Oracle Linux 10 with GNOME Desktop

Oracle Linux 10 with the GNOME desktop, over RDP

This image is Oracle Linux 10, Oracle's enterprise distribution, binary compatible with RHEL 10, with the distribution's own desktop added: the AppStream environment group @graphical-server-environment, which Oracle calls Server with GUI. Remote access is first party: GNOME Remote Desktop from Oracle's own AppStream repository is set up for remote login, so you connect with any RDP client (Windows App, Remote Desktop Connection, Remmina, FreeRDP), meet the GNOME login screen and sign in to a full desktop session on the virtual machine, with Files, the Ptyxis terminal, Firefox, Text Editor, Calculator, Software and System Monitor ready to use. Anything else installs with dnf. The Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel boots by default and the Red Hat compatible kernel is also installed.

Secure by default: remote desktop ships off, no default password

A freshly deployed machine exposes nothing but SSH on port 22. Remote desktop is installed but switched off, no account has a password, and the RDP server cannot be enabled until you have set your own. The rpcbind portmapper that the stock Oracle Linux cloud image leaves listening on port 111 is switched off here, so the listening surface really is port 22 alone. At first boot each machine generates its own RDP credential and its own TLS certificate, readable by root only, so nothing is shared between machines or baked into the image. SELinux stays in enforcing mode, firewalld stays active as Oracle ships it, and SSH stays key only even after you set a desktop password.

Three steps to the desktop

• SSH in with your key and set your own account password
• Run sudo cloudimg-remote-desktop enable
• Open an SSH tunnel to port 3389, connect your RDP client to localhost, pass this VM's RDP credential, and log in at the GNOME login screen

Built for Azure

Networking, provisioning and updates work exactly as on Oracle Linux Server: cloud-init and the Azure Linux agent provision the machine and NetworkManager manages the network interface. The SSH tunnel needs no firewall change; a direct connection to 3389 needs the port opened in both the network security group and firewalld. Like every Oracle Linux image on Azure, this image uses an LVM root layout, and the guide shows how to grow it. The desktop session is Wayland, because RHEL 10 removed the Xorg server; Xwayland runs X applications as normal. Every available update is applied at build time and dnf-automatic is armed to keep applying them. Recommended size: Standard_B2ms (8 GB) or larger; the desktop renders in software, no GPU required.

What you get from cloudimg

• The GNOME desktop and GNOME Remote Desktop from the Oracle Linux AppStream repository, proven end to end on every build from the RDP client through the login screen to a working desktop
• No default password, remote desktop off by default, per-VM RDP credential and TLS certificate
• A deployment guide tested against this exact image
• 24/7 expert support from cloudimg

Licensing

Oracle Linux is free and open source, and is explicitly freely redistributable: Oracle provides the binaries, updates and errata at no cost, and a paid Oracle Linux Support subscription is optional. This is not Oracle Database. The image is a collection of independently licensed packages (GPL, LGPL, MIT, BSD, Apache-2.0, MPL and more). Oracle and Oracle Linux are trademarks of Oracle Corporation and GNOME is a trademark of the GNOME Foundation, used here only to identify the software; cloudimg is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by either. The cloudimg charge ($0.04 per vCPU/hour) covers packaging, security patching, image maintenance and 24/7 support.