---
title: "Vessel RDP - Fast, Secure Linux Remote Desktop Client"
description: "Vessel RDP is a fast, secure Linux RDP client built with Rust and Slint, with Entra ID logins and built-in SSH terminal tabs. Free beta for any distro."
url: "https://vesselrdp.com/"
---

Beta Release

# The Modern Linux RDP Client

A lightning-fast, secure, and lightweight Remote Desktop Protocol client built with Rust and Slint, with SSH terminal tabs in the same window. Designed for seamless performance and modern Linux workflows.

[Download AppImage](https://download.vesselrdp.com/beta/VesselRDP-x86_64.appimage)

[How to Run](https://vesselrdp.com/#install)

![Vessel RDP Connection Manager interface preview running on Linux](https://vesselrdp.com/assets/vessel_manager.png)

## Vessel RDP is in Beta status

Past the alpha quality gate — live-verified performance benchmarks, real Azure AD/Entra login testing, and a full CI audit/clippy/test gate — but still pre-1.0. If you encounter bugs, regressions, or have usability suggestions, we would love to hear from you. The AppImage is fully portable and safe to run alongside your existing RDP setups.

## Key Features

Engineered for speed, efficiency, and compatibility.

### Powered by Rust

Vessel RDP is built from the ground up in Rust, inheriting modern memory safety, blazing-fast execution times, and low resource overhead.

### Slint UI Toolkit

Leverages Slint, a state-of-the-art UI framework, to deliver a clean, hardware-accelerated, responsive dashboard that launches instantly.

### Sandboxed Drive Sharing

Mount local Linux directories to remote Windows sessions with pure-Rust path containment, symlink escape protection, and enterprise policy control.

### Zero-Lag Hardware Cursor

Enjoy instant local pointer tracking decoupled from server rendering frames, with dynamic shape synchronization for text beams and resizing bars.

### Universal Portability

Packed exclusively as a single AppImage. Zero complex dependency issues. Simply download, make executable, and run on any Linux distro.

### Secure Core

Implements robust RDP protocols, TLS encryption, and secure Network Level Authentication (NLA) to keep your remote sessions protected.

### SSH Terminal Tabs

Open SSH sessions next to your RDP ones. Uses your system OpenSSH, so keys, agent and ~/.ssh/config just work, and no SSH password is ever stored. New in beta.

## How to Run Vessel RDP

Get up and running in seconds. No installation required.

### Method 1: Graphical Interface

1. **Download** the latest AppImage binary.
2. **Right-click** the downloaded file and select **Properties**.
3. Go to the **Permissions** tab and check the box that says **"Allow executing file as program"**.
4. **Double-click** the AppImage to launch the client instantly.

### Method 2: Command Line

For terminal power-users, execute these two quick commands:

```bash
chmod +x VesselRDP-x86_64.appimage
./VesselRDP-x86_64.appimage
```

[Download VesselRDP-x86\_64.appimage](https://download.vesselrdp.com/beta/VesselRDP-x86_64.appimage)

Beta Release v0.4.1-beta.1 • Portable binary

Running the AppImage (System Requirements & Troubleshooting)

The prebuilt AppImage bundles FreeRDP (with AAD), its channel addins, the OpenSSL legacy provider, and audio support — but it still needs a few libraries from the host, because they are part of the desktop/graphics stack and can't be bundled portably:

-   **GTK 3 + WebKitGTK 4.1** — the binary links these directly (it won't start without them), and the Azure AD login window runs against the host's WebKitGTK (a bundled WebKit can't launch its helper processes inside an AppImage).
-   **FUSE 2** — required to mount the AppImage. Without it, run with `./VesselRDP-x86_64.appimage --appimage-extract-and-run`.

**FUSE 2 Workaround (Extract & Run)**

If your distribution does not have FUSE 2 installed, you can extract and run the application directly from the terminal without mounting:

```bash
./VesselRDP-x86_64.appimage --appimage-extract-and-run
```

#### Install the runtime libraries for your distro:

| Distro | Command |
| --- | --- |
| **Fedora / RHEL** | `sudo dnf install gtk3 webkit2gtk4.1 fuse` |
| **Ubuntu / Debian** | `sudo apt install libgtk-3-0 libwebkit2gtk-4.1-0 libfuse2` |
| **Arch Linux** | `sudo pacman -S gtk3 webkit2gtk-4.1 fuse2` |
| **Gentoo** | `sudo emerge x11-libs/gtk+:3 net-libs/webkit-gtk:4.1 sys-fs/fuse:0` |

#### Then make it executable and run it:

```bash
chmod +x VesselRDP-x86_64.appimage
./VesselRDP-x86_64.appimage
```

**Note:** Most desktop installs already have GTK 3 and FUSE; WebKitGTK 4.1 is the one that is often missing and is only needed for Azure AD / Entra logins. Non-AAD (NLA/TLS) connections work without it as long as the app launches.

## Interface Gallery

Peek inside the Vessel RDP client's clean user interface.

![Vessel RDP Connection Manager interface dashboard screenshot](https://vesselrdp.com/assets/vessel_manager.webp)

## Support the Project

Vessel RDP is free software. Supporting development helps pay for hardware, testing infrastructure, and keeps the project going.

### PayPal

Direct support via PayPal. A fast and secure way to send financial support.

[Donate via PayPal](https://paypal.me/carlossura)