Install AnyDesk on Fedora 45 / 44: Fix Wayland Not Supported

AnyDesk installs on Fedora in two minutes. Then a partner tries to connect, and the session dies with “Remote display server is not supported (e.g. Wayland)”. On Fedora 45 and Fedora 44 Workstation, that is the default outcome, not an edge case.

Original content from computingforgeeks.com - post 35155

This guide installs AnyDesk on Fedora from its signed RPM repository and shows the fix that makes the machine reachable: an Xfce session on X11, picked at the GDM login screen. It also covers the downloaded RPM route, which now trips the Fedora 45 NOKEY check, an unattended access password from the command line, and a clean removal. The steps below were run on Fedora 45 and Fedora 44 with the Workstation desktop in October 2026 with AnyDesk 8.1, SELinux enforcing.

The one limit to know first

AnyDesk on Linux accepts incoming sessions only from an Xorg desktop. The AnyDesk Linux documentation says Wayland sessions can start outgoing connections but cannot receive them. GNOME on both Fedora releases is Wayland only. /usr/share/xsessions/ is empty after a Workstation install, and there is no “GNOME on Xorg” entry to pick.

So the plan depends on the job. If this Fedora machine only connects out to other computers, GNOME is fine and you can stop after the install. If someone needs to control this machine, it needs an X11 session, or a different tool from the open source remote desktop roundup. We tested both directions between a Fedora 45 and a Fedora 44 VM:

Controlling side	Machine being controlled	Result
Fedora 44, GNOME (Wayland)	Fedora 45, GNOME (Wayland)	Not supported (e.g. Wayland)
Fedora 45, Xfce (X11)	Fedora 44, GNOME (Wayland)	Not supported (e.g. Wayland)
Fedora 44, GNOME (Wayland)	Fedora 45, Xfce (X11)	Accept prompt, then full view, mouse and keyboard

Add the AnyDesk repository

Use the generic RPM repository, not the old Fedora one. The rpm.anydesk.com/fedora/x86_64/ tree that older guides point to still answers, but on our test it only carried the previous release, while the generic tree had the current one. Older guides also set gpgcheck=0. There is no reason to. The key imports cleanly under the stricter rpm on Fedora 45. One expectation to set: AnyDesk does not list Fedora among its officially supported distributions, so vendor support will point you at the docs, not a fix.

Create the repository file:

sudo vim /etc/yum.repos.d/anydesk.repo

Add these lines. AnyDesk’s own how-to page uses plain http:// for the base URL. The same tree serves over HTTPS, so we used that:

[anydesk]
name=AnyDesk - stable
baseurl=https://rpm.anydesk.com/$basearch/
gpgcheck=1
repo_gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=https://keys.anydesk.com/repos/RPM-GPG-KEY

Save and close the file. dnf reads it on the next command.

Install AnyDesk

One package, no extra dependencies on a Workstation install:

sudo dnf -y install anydesk

dnf imports the AnyDesk key twice. The first import is for repository metadata, the second for the package signature in the rpm keyring. The Fedora 45 run:

Updating and loading repositories:
 AnyDesk - stable                       100% |   4.7 KiB/s |   3.5 KiB |  00m01s
 https://keys.anydesk.com/repos/RPM-GPG 100% |  10.0 KiB/s |   2.4 KiB |  00m00s
Importing OpenPGP key 0xA8772835:
 UserID     : "AnyDesk Software GmbH <[email protected]>"
 Fingerprint: 06B5EA2FAE208E7CDA9761DCA2FB21D5A8772835
 From       : https://keys.anydesk.com/repos/RPM-GPG-KEY
The key was successfully imported.
 AnyDesk - stable                       100% |   4.2 KiB/s |   5.2 KiB |  00m01s
Repositories loaded.
Package  Arch   Version   Repository      Size
Installing:
 anydesk x86_64 0:8.1.0-1 anydesk     42.3 MiB

Transaction Summary:
 Installing:         1 package

Total size of inbound packages is 16 MiB. Need to download 16 MiB.
After this operation, 42 MiB extra will be used (install 42 MiB, remove 0 B).
[1/1] anydesk-0:8.1.0-1.x86_64          100% |   8.6 MiB/s |  16.0 MiB |  00m02s
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1/1] Total                             100% |   7.3 MiB/s |  16.0 MiB |  00m02s
Running transaction
[2/2] https://keys.anydesk.com/repos/RP 100% |  10.4 KiB/s |   2.4 KiB |  00m00s
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[2/2] Total                             100% |   7.3 MiB/s |  16.0 MiB |  00m02s
Importing OpenPGP key 0xA8772835:
 UserID     : "AnyDesk Software GmbH <[email protected]>"
 Fingerprint: 06B5EA2FAE208E7CDA9761DCA2FB21D5A8772835
 From       : https://keys.anydesk.com/repos/RPM-GPG-KEY
The key was successfully imported.
[1/3] Verify package files              100% |  10.0   B/s |   1.0   B |  00m00s
>>> Running %pretrans scriptlet: anydesk-0:8.1.0-1.x86_64
>>> Finished %pretrans scriptlet: anydesk-0:8.1.0-1.x86_64
>>> Scriptlet output:
>>> rm: cannot remove '/etc/systemd/system/anydesk.service': No such file or directory
>>>
[2/3] Prepare transaction               100% |   4.0   B/s |   1.0   B |  00m00s
[3/3] Installing anydesk-0:8.1.0-1.x86_ 100% |  42.4 MiB/s |  42.3 MiB |  00m01s
>>> Running %posttrans scriptlet: anydesk-0:8.1.0-1.x86_64
>>> Finished %posttrans scriptlet: anydesk-0:8.1.0-1.x86_64
>>> Scriptlet output:
>>> Created symlink '/etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/anydesk.service' → '/etc/systemd/system/anydesk.service'.
>>>
Complete!

The rm: cannot remove line is noise. The pre-install script clears an old unit file that does not exist on a fresh system. The service comes up straight away:

systemctl is-active anydesk; systemctl is-enabled anydesk

Both releases report it running and enabled at boot:

active
enabled

The service runs as unconfined_service_t. SELinux logged no AnyDesk denials after install on either release, or after the remote sessions on the Fedora 45 machine. Future updates arrive with sudo dnf upgrade like any other package, and the DNF5 cheatsheet covers the upgrade and history commands.

Installing the downloaded RPM instead

Skip this section if you used the repository. Some people grab the RPM from the website instead. That route has two costs. The package installs no repository file, so it never updates. And on Fedora 45, rpm now refuses it until the AnyDesk key is imported. The repository directory lists the files, so the newest name can be read without hardcoding a version:

RPM=$(curl -s https://rpm.anydesk.com/x86_64/Packages/ | grep -oE "anydesk_[0-9.]+-[0-9]+_x86_64\.rpm" | sort -uV | tail -1)
echo $RPM
cd ~ && curl -sSLO "https://rpm.anydesk.com/x86_64/Packages/$RPM"

The detected file name:

anydesk_8.1.0-1_x86_64.rpm

Without the key, a direct install on Fedora 45 stops at verification:

sudo rpm -ivh anydesk_*.rpm

Nothing is installed after this:

warning: anydesk_8.1.0-1_x86_64.rpm: Header OpenPGP V4 RSA/SHA512 signature, key ID a2fb21d5a8772835: NOKEY
Verifying...                          ########################################
Preparing...                          ########################################
	package anydesk-8.1.0-1.x86_64 does not verify: Header OpenPGP V4 RSA/SHA512 signature, key ID a2fb21d5a8772835: NOKEY

Fedora 44 installs the same file anyway, which is why old instructions still look fine there. The fix is to import the key and check the file before installing it. We ran this part on Fedora 45:

sudo rpm --import https://keys.anydesk.com/repos/RPM-GPG-KEY
rpm -K anydesk_*.rpm

The check should print digests signatures OK. Then install through dnf with local signature checking switched on, so the check is not silently skipped:

sudo dnf -y --setopt=localpkg_gpgcheck=1 install ./anydesk_*.rpm

The Fedora 45 NOKEY guide explains the enforcement change behind this. TeamViewer ships the same way and hits the same wall, as the TeamViewer on Fedora guide shows.

Launch AnyDesk

Start AnyDesk from Activities, or run anydesk in a terminal. The first window is a welcome tab. Click New Session to see this machine’s address, which is the number a partner types to reach you:

Outgoing sessions work from here, GNOME included. Type the remote address and press Enter. Incoming sessions are where GNOME fails.

Error: “Remote display server is not supported (e.g. Wayland)”

The partner sees this the moment they connect to a Fedora machine logged in to GNOME. Nothing appears on the Fedora screen at all, so the person you are helping never gets an accept prompt. This was the Fedora 44 client connecting to Fedora 45 on GNOME:

AnyDesk documents no setting that changes this. The machine being controlled has to run an X11 session.

Log in to an Xfce session to accept connections

Xfce still runs on X11 and installs next to GNOME without replacing it. The Xfce on Fedora guide covers the desktop itself. For AnyDesk, the environment group is enough:

sudo dnf -y install @xfce-desktop-environment

On Fedora 45 this pulled 368 packages, including xorg-x11-server-Xorg and LightDM. GDM stays the active login screen, so nothing about booting changes. Log out, click your name, then click the gear in the bottom right corner. “Xfce Session” is now listed under GNOME and GNOME Classic:

Select it and log in. GDM remembers the choice for the next login. We tested this X11 path on Fedora 45. Fedora 44 ships the same Xfce environment group. Confirm the session really is X11 before you hand out the address:

loginctl show-session $(loginctl list-sessions --no-legend | awk '$4=="seat0"{print $1}') -p Type -p Service

Our test machine used GDM autologin, hence the service name. After a normal password login it reads gdm-password, still with Type=x11. If more than one seat0 session is open, you get one block per session. The line that matters is the type:

Service=gdm-autologin
Type=x11

The AnyDesk tray icon shows up in the Xfce panel with no extra setup. When the partner connects now, an accept window opens on the Fedora side, with a row of permission toggles for the session (keyboard and mouse, clipboard, sound and more). Click Accept:

The controlling side then gets the full Xfce desktop. The Fedora 44 GNOME client here double-clicked the Home icon on the remote desktop, and Thunar opened on the Fedora 45 machine. Mouse and keyboard input from the controlling side reached the Xfce desktop:

The free licence labels it “This is a non-commercial session” in the corner. Commercial use needs a paid AnyDesk plan.

Set an unattended access password

Unattended access lets a partner connect with a password instead of waiting for someone to click Accept. The AnyDesk binary sets it from the command line, run as root:

echo 'ChangeMe-Strong-Passphrase' | sudo anydesk --set-password

Replace the sample passphrase with your own, and note that this form leaves it in your shell history. It prints nothing and exits 0. A salted hash lands in /etc/anydesk/service.conf as ad.anynet.pwd_hash and ad.anynet.pwd_salt. We confirmed the hash was written. We did not test a password login with it, because every session in this lab was accepted by hand.

Two more root commands help on a machine you reach over SSH. sudo anydesk --get-id prints the address, and sudo anydesk --get-status prints online once the service has reached the AnyDesk network. Incoming sessions, unattended or not, still need the X11 session from the previous section. After a reboot the machine sits at the GDM greeter, which is not an Xfce session, so AnyDesk has nothing to connect to until someone logs in. For a machine nobody sits at, enable GDM automatic login for that user, which is how our test VM booted straight into Xfce.

Remove AnyDesk

dnf removes the package and stops the service:

sudo dnf -y remove anydesk

The unit file goes with it, but the configuration does not. /etc/anydesk/ keeps system.conf, service.conf (which holds the password hash if you set one), a cache and a connection trace. Each user keeps ~/.anydesk. The repository file and the key are yours to delete too:

sudo rm -rf /etc/anydesk
rm -rf ~/.anydesk
sudo rm -f /etc/yum.repos.d/anydesk.repo
sudo rpmkeys --delete 06b5ea2fae208e7cda9761dca2fb21d5a8772835

If you installed Xfce only for AnyDesk, pick GNOME at the gear menu on your next login, and see the Xfce guide linked above for taking the desktop back out. For a fresh Fedora 45 setup, the post-install checklist covers the rest of the desktop.