Self-Hosting RustDesk Remote Desktop Server on Cloud VPS in Pakistan

Commercial remote desktop tools like AnyDesk, TeamViewer, and LogMeIn have become increasingly problematic for Pakistani IT departments, software houses, and MSPs. Rising licensing fees, intrusive session time limits, and security vulnerabilities associated with proprietary central servers create serious operational challenges. Furthermore, routing sensitive remote desktop sessions through overseas relay servers introduces noticeable mouse latency and compromises data privacy.

The open-source RustDesk platform solves these issues. Written in Rust, it delivers peer-to-peer (P2P) performance with NaCl/Ed25519 end-to-end encryption. By deploying your own private RustDesk Rendezvous (hbbr) and Relay (hbbs) servers on a low-latency Cloud VPS in Pakistan, you gain full data sovereignty, zero commercial licensing restrictions, and sub-15ms local latency across Pakistani ISPs (Nayatel, PTCL, StormFiber).

RustDesk Server Architecture: hbbs vs. hbbr

A complete self-hosted RustDesk infrastructure consists of two lightweight system daemons:

+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                       Local Client (Lahore Office)                              |
+---------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
                                        | 1. Registration & NAT Traversal (hbbs)
                                        v
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                       Your Cloud VPS (RustDesk Server)                          |
|                                                                                 |
|   +------------------------------------+   +--------------------------------+   |
|   |         hbbs (Rendezvous)          |   |          hbbr (Relay)          |   |
|   | - ID Registration & Key Discovery  |   | - Fallback Direct Data Relay   |   |
|   | - UDP Hole Punching & STUN         |   | - TCP Streaming Port 21117     |   |
|   +------------------------------------+   +--------------------------------+   |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
                                        ^
                                        | 2. P2P Direct Connect (UDP Port 21116)
                                        |    OR Relay Connect via hbbr
+---------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
|                       Remote Client (Karachi Branch)                            |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

1. hbbs (Rendezvous / ID Server): Listens for client registrations, generates cryptographic session tokens, and facilitates NAT hole-punching for direct peer-to-peer UDP connections.
2. hbbr (Relay Server): Acts as an encrypted relay proxy when direct P2P connections cannot be established due to symmetric NAT or strict enterprise firewalls.

Prerequisites & Port Allocations

Deploying RustDesk requires opening specific TCP and UDP ports on your firewall or security group:

• 21115/tcp: hbbs NAT type test.
• 21116/tcp: hbbs TCP connection handler.
• 21116/udp: hbbs UDP heartbeat and registration.
• 21117/tcp: hbbr Relay service connection.
• 21118/tcp & 21119/tcp: Optional web client interfaces.

Step-by-Step Installation Using Docker Compose

The most resilient method to deploy RustDesk on Ubuntu 22.04 or AlmaLinux 9 is via Docker and Docker Compose.

Step 1: Install Docker Engine

Connect to your VPS via SSH and install Docker:

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
systemctl enable --now docker

Step 2: Create Directory & docker-compose.yml

mkdir -p /opt/rustdesk-server && cd /opt/rustdesk-server
nano docker-compose.yml

Paste the following production configuration:

version: '3'

networks:
  rustdesk-net:
    external: false

services:
  hbbs:
    container_name: rustdesk-hbbs
    image: rustdesk/rustdesk-server:latest
    command: hbbs -k _
    volumes:
      - ./data:/root
    network_mode: host
    restart: unless-stopped

  hbbr:
    container_name: rustdesk-hbbr
    image: rustdesk/rustdesk-server:latest
    command: hbbr -k _
    volumes:
      - ./data:/root
    network_mode: host
    restart: unless-stopped

Security Flag Note: The -k _ parameter forces mutual authentication. Clients without your server’s public key are rejected, preventing third parties from utilizing your VPS as an open relay.

Step 3: Launch Services and Retrieve Cryptographic Keys

Start the containers in detached mode:

docker compose up -d

Inspect the auto-generated cryptographic public key in the ./data directory:

cat ./data/id_ed25519.pub

Output Example:

8jK2pLm9xYzQwErTyUiOpAsDfGhJkLzXc1234567890=

Save this public key string; you will distribute it to your client endpoints.

Configuring the RustDesk Client Application

On your local Windows, macOS, or Linux machines:

1. Download the official RustDesk client from rustdesk.com.
2. Open RustDesk, click the three-dot menu (⋮) next to your ID, and select Network / ID/Relay Server.
3. Fill in the fields:
   • ID Server: vps-ip.nextgen.pk (or your VPS IPv4 address).
   • Relay Server: vps-ip.nextgen.pk.
   • API Server: Leave blank (or use Pro server endpoint).
   • Key: Paste the public key string obtained in Step 3 (8jK2pLm9x...).
4. Click Apply.

At the bottom of the client window, the status dot will turn Green (“Ready”). You now have a private remote desktop pipeline.

Commercial Comparison: Self-Hosted RustDesk vs. TeamViewer & AnyDesk

For organizations requiring multi-seat terminal environments, explore our comparison between Dedicated RDP vs. Shared RDP Architecture. If your enterprise needs high-throughput bare metal for multi-gigabit streaming, explore our Dedicated Servers.