Which remote access protocols does Remmina support?

Updated

Remmina supports six remote access protocol plugins: RDP, SSH, SPICE, VNC, X2Go, and HTTP/HTTPS. If your target machine speaks one of those protocols, Remmina is a candidate client for reaching it. The practical caveat is that protocol support depends on the plugins available in your installation, so a given build may not expose every protocol out of the box.

The protocol list

Remmina's own site lists its remote access protocol plugins as:

Protocol Typical use
RDP Connecting to Windows desktops and Windows Server hosts
SSH Terminal access to Linux/Unix machines, plus tunneling
SPICE Virtual machine consoles, common in KVM/QEMU virtualization
VNC Cross-platform graphical desktop sharing
X2Go Remote Linux desktop sessions
HTTP/HTTPS Web-based access endpoints

Matching protocol to scenario

  • You need a full Windows desktop — RDP is the protocol to look for.
  • You need a shell on a server — SSH covers command-line access.
  • You need to reach a VM console — SPICE is the usual fit in virtualization setups.
  • You need to view or control a graphical desktop across platforms — VNC.
  • You need a remote Linux desktop session — X2Go.
  • You need to reach a web endpoint — HTTP/HTTPS.

Remmina also describes itself as covering remote access screen and file sharing, so the same client is intended for both interactive sessions and file access, not just one or the other.

What to check before relying on a protocol

Protocol support is plugin-based, so verify it in your own environment rather than assuming:

  1. Confirm the protocol you need appears in the list above.
  2. Check that the corresponding plugin is present in your installation — the site notes Remmina ships across 50+ distributions, and package contents can differ.
  3. If a protocol is missing, treat it as an installation/packaging question, not a limitation of the protocol list itself.

Other context worth knowing

  • Remmina is described as copyleft and libre — free as in gratis and open source, with the freedom to use, see, change, and share.
  • It is available in 67 languages and 50+ distributions.
  • Features called out on the site include plugins, kiosk mode, and multi-monitor support.
  • Installation guides exist as YouTube videos for individual Linux distributions, which is the fastest route if you are setting it up on a specific distro.