krdc

KDE remote desktop client

TLDR

Launch the remote desktop client

$ krdc

Connect to a VNC server

$ krdc vnc://[hostname:display]

Connect to an RDP server

$ krdc rdp://[hostname]

Connect to an RDP server on a custom port

$ krdc rdp://[hostname:port]

Start in fullscreen mode connecting to a host

$ krdc --fullscreen vnc://[hostname]

KRDC (KDE Remote Desktop Client) is a graphical application that allows viewing and controlling the desktop session on another machine running a compatible server. It operates at the frame-buffer level, making it compatible with multiple windowing systems including X11, Wayland, macOS, and Windows.KRDC supports two protocols: VNC (Virtual Network Computing) for cross-platform remote access, and RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) for connecting to Windows machines and other RDP-enabled hosts. RDP support requires xfreerdp (FreeRDP) as a runtime dependency.The client provides bookmark management for frequently-accessed connections, a history of recent sessions, per-host settings, and configurable connection speed profiles (LAN, DSL/Cable, Modem) that adjust quality and compression. Passwords can be stored securely via KWallet integration.

PARAMETERS

--fullscreen

Start in fullscreen mode. Works only when a single URL is specified.

-h, --help

Display help text listing available options.

--version

Display version information.

--author

Show author information.

--license

Show license information.

CONFIGURATION

Connection settings are stored per-host and accessible through the configuration dialog, which provides three tabs: General, VNC Defaults, and RDP Defaults. Speed profiles control color depth and compression to balance quality against bandwidth. Per-host settings avoid repeated configuration prompts on reconnection.

CAVEATS

KRDC is a graphical application and requires a running display server (X11 or Wayland). RDP connections require xfreerdp to be installed separately. VNC connections are unencrypted by default; tunnel through SSH for security on untrusted networks.

HISTORY

KRDC was originally written by Tim Jansen as part of the KDE project. A major rewrite was completed by Urs Wolfer during Google Summer of Code 2007, modernizing the codebase and improving protocol support. It has been a standard component of the KDE Applications suite since KDE 3.x and continues active development as part of KDE Gear releases.