Recently I started playing with Ubuntu Budgie and needed to find a way to access it via remote desktop. I tried TigerVNC, TightVNCServer and XRDP. Due to issues with the budgie window manager (budgie-wm) it soon became apparent that the only really viable solution to get the full visually stunning effect of the Budgie Desktop in a remote window was to use XRDP.
Steps:
In a terminal shell update the local code repositories.
budgieBox:~$ sudo apt update
Install XRDP
budgieBox:~$ sudo apt install xrdp
Edit the /etc/xrdp/startwm.sh file. Add /usr/bin/budgie-desktop to the end of the line that starts with test -x. The finished line should match the following.
test -x /etc/X11/Xsession && exec /etc/X11/Xsession /usr/bin/budgie-desktop
Restart the XRDP service.
budgieBox:~$ sudo systemctl restart xrdp.service
That’s it. Connect with any RDP remote desktop client such as Windows Remote Desktop for Windows or MacOS or Remmina for Linux.
One thing to note. If you experience issues with connecting to the Budgie box make sure you are logged out of the currently running X session on it.
Enjoy!