Setting up Hyper-V Enhanced Session Mode with Fedora 43

hyperv-esm-fedora.md

Tested working on Fedora Workstation 39, 40, 41, 42, and 43.

(Commands prefixed with a # should be run as the root user or with sudo. Commands prefixed with a $ should be run as a regular/unprivileged user.)

1. # dnf install xrdp (with Xorg session support: # dnf install xrdp xorgxrdp)
2. If using GNOME: # $EDITOR /etc/pam.d/xrdp-sesman and comment and uncomment the appropriate lines.
3. If using Xfce: $ echo startxfce4 > $HOME/.xsession and $ chmod +x $HOME/.xsession.
4. Optionally, rename the shared drives mount: # $EDITOR /etc/xrdp/sesman.ini and set FuseMountName=shared-drives
5. # $EDITOR /etc/xrdp/xrdp.ini and set:
   • port=vsock://-1:3389 ([Globals] section)
   • vmconnect=true (uncomment)
   • security_layer=rdp
   • bitmap_compression=false
   • If you chose to install the xorgxrdp package: uncomment the whole [Xorg] section.
6. $ systemctl enable xrdp xrdp-sesman
7. Shut down the virtual machine (do NOT reboot) and close the Virtual Machine Connection window.
8. On your host, in PowerShell (as admin or as a user in the "Hyper-V Administrators" group): Set-VM -VMName "Name of your Fedora VM" -EnhancedSessionTransportType HvSocket
9. Connect to your VM by reopening the Virtual Machine Connection window, and boot it.

You can now enable Enhanced Session Mode.

Yes, my use case was exactly like that, unfortunately, I cannot help in the setup with WSL2:

• Windows host with Hyper-V hypervisor
  • -> Fedora 43 Workstation (Gnome) guest machine with RDP enabled in settings
    • -> Using a regular Remote Desktop session window (mstsc).

This might be less to do with getting an enhanced session to work, but I had trouble booting into a fresh 43 install using the non rescue kernel. The rescue kernel did work, so it seems that some modules/drivers were missing from the other kernel image. I had to do the following, otherwise I would get an indefinite hang looking for a device that doesn't exist:

The error:

Create a new config file specifically for Hyper-V drivers

echo 'add_drivers+=" hv_vmbus hv_netvsc hv_storvsc hv_utils "' | sudo tee /etc/dracut.conf.d/hyperv.conf

Get the version of the bad kernel.

ls /lib/modules

Replace [VERSION] with the string from step 2

sudo dracut -f --kver [VERSION]

Update initramfs.

$ dracut -f --kver 6.17.12-300.fc43.x86_64

Then I was able to boot under Hyper-V.

Can confirm that this guide got enhanced session working for me.

@HarmfulBreeze you mention that this is working in Fedora 43? That is interesting. I've had no luck with it. I've been using xrdp on a myriad of distros as a means to enable Hyper-V enhanced-session, but Wayland is kicking my ass right now..

@harahauk It's very sad still after so many years of Wayland, that we don't have a reliable way to enable remote desktop on a headless machine. There are comments in Fedora forums that claim to have solved this on Fedora 42 or 41, but I have never gotten them working. And it seems very user-unfriendly, having to create certificates and a bunch of other stuff manually.