Install the XFCE Desktop Environment

Install the XFCE desktop environment on Fedora. XFCE provides a lightweight, responsive graphical desktop that is well suited for remote desktop sessions.

sudo dnf install @xfce-desktop-environment -y

Install XRDP

Install XRDP together with the Xorg backend required for the graphical remote desktop session.

sudo dnf install xrdp xorgxrdp -y
sudo systemctl enable --now xrdp

Configure the XFCE Session

Create an .xsession file for the user account that will be connecting through RDP.

cat > /home/cotsios/.xsession <<'EOF'
#!/bin/sh

export XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=XFCE
export XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP=xfce

exec dbus-run-session -- xfce4-session
EOF

Set the correct ownership and permissions:

chown cotsios:cotsios /home/cotsios/.xsession
chmod 755 /home/cotsios/.xsession

Create the .Xclients File

Configure the user's X client startup file to launch XFCE through a D-Bus session.

cat > /home/cotsios/.Xclients <<'EOF'
#!/bin/sh

exec dbus-run-session -- xfce4-session
EOF

Set the appropriate ownership and permissions:

chown cotsios:cotsios /home/cotsios/.Xclients
chmod 755 /home/cotsios/.Xclients

Install the Whisker Application Menu

Install the Whisker Menu plugin to provide a more convenient application launcher for the XFCE desktop.

sudo dnf install xfce4-whiskermenu-plugin -y

Restart XRDP

Restart the XRDP service so the configuration changes take effect.

sudo systemctl restart xrdp

Expose XRDP Through the Incus Container

If Fedora is running inside an Incus container, create a proxy device that forwards TCP port 3389 from the Incus host to the Fedora container.

incus config device add fedora44 rdp proxy \
    listen=tcp:0.0.0.0:3389 \
    connect=tcp:10.1.128.50:3389