Xpra Documentation

Connect to an Xpra session

Use the Xpra client to connect to a session that is running on this computer, on a server, or on another computer on your local network. For most people, the graphical tools are the easiest place to start.

Connect, save, or find a session

Open Xpra from your application menu, then choose the task you need:

Connect

Choose Connect to enter a server address and credentials. You can save these details as a session file to reuse the connection later.

Browse

Choose Browse to see sessions found on this computer or advertised on your local network. Select one to connect with the regular client or in a browser.

Reuse a saved connection

Double-click an .xpra session file to open its saved connection details. If it is set to connect automatically, Xpra connects without showing the dialog.

Connect from a terminal

When you need a repeatable command, or are troubleshooting a connection, use:

xpra attach ssh://USER@HOST/DISPLAY

Replace USER, HOST, and DISPLAY with the account name, server name, and Xpra display number or session name. The display can be omitted when that account has only one active Xpra session.

On Windows, use Xpra_cmd.exe rather than Xpra.exe when running from a terminal: it prints diagnostic messages there instead of sending them to a log file.

Create and edit session files

Session files use the .xpra extension and store the settings shown by the connection window. The launcher can create them for you. To open one from a terminal, run:

xpra launcher session-file.xpra

You can also edit a session file in a text editor. Command-line options use the same names, without the leading --; for example, --min-quality=50 becomes min-quality=50 in the file. Set autoconnect=true to connect as soon as the file is opened.

The HTML5 client can generate session files from its connection form as well.

Browser links, session discovery, and platform details

Run xpra sessions to open the session browser. It lists sessions found locally and through multicast DNS on the local network.

Applications and browsers can also open Xpra connection links. For example, xpra+ssl://HOST:10000/ connects to HOST in SSL mode on port 10000. See URL mode mapping for details.

Browser links and .xpra files need Xpra to be installed from a proper system package so the operating system can register the integration. On Windows, use the EXE or MSI installer rather than a ZIP archive; on macOS, use the PKG installer rather than a DMG archive. Source installations on other platforms may need manual integration steps.

Next steps