WSL2 run xrdp service from Windows

Question

I am trying to start xrdp from Windows with the method described here, but when I run the command wsl sudo service xrdp start, xrdp doesn't start up properly. Running service xrdp status as my linux user returns

 * could not access PID file for xrdp-sesman
 * xrdp is not running

and I can't connect via RDP. Running wsl -u USER sudo service xrdp start gives me the same result. How can I fix this and run the service properly?

I am pretty sure you have skipped some vital required steps.. I have in the past followed those instructions without an issue. Try running sudo /etc/init.d/xrdp status You should also verify that xrdp even exists within /ect/init.d — Ramhound, Feb 23 '21 at 22:56
You are definitely running the wrong command. Even the link question uses the same command syntax — Ramhound, Feb 23 '21 at 23:00
@Ramhound running wsl.exe sudo /etc/init.d/xrdp start from windows results in *xrdp-sesman is running * xrdp is not running, and I can't connect to the session. xrdp does exist in /ect/init.d, and I can run sudo service xrdp start from bash just fine. — The Bic Pen, Feb 23 '21 at 23:15
how can the service be running and not running at the same time? Why did you run those commands within WSL itself, why within Windows? You did make sure to change the port in the xrdp configuration? — Ramhound, Feb 23 '21 at 23:21
I don't know why checking the status of xrdp gives me the status of 2 processes. Maybe both of those processes are necessary for xrdp or something. I did not change the port because it works just fine with the default port. To clarify, when I start the xrdp service from bash (in WSL), it works as expected. When I run the command from Windows via wsl.exe, it doesn't work. — The Bic Pen, Feb 24 '21 at 00:00

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 08 '21 at 16:50

The problem is xrdp service init script does not detach stdout before returning and once wsl.exe exits, it closes all pipes which terminates the script.

Straightforward *nix tool for this problem is nohup, but it redirects output to file.

>wsl nohup sudo service xrdp start
nohup: ignoring input and appending output to 'nohup.out'

Somewhat weird workaround I've found is passing command output to cat which prevents premature termination of script and passes output.

wsl bash -c "sudo service xrdp start |cat"

In the end I resorted to a script in the external file. However, it can be written in one line. Fortunately, cmd passes everything to bash in this line.

wsl sudo service xrdp start; until service xrdp status; do sleep 1; done

This was the last brick I needed to build my castle. I found 'nohup sudo service xrdp start >>/dev/null' worked for me. — BobHy, Oct 21 '21 at 15:45

WSL2 run xrdp service from Windows

1 Answers1