RDP into dom0 - No start or context menu

digital_dystopia · July 13, 2025, 10:29am

Hi,

i want to play around with QubeOS as a server system with RDP for GUI access, but i have some trouble with RDP.

RPD connection works, but not fully.

Whisker start menu does not open when clicking on the Icon
Right click context menu in dom0 terminals does not work (right click works elsewhere)

In this state it is near unusable as i cannot easily create or start qubes. Does anybody know why this happens and how to fix it?

This is new behavior to me, for example on a non QubesOS debian system context menus and star menus on xfce4 just work over RDP with the same client and server software.

About the setup:

xrdp is running in dom0, my sy-net qube does qvm-connect-tcp into it, no sys-gui in use and default xfce4 as WM.

digital_dystopia · July 17, 2025, 5:53pm

I wanted to document the stuffs i did, but starting over fresh the RDP service dies right away. To replicate:

Install QubesOS 2.4.2 normally. For easier potential troubleshooting, i did not to encrypt the hard drive.

in dom0 install ssh and rdp:

sudo qubes-dom0-update xrdp openssh-server

Enable ssh and rdp in dom0:

sudo systemctl enable --now xrdp
sudo systemctl enable --now sshd

Go into policy editor and create 30-remote-admin. Allow the ssh port.

qubes.ConnectTCP +22 sys-net @default allow target=dom0

Connect to dom0 in sys-net:

qvm-connect-tcp 22:@default:22

Install tools in sys-net:

sudo dnf install xfreerdp

In sys-net connect via SSH to dom0 and do local port forwarding:

ssh -L 3389:127.0.0.1:3389 user@127.0.0.1

Try connecting to RDP on sys-net for troubleshooting:

xfreerdp /v:127.0.0.1 /u:user /p:YourPassword

A RDP window will open and disconnect instantly.

This creates the following logs in dom0:

Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp[6281]: [INFO ] VNC connecting to 127.0.0.1 5910
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp-sesman[6285]: [INFO ] Starting X server on display 10: Xvnc :10 -auth .Xauthority -geometry 1024x768 -depth 32 -rfbauth /home/user/.vnc/sesman_passwd-user@dom0:10 -bs -nolisten tcp -localhost -dpi 96
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp-sesman[6285]: Xvnc TigerVNC 1.13.1 - built Nov  2 2023 00:00:00
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp-sesman[6285]: Copyright (C) 1999-2022 TigerVNC Team and many others (see README.rst)
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp-sesman[6285]: See https://www.tigervnc.org for information on TigerVNC.
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp-sesman[6285]: Underlying X server release 12014000
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp-sesman[6285]: Thu Jul 17 17:37:31 2025
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp-sesman[6285]:  vncext:      VNC extension running!
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp-sesman[6285]:  vncext:      Listening for VNC connections on local interface(s), port 5910
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp-sesman[6285]:  vncext:      created VNC server for screen 0
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp-sesman[6285]:  Connections: accepted: 127.0.0.1::47548
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp[6281]: [INFO ] VNC tcp connected
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp-sesman[6285]:  SConnection: Client needs protocol version 3.3
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp[6281]: [INFO ] VNC security level is 2 (1 = none, 2 = standard)
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp-sesman[6285]:  VNCSConnST:  Server default pixel format depth 32 (32bpp) little-endian rgb
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp-sesman[6285]:               max 255,255,255 shift 16,8,0
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp[6281]: [INFO ] VNC password ok
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp[6281]: [INFO ] VNC sending share flag
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp[6281]: [INFO ] VNC receiving server init
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp[6281]: [INFO ] VNC receiving pixel format
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp[6281]: [INFO ] VNC receiving name length
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp[6281]: [INFO ] VNC receiving name
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp[6281]: [INFO ] VNC sending pixel format
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp[6281]: [INFO ] VNC sending cursor
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp-sesman[6285]:  VNCSConnST:  Client pixel format depth 24 (32bpp) little-endian rgb888
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp[6281]: [INFO ] VNC connection complete, connected ok
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp[6281]: [INFO ] VNC: Clipboard (if available) is provided by chansrv facility
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp[6281]: [INFO ] connected ok
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp-sesman[6284]: [INFO ] Found X server running at /tmp/.X11-unix/X10
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp-sesman[6283]: [INFO ] Found X server running at /tmp/.X11-unix/X10
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp-sesman[6284]: [INFO ] Found X server running at /tmp/.X11-unix/X10
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp-sesman[6283]: [INFO ] Session started successfully for user user on display 10
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp-sesman[6288]: [INFO ] Starting the xrdp channel server for display 10
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp-sesman[6284]: [INFO ] Starting the default window manager on display 10: /usr/libexec/xrdp/startwm-bash.sh
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp-sesman[6283]: [INFO ] Session in progress on display 10, waiting until the window manager (pid 6284) exits to end the session
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 audit: BPF prog-id=90 op=LOAD
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 audit: BPF prog-id=91 op=LOAD
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 audit: BPF prog-id=92 op=LOAD
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 kernel: audit: type=1334 audit(1752773851.807:660): prog-id=90 op=LOAD
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 kernel: audit: type=1334 audit(1752773851.807:661): prog-id=91 op=LOAD
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 kernel: audit: type=1334 audit(1752773851.807:662): prog-id=92 op=LOAD
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 systemd[1]: Starting systemd-hostnamed.service - Hostname Service...
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp[6281]: [INFO ] Layout from OldLayout (geom=1024x768 #screens=1) : 1804289383:(1024x768+0+0)
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp-chansrv[6288]: [INFO ] Socket 12: AF_UNIX connection received
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp-sesman[6295]: fuse: failed to exec fusermount: No such file or directory
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 systemd[1]: Started systemd-hostnamed.service - Hostname Service.
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 audit[1]: SERVICE_START pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 msg='unit=systemd-hostnamed comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=success'
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 kernel: audit: type=1130 audit(1752773851.882:663): pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 msg='unit=systemd-hostnamed comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=success'
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp-sesman[6297]: fuse: failed to exec fusermount: No such file or directory
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp-sesman[6300]: fuse: failed to exec fusermount: No such file or directory
Jul 17 17:37:31 dom0 xrdp-chansrv[6288]: [INFO ] sound_process_output_format:
Jul 17 17:37:32 dom0 xrdp-chansrv[6288]: [INFO ]       wFormatNo       0
Jul 17 17:37:32 dom0 xrdp-chansrv[6288]: [INFO ]       wFormatTag      WAVE_FORMAT_PCM
Jul 17 17:37:32 dom0 xrdp-chansrv[6288]: [INFO ]       nChannels       2
Jul 17 17:37:32 dom0 xrdp-chansrv[6288]: [INFO ]       nSamplesPerSec  44100
Jul 17 17:37:32 dom0 xrdp-chansrv[6288]: [INFO ]       nAvgBytesPerSec 176400
Jul 17 17:37:32 dom0 xrdp-chansrv[6288]: [INFO ]       nBlockAlign     4
Jul 17 17:37:32 dom0 xrdp-chansrv[6288]: [INFO ]       wBitsPerSample  16
Jul 17 17:37:32 dom0 xrdp-chansrv[6288]: [INFO ]       cbSize          0
Jul 17 17:37:32 dom0 xrdp-chansrv[6288]: [INFO ] sound_process_output_format:
Jul 17 17:37:32 dom0 xrdp-chansrv[6288]: [INFO ]       wFormatNo       1
Jul 17 17:37:32 dom0 xrdp-chansrv[6288]: [INFO ]       wFormatTag      WAVE_FORMAT_PCM
Jul 17 17:37:32 dom0 xrdp-chansrv[6288]: [INFO ]       nChannels       2
Jul 17 17:37:32 dom0 xrdp-chansrv[6288]: [INFO ]       nSamplesPerSec  22050
Jul 17 17:37:32 dom0 xrdp-chansrv[6288]: [INFO ]       nAvgBytesPerSec 88200
Jul 17 17:37:32 dom0 xrdp-chansrv[6288]: [INFO ]       nBlockAlign     4
Jul 17 17:37:32 dom0 xrdp-chansrv[6288]: [INFO ]       wBitsPerSample  16
Jul 17 17:37:32 dom0 xrdp-chansrv[6288]: [INFO ]       cbSize          0
Jul 17 17:37:32 dom0 xrdp-chansrv[6288]: [INFO ] sound_process_training: round trip time 4
Jul 17 17:37:32 dom0 xrdp-sesman[6283]: [WARN ] Window manager (pid 6284, display 10) exited quickly (1 secs). This could indicate a window manager config problem
Jul 17 17:37:32 dom0 xrdp-sesman[6283]: [INFO ] Calling auth_stop_session and auth_end from pid 6283
Jul 17 17:37:32 dom0 xrdp-sesman[6283]: pam_unix(xrdp-sesman:session): session closed for user user
Jul 17 17:37:32 dom0 xrdp-sesman[6283]: [INFO ] Terminating X server (pid 6285) on display 10
Jul 17 17:37:32 dom0 audit[6283]: USER_END pid=6283 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 msg='op=PAM:session_close grantors=pam_keyinit,pam_limits,pam_systemd,pam_unix acct="user" exe="/usr/sbin/xrdp-sesman" hostname=? addr=? terminal=:10 res=success'
Jul 17 17:37:32 dom0 audit[6283]: CRED_DISP pid=6283 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 msg='op=PAM:setcred grantors=pam_localuser,pam_unix acct="user" exe="/usr/sbin/xrdp-sesman" hostname=? addr=? terminal=:10 res=success'
Jul 17 17:37:32 dom0 kernel: audit: type=1106 audit(1752773852.352:664): pid=6283 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 msg='op=PAM:session_close grantors=pam_keyinit,pam_limits,pam_systemd,pam_unix acct="user" exe="/usr/sbin/xrdp-sesman" hostname=? addr=? terminal=:10 res=success'
Jul 17 17:37:32 dom0 kernel: audit: type=1104 audit(1752773852.353:665): pid=6283 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 msg='op=PAM:setcred grantors=pam_localuser,pam_unix acct="user" exe="/usr/sbin/xrdp-sesman" hostname=? addr=? terminal=:10 res=success'
Jul 17 17:37:32 dom0 xrdp-sesman[6283]: [INFO ] Terminating the xrdp channel server (pid 6288) on display 10

I guess it is bootstrapping the wm incorrectly, but