In this article we will briefly explain rdesktop client and how we can connect to Windows Terminal Services for Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). The rdesktop client supports all version of Microsoft Windows including the latest Windows Server 2008 Operating System and it runs on most unix based platforms as well as other ports.

Download and Install:

1) wget http://garr.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/rdesktop/rdesktop-1.6.0.tar.gz
2) tar -zxf rdesktop-1.6.0.tar.gz
3) cd rdesktop-1.6.0
4) ./configure
5) make
6) make install

Basic Usage:
rdesktop -k en-us -a 16 -f -u username -p “password” server

Command Options Used:
-f switch for full screen mode
-k for keyboard layout on server
-a for color depth
-u for username
-p for password

Note: To exit full screen mode press: CTRL + ALT + Enter

Full Usage Options

Usage: rdesktop [options] server[:port]
-u: user name
-d: domain
-s: shell
-c: working directory
-p: password (- to prompt)
-n: client hostname
-k: keyboard layout on server (en-us, de, sv, etc.)
-g: desktop geometry (WxH)
-f: full-screen mode
-b: force bitmap updates
-L: local codepage
-A: enable SeamlessRDP mode
-B: use BackingStore of X-server (if available)
-e: disable encryption (French TS)
-E: disable encryption from client to server
-m: do not send motion events
-C: use private colour map
-D: hide window manager decorations
-K: keep window manager key bindings
-S: caption button size (single application mode)
-T: window title
-N: enable numlock syncronization
-X: embed into another window with a given id.
-a: connection colour depth
-z: enable rdp compression
-x: RDP5 experience (m[odem 28.8], b[roadband], l[an] or hex nr.)
-P: use persistent bitmap caching
-0: attach to console
-4: use RDP version 4
-5: use RDP version 5 (default)

There is also a graphical user interface (GUI) that you can use named Terminal Server Client [tsclient]
Visit: http://sourceforge.net/projects/tsclient