package group, which will install all the packages required for the GUI installation.
$ sudo yum groupinstall "GNOME DESKTOP" -y
This may take a while. There were ~1000 packages installed on a minimal CentOS 7 installation.
Start the GUI
Although we installed the GNOME Desktop package group, the GUI will not be loaded by default on reboot.
We can check this by running:
$ systemctl get-default
Output:
multi-user.target
If our default target is multi-user.target, it means that the GUI will not be loaded. What we want is to set the default target to graphical.target.
To do this, run the following commands:
$ sudo systemctl set-default graphical.target
Output:
Removed symlink /etc/systemd/system/default.target.
Created symlink from /etc/systemd/system/default.target to /usr/lib/systemd/system/graphical.target.
After which, run the following command to change to the GUI immediately:
$ sudo systemctl isolate graphical.target
That’s it. You can now connect via xRDP to your CentOS 7 machine using GNOME.
Here
is what GNOME 3 looks like, the first time you connect after
installing. Just follow the initial configuration steps to finish
setting up.
Uninstalling GNOME
To uninstall GNOME from your CentOS 7 machine, run the following commands:
Step 3 – Connect to Your Machine Using Remote Desktop Connection
With xRDP and your desktop environment installed, you can now connect from your local machine to the remote machine.
How you do this depends on your operating system.
Connect from Windows
To
connect to your server from Microsoft Windows, just search and launch
the Remote Desktop Connection application and input your hostname or IP:
If
this is your first time connecting, then you’ll receive some security
warnings. Assuming this is your server and it is secure then just go
ahead and confirm them.
Connect from Linux
To connect from a Linux machine, a great option for using remote desktop connection is Remmina.
Remmina is a wonderful free and open-source remote desktop client that
supports Remote Desktop Protocol, VNC, NX, XDMCP, SPICE and SSH
protocols.
To use Remmina to connect from Linux to your remote machine, just run Remmina after installing it, click the + in the top left corner and fill in your remote machine’s IP/Hostname, Username and Password.
If you’re running Debian/Ubuntu/CentOS/Fedora locally, you can install Remmina using the following commands:
You’ll notice we are also installing remmina-plugins-* because our main interest is installing the Remmina RDP plugin, as it may not be installed by default.
You can find more detailed installation instructions, and instructions for other distros on their website, here How to install Remmina – Remmina.
After launching the app for the first time, you’ll first want to create a new connection. To do this click on the + in the top left corner of the app window.
The essential information you need here is for PC Name, User name and Password.
Just fill in the info for the 3 mentioned fields as follows:
PC Name – The IP or Host name of your remote machine. Most likely you’ll want to use your IP. User name – The username you used when installing xRDP and the desktop environment on your remote machine. Either root or your sudo user. Password – Your CentOS user’s login password.
After which the connection should be saved and you should be able to start the connection to the remote machine.
For additional info and support, you can read the instructions for Remote Desktop on Mac on Microsoft’s Website.
Conclusion
Well
done. You’ve hopefully learned how to install xRDP on a CentOS 7
machine and use 3 different desktop environments over remote desktop
connection.
If you’ve encountered any issues when following this
tutorial, please feel free to let us know in the comments or by
contacting us.