Unable to Access GUI (RDP) for Kali Linux VM via Azure Bastion

Hello @Baby Kempanna,

Thank you reaching out to Microsoft Q&A.

I can see exactly what's happening. Azure Bastion is defaulting to an SSH terminal session for your Linux VM (that's standard behavior), so you're not seeing the graphical desktop yet. The good news is that full RDP/GUI access is fully supported for Kali Linux VMs without any public IP. You just need xrdp installed on the VM and Bastion set to Standard SKU or higher.

Here's the quickest way to get it working:

1. Check/upgrade your Bastion tier In the Azure portal, go to your Bastion resource → Configuration → change the tier to Standard (or Premium) and save.
2. Install xrdp on your Kali VM (do this via your current Bastion SSH session)
3. Connect with RDP - Back in the Azure portal, go to your VM → Connect → Bastion. Expand the settings, choose Protocol: RDP, enter your Linux username/password, and click Connect. The full Kali Xfce desktop should now load right in your browser.
4. RDP to virtual machine using Azure Bastion. you can run the below command it will download the RDP file in your local machine with the help of this you can access the VM directly.

az network bastion rdp --name MyBastionHost --resource-group MyResourceGroup --target-resource-id vmResourceId

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cli/azure/network/bastion?view=azure-cli-latest#az-network-bastion-rdp

That’s it no public IP or extra client required.
The Kali image works great with the Ubuntu instructions in the second link (both are Debian-based).

See these official Microsoft docs:

• Connect to a Linux VM using RDP – Azure Bastion

• Use xrdp with Linux VMs in Azure

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Yep - this is supported. Make sure you follow https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/bastion-connect-vm-linux-rdp?tabs=portal

Prerequisites

Before you begin, verify that you meet the following criteria:

• An Azure Bastion host deployed in the virtual network where the virtual machine is located, or in a peered virtual network. To set up a Bastion host, see Create a bastion host. The SKU you need depends on your connection method:

  	Connection method	Minimum SKU	Additional configuration
  	Azure portal (browser)	Standard	None
  	Azure portal (browser)	Standard	None
  	Azure portal with custom ports	Standard	None
  	IP-based connection	Standard	IP-based connection enabled

• xrdp required: To use RDP with a Linux VM, you must have xrdp installed and configured on the Linux VM. To learn how to do this, see Use xrdp with Linux.
• Azure Bastion uses RDP port 3389 by default. Custom ports require the Standard SKU or higher. To upgrade, see Upgrade a SKU.
• A Linux virtual machine in the virtual network (or reachable from the virtual network for IP-based connections).
• Required roles:
  • Reader role on the virtual machine.
  • Reader role on the NIC with the private IP of the virtual machine.
  • Reader role on the Azure Bastion resource.
  • Reader role on the virtual network of the target virtual machine (if the Bastion deployment is in a peered virtual network).
• Ports: You must have the following ports open on your VM:
  • Inbound port: RDP (3389) or
  • Inbound port: Custom value (you then need to specify this custom port when you connect to the VM via Azure Bastion).

If the above response helps answer your question, remember to "Accept Answer" so that others in the community facing similar issues can easily find the solution. Your contribution is highly appreciated.

hth

Marcin