How to Enable XDMCP on Unix

On most Unix/Linux distributions XDMCP is disabled by default. In order to enable your server to accept XDMCP connections you need to modify a few configuration files.

The configuration files are located in different directories depending on the distribution.

NOTE: XDMCP is an insecure protocol and should not be used over the network. You can still display your Desktops using ssh. Ssh is not only secure but tunneling allows you to get through many firewall restrictions that often block XDMCP.

Tunnel your desktop through ssh

Please select the version you are currently using

• XDMCP Red Hat EL 4 (gdmsetup)
• XDMCP Red Hat EL 5 (gdmsetup)
• XDMCP Fedora Core (gdmsetup)
• XDMCP SuSE Linux
• XDMCP Kubuntu
• SuSE Linux using yast2
• XDMCP Solaris 9 and below
• XDMCP Solaris 10
• XDMCP General Instructions (file editing)

Note also that firewall ports must be opened. For a listing of which ports need to be opened, please see
What ports need to be opened for XDMCP