With the recent announcement from AnyDesk about license requirements by August 31st, many users are exploring alternative remote desktop solutions. One promising option is RustDesk, a free and open-source self-hosted remote desktop software. In this guide, we'll walk through the installation process for setting up RustDesk Server on your Linux server.
Prerequisites:
Before we begin, ensure you have:
- A Linux server (Debian 12/Ubuntu 24.04 LTS) with 1 CPU, 1 GB RAM and 10 GB disk
- SSH access to your server with sudo privileges
- Basic knowledge of terminal commands
Step 1: Creating a Separate User
It's a good practice to create a separate user account for running RustDesk Server:
sudo adduser rustdeskuser
Follow the prompts to set a password and other optional details for the new user.
Step 2: Setting Up Firewall Rules
Configure the firewall to allow necessary ports for RustDesk:
sudo ufw allow 21114:21119/tcp
sudo ufw allow 8000/tcp
sudo ufw allow 21116/udp
sudo ufw enable
Step 3: Downloading and Installing RustDesk Server
Switch to the new user account and proceed with the installation:
su - rustdeskuser
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/techahold/rustdeskinstall/master/install.sh
sudo chmod +x install.sh
sudo ./install.sh
Step 4: Configuring RustDesk Server
Follow the prompts during the installation to configure RustDesk Server. This may include setting up administrative passwords and confirming installation paths.
Step 5: Starting RustDesk Server
Once installation completes, start RustDesk Server:
sudo systemctl start rustdesk
sudo systemctl enable rustdesk
Step 6: Not Down RustDek Server credentials & Key
Step 7: Accessing RustDesk Dashboard
Open your web browser and navigate to http://your_server_ip:8000 to access the RustDesk Server dashboard. Log in with the credentials you set during installation.
Step 8: Connecting to RustDesk Server
Download the RustDesk client from official RustDesk website and connect to your server using its IP address and the port specified during installation.
Download Debian/Ubuntu client: Release 1.2.6 · rustdesk/rustdesk (github.com)
RustDesk Server provides a viable alternative to proprietary remote desktop solutions like AnyDesk, offering flexibility and control over your remote access needs. By self-hosting RustDesk, you ensure data privacy and compliance with your organization's policies.
Reference: Installation :: Documentation for RustDesk
