Remote desktop from Linux Mint to Windows 10

Topic

New Reply

I set up a file server at home – it has Windows 10 as the OS.

I can open a remote session on the file server from my wife’s laptop – she is running Windows 10. I use Microsoft Remote Desktop for that. It works perfectly.

I wanted to be able to remote into the file server from my computer. Problem is, I am running Linux Mint, and Microsoft Remote Desktop is not available for Linux Mint. So how can I do it?

I found a program called Remmina. It works like a champ. Other than having to put in the IP address of the server rather than the computer name, it works as well as Remote Desktop from a Windows computer.

Once in, hit the “Full-size screen” button, and you’re good to go.

So not only do you have a remote session open on your file server, but also you have a Windows session open within Linux Mint, in case you need to run a Windows-only program!

This is a really easy way to open up a Windows session while you are in Linux Mint.

­Update: There is one thing about Remmina that you need to keep in mind: It is possible for your remote Windows computer to be issued a new IP address – the current one may become invalid. If you are ever not able to connect to the remote Windows computer from your Linix Mint computer, go to another Windows computer in your home and connect via Remote Desktop using the hostname rather than the IP address. Once connected, open a command prompt on the remote Windows computer (type CMD in the search window at the bottom). Then in the command prompt window, type IPCONFIG. It will tell you the current IP address of your remote Windows computer. Now use that IP address when connecting from your Linux Mint computer via Remmina.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

Reply | Quote

Replies

Does it do remote printing?  Microsoft provides a rdp client app that works on both apple workstations as well as ipads.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

Reply | Quote

I haven’t done any setup in Remmina for remote printing. I haven’t investigated whether that feature is available in Remmina.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

Reply | Quote

Printing remotely is something I take for granted as well.  You can even remote print in a mac rdp session.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

Reply | Quote

Susan, I found an option for sharing printers in Remmina:
* On the main Remmina screen, right-click on the quick connect profile that you want to configure, and choose Edit.
* Click on the Advanced tab.
* Scroll to the bottom.
* Check the box for “Share Printers”.
* At the bottom, click Save or Save and Connect.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

Reply | Quote

I’ve been using Remmina for years to connect to my last remaining Windows machine, which used to be my backup server. It ran Windows 7 for some time after it went out of support, and finally I did switch it to Kubuntu. I now use NoMachine to remotely administer the server. It’s free for home users.

Dell XPS 13/9310, i5-1135G7/16GB, KDE Neon 6.2
XPG Xenia 15, i7-9750H/32GB & GTX1660ti, Kubuntu 24.04
Acer Swift Go 14, i5-1335U/16GB, Kubuntu 24.04 (and Win 11)

Reply | Quote

The one thing I haven’t yet figured out with Remmina is how to get it to play sound. When I play a video, there is no sound. Any idea how to get sound to work?

The video is not the best, but it’s high enough resolution for now. Any suggestions for improvement on the video resolution? Perhaps they kept the resolution a bit low in order to make it fast, because it is very fast.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

Reply | Quote

I figured out the sound issue:
* On the main Remmina screen, right-click on the quick connect profile that you want to configure, and choose Edit.
* Click on the Advanced tab.
* Set Audio Output Mode to Local.
* At the bottom, click Save or Save and Connect.

All of my videos are stored on the file server, and I can’t seem to connect to the shared drive on the file server from my Linux Mint computer. Remmina is my only way of getting to the shared drive; so I need for audio to work when I remote to the file server!

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

Reply | Quote

Finally, I was able to create a link on the file server to my Videos folder on my Linux Mint machine – now I can copy files back and forth, and save videos to the Videos folder.
* On the main Remmina screen, right-click on the quick connect profile that you want to configure, and choose Edit.
* Right in front of you is an option called Share Folder. Check the box. Now click in the dropdown area to the right of that, and select a folder on your Linux box to be the shared folder on your Windows file server.
* Restart your connection to the file server.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

Reply | Quote