Linux GNOME, GUI Setup and Accessing a Linux Machine via RDP

The below method has been tested successfully on CentOS 7.
The method below applies to most Linux OSes.
On most Cloud Computing Platforms, the Linux OS Images come only with CLI access.
In the event that you need to configure and access the OS using GUI, the following method comes in handy. 
Note: Remove # before copy-pasting the command from below:
After Connecting to the VM on the CLI, you will get prompted to enter your username and password. So go ahead and enter the username and password you had provided at your initial set-up.
Now, once you are logged in, gain root privileges, using the below command.

# sudo -s

Firstly, update the OS with the latest patches.

# yum update -y

Now reboot the server.

# shutdown -r now

Once your machine is accessible online log in, gain access to the root privileges again.

# sudo -s

Now, Install EPEL and nux Desktop repository RPMs.

# rpm -Uvh http://li.nux.ro/download/nux/dextop/el7/x86_64/nux-dextop-release-0-1.el7.nux.noarch.rpm 

After this is successful, the next step is to install the GNOME desktop and the Graphical administration tools to install GUI-based OS management.

# yum groupinstall “GNOME Desktop” “Graphical Administration Tools”.

The installation process will take a while, so please do wait patiently until it finishes.
After the installation is done, run the following command to change the reboot from CLI to GUI.

# ln -sf /lib/systemd/system/runlevel5.target /etc/systemd/system/default.target

The next step is to install the XRDP to be able to RDP on the VM.

# yum -y install xrdp tigervnc-server

Now start the rdp service on the server with the below command.

# systemctl start xrdp.service

Next, test if the RDP service is running fine.

# netstat -antup | grep xrdp

The above command should show the ports 3389 listening for incoming connections.

Now enable the RDP service.

# systemctl enable xrdp.service

RDP services usually are accessed via port 3389.
If its a Cloud Instance, make sure to create a Security Group to allow port 3389 or allow Ingress of data through port 3389.
Now add a port in the machine firewall if it was activated, if not then there is no need for the next two commands.

# firewall-cmd –permanent –zone=public –add-port=3389/tcp
# firewall-cmd –reload

The RDP should work now, however, it is a good practice to reboot once after this set-up to ensure the GUI/XRDP services are
starting along with the OS.
If you are trying to access the Linux machine from a windows OS, run the
“mstsc”, to open the remote desktop access client on your windows machine.
Provide the Login and Password, to access the linux server using the GUI method.