When attempting to connect to your Ubuntu server via Windows Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), encountering the following error indicates authentication issues despite entering correct credentials:

connecting to sesman ip 127.0.0.1 port 3350
sesman connect ok
sending login info to sesman
xrdp_mm_process_login_response: login failed

Before diving deep, perform these basic verifications:

1. Ensure the xrdp service is running: sudo systemctl status xrdp
2. Verify your Ubuntu user has a valid password (not empty)
3. Check firewall rules: sudo ufw allow 3389/tcp

Edit the xrdp configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/xrdp/xrdp.ini

Add or modify these lines under [globals]:

security_layer=negotiate
crypt_level=high
max_bpp=24

The sesman configuration often needs adjustments:

sudo nano /etc/xrdp/sesman.ini

Ensure these values are set:

[Security]
AllowRootLogin=false
MaxLoginRetry=4
TerminalServerUsers=tsusers
TerminalServerAdmins=tsadmins

Sometimes creating a specific user for RDP helps isolate issues:

sudo adduser xrdpuser
sudo usermod -aG sudo xrdpuser
sudo usermod -aG tsusers xrdpuser

If password authentication continues to fail, consider using SSH keys:

sudo apt-get install xorgxrdp
sudo systemctl restart xrdp

Then configure XRDP to use PAM authentication:

sudo nano /etc/pam.d/xrdp-sesman

Add these lines:

@include common-auth
@include common-account
@include common-session
@include common-password

Enable verbose logging to pinpoint issues:

sudo nano /etc/xrdp/xrdp.ini

Set log level to debug:

LogLevel=DEBUG

Then examine logs in real-time:

tail -f /var/log/xrdp.log /var/log/xrdp-sesman.log

When standard xrdp fails, X11rdp often works:

sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-core xserver-xorg-input-all
sudo apt-get install x11rdp
sudo service xrdp restart

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Many developers encounter this frustrating error when trying to establish a Remote Desktop connection to their Ubuntu servers:

connecting to sesman ip 127.0.0.1 port 3350
sesman connect ok
sending login info to sesman
xrdp_mm_process_login_response: login failed

After troubleshooting numerous similar cases, I've found these common culprits:

• Incorrect session type configuration in /etc/xrdp/xrdp.ini
• Missing or misconfigured .xsession files
• Permissions issues in /home directories
• Firewall blocking the sesman port (3350)

Here's the step-by-step solution that has worked across Ubuntu 18.04, 20.04, and 22.04:

# First, ensure proper packages are installed
sudo apt update
sudo apt install xrdp xorgxrdp

# Configure the session environment
echo "gnome-session" > ~/.xsession
chmod +x ~/.xsession

# Restart the services
sudo systemctl restart xrdp
sudo systemctl restart xrdp-sesman

# Verify port listening
sudo netstat -tulnp | grep xrdp

For more complex setups, modify /etc/xrdp/xrdp.ini:

[globals]
bitmap_cache=yes
bitmap_compression=yes
port=3389
crypt_level=high

[xrdp1]
name=sesman-Xvnc
lib=libvnc.so
username=ask
password=ask
ip=127.0.0.1
port=-1

If the issue persists, check these logs:

# Xrdp main log
tail -f /var/log/xrdp.log

# Session manager log
tail -f /var/log/xrdp-sesman.log

# Authentication logs
tail -f /var/log/auth.log

For environments where xrdp continues to be problematic, consider these alternatives:

# Option 1: X2Go (better for remote GUI)
sudo apt install software-properties-common
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:x2go/stable
sudo apt update
sudo apt install x2goserver x2goserver-xsession

# Option 2: NoMachine (proprietary but performant)
wget https://download.nomachine.com/download/8.4/Linux/nomachine_8.4.1_1_amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i nomachine_8.4.1_1_amd64.deb