RDP - Bash script for installing the xfce graphical interface on Ubuntu 24.04 - 2026 - ENG

Published: 2026-07-21

Short description: A Bash script to automatically install the XFCE desktop environment and xRDP server on a fresh Ubuntu 24.04. After execution you get a server ready for RDP connections with the XFCE desktop.

Script

#!/usr/bin/env bash

set -euo pipefail

#############################################
# Ubuntu 24.04 XFCE + xRDP Installer
#############################################

if [[ $EUID -ne 0 ]]; then
    echo "Run the script as root."
    exit 1
fi

export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive

USERNAME="admin1"

echo "========================================"
echo " Ubuntu 24.04 XFCE + xRDP Installer"
echo "========================================"

echo
echo "[1/9] Updating system..."
apt update
apt -y upgrade

echo
echo "[2/9] Installing tasksel..."
apt install -y tasksel

echo
echo "[3/9] Installing XFCE desktop..."
if tasksel --list-tasks | grep -q "xubuntu-desktop"; then
    echo "Using tasksel..."
    tasksel install xubuntu-desktop
else
    echo "Installing XFCE directly..."
    apt install -y xfce4 xfce4-goodies
fi

echo
echo "[4/9] Installing xRDP..."
apt install -y xrdp xorgxrdp

echo
echo "[5/9] Creating user..."
if id "$USERNAME" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    echo "User $USERNAME already exists."
else
    adduser --gecos "" "$USERNAME"
    usermod -aG sudo "$USERNAME"
fi

echo
echo "[6/9] Configuring XFCE..."
echo "startxfce4" > /etc/skel/.xsession
chmod +x /etc/skel/.xsession
cp -f /etc/skel/.xsession /home/$USERNAME/.xsession
chown $USERNAME:$USERNAME /home/$USERNAME/.xsession

echo
echo "[7/9] Configuring xRDP..."
adduser xrdp ssl-cert || true
systemctl enable xrdp
systemctl restart xrdp

echo
echo "[8/9] Firewall..."
if command -v ufw >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    ufw allow 3389/tcp || true
fi

echo
echo "[9/9] Verification..."
systemctl --no-pager --full status xrdp | head -15

IP=$(hostname -I | awk '{print $1}')

echo
echo "========================================"
echo "Installation complete!"
echo
echo "RDP:"
echo "  IP:      ${IP}"
echo "  Port:    3389"
echo "  Login:   ${USERNAME}"
echo "  Password: the one you set during user creation"
echo "========================================"

What the script does

The script performs 9 steps:

System update — apt update && apt upgrade.
Install tasksel — utility for installing Ubuntu meta-packages.
Install XFCE — if the xubuntu-desktop meta-package is available, installs via tasksel; otherwise installs xfce4 + xfce4-goodies directly.
Install xRDP — packages xrdp and xorgxrdp.
Create user — creates user admin1 (if it does not exist) and adds to the sudo group.
Configure XFCE — writes startxfce4 into .xsession so the desktop starts automatically on RDP connection.
Configure xRDP — adds user xrdp to the ssl-cert group, enables and restarts the service.
Firewall — opens port 3389/TCP in UFW (if installed).
Verification — prints the xrdp service status and the server IP address.

Usage

Download the script onto a clean Ubuntu 24.04.
Make it executable: chmod +x script.sh
Run as root: sudo ./script.sh
Wait for completion.
Connect with any RDP client using the server IP address, port 3389, login admin1.

Notes

The script is designed for Ubuntu 24.04 and may not work on other versions or distributions.
The password for user admin1 is set interactively during script execution (step 5).
If using a cloud server, make sure port 3389 is also open in the cloud provider's security group / firewall panel.
XFCE was chosen as a lightweight environment — minimal memory consumption and good performance over RDP.

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