Pro-tip: RDP into crostini using XRDP

[Leon]

So... you figured out that for some weird reason it could be run to RDP (Remote desktop) into your crostini installation ?

In my case, i wanted a full desktop env. - NOTICE - dont expect better performance .. in my tests crouton is faster.. but this seems more stable - its also worth to notice that the default user routes trafic from x11 to wayland to show you applications native.

Its actually pretty straith forward - Install xrdp and a desktop env. like xfce4

1. Open up a crostini console

2. run: sudo apt install xrdp xfce4

While you technically could use your existing user - i would suggest adding a new user so we can do custom stuff with "just that user"

 

So, add a new user, run:

1. sudo useradd -m USERNAME 

Remember to set a password.... run:

1. sudo passwd USERNAME

 

... and restart crostini... 

 

Now you can RDP into your crostini installation using the ip addr from the crostini container.
 

 

now.. you might notice that some apps (eg. gnome) will open directly in chromeOS and not inside your RDP.. quick fix for that:

Add

 

export GDK_BACKEND=x11

to: 
~/.config/xfce/xinitrc
and
/etc/xrdp/startwm.sh

 

... restart crostini

 

Enjoy!

 

Source links:
 1: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/563311/bypass-x-forwarding-to-sommelier-during-xrdp-session-via-xorg-on-crostini