Ubuntu KDE Desktop

Ubuntu KDE provides an Ubuntu 24.04 desktop image with KDE Plasma and XRDP pre-installed for remote desktop access. You can connect with a standard Remote Desktop Protocol client from Windows, macOS, or Linux.

Software included

Component	Version
Ubuntu	24.04 LTS
Desktop	KDE Plasma
Remote desktop	XRDP with Xorg backend

Requirements

Resource	Minimum	Recommended
vCPU	2	2
RAM	2 GB	4 GB
Storage	20 GB	30 GB

Environment variables

If deployment variable fields are available in your launch flow, use them there. Otherwise, provide the same values through user data that writes /etc/zmi/deploy.env, or configure them after first boot to create or update the desktop login.

Variable	Description
`UBUNTUKDE_USERNAME`	Desktop username. Defaults to `ubuntu`
`UBUNTUKDE_PASSWORD`	Desktop password. Generated if blank
`DESKTOP_USERNAME`	Generic alias for `UBUNTUKDE_USERNAME`
`DESKTOP_PASSWORD`	Generic alias for `UBUNTUKDE_PASSWORD`

Getting started

1. Connect to your VM

ssh ubuntu@<your-vm-ip>

2. Wait for first-boot configuration

On first boot, the setup service applies platform metadata, regenerates SSH host keys, creates or updates the desktop user, configures KDE Plasma as the XRDP session, and starts XRDP.

Track progress:

sudo journalctl -u ubuntukde-first-boot.service -f

3. Retrieve desktop credentials

sudo cat /etc/ubuntukde/credentials.env

The file is readable only by root.

4. Connect over RDP

Open your RDP client and connect to:

<your-vm-ip>:3389

Use the configured desktop username and password.

Managing Ubuntu KDE

# Check XRDP status
sudo systemctl status xrdp

# Restart XRDP
sudo systemctl restart xrdp

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u xrdp
sudo journalctl -u xrdp-sesman

Important files:

File	Purpose
`/etc/zmi/deploy.env`	Optional deployment variables
`/etc/ubuntukde/info.txt`	Setup and operation notes
`/etc/ubuntukde/credentials.env`	Desktop login credentials
`/usr/local/bin/ubuntukde-first-boot.sh`	First-boot script
`/etc/systemd/system/ubuntukde-first-boot.service`	First-boot service

Ports

Port	Protocol	Purpose
22	TCP	SSH
3389	TCP	RDP

Security

Do not expose RDP broadly to the public internet. Restrict port 3389 to trusted IPs, use a VPN, or use an SSH tunnel where possible. Change generated credentials after first login.

Troubleshooting

If the RDP client cannot connect, confirm that the VM has a reachable public IP and that 3389/tcp is allowed by the ZCP firewall or security policy.

If login succeeds but the desktop does not appear, check the XRDP session logs:

sudo journalctl -u xrdp
sudo journalctl -u xrdp-sesman
cat ~/.xsession-errors

If the password is unknown, retrieve it as root:

sudo cat /etc/ubuntukde/credentials.env