How To Set Up a Remote Desktop with X2Go

Most Linux servers don’t come with a GUI (Graphical User Interface) preinstalled. When you want to run GUI applications on your server, a typical solution is to employ VNC (Virtual Network Computing), which is notoriously sluggish, insecure by default, and requires lots of configuration to get up and running. X2Go provides a working “cloud desktop” with all the advantages of an always-online, remotely-accessible, and easily-scalable system with a fast network and increased security. In this tutorial, you’ll use X2Go to create an XFCE desktop environment that you can access remotely. Choose your operating system to begin.

Get our biweekly newsletter

Sign up for Infrastructure as a Newsletter.

Hollie's Hub for Good

Working on improving health and education, reducing inequality, and spurring economic growth? We'd like to help.

Become a contributor

Get paid to write technical tutorials and select a tech-focused charity to receive a matching donation.

Welcome to the developer cloud

DigitalOcean makes it simple to launch in the cloud and scale up as you grow — whether you're running one virtual machine or ten thousand.

Learn more
DigitalOcean Cloud Control Panel