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Windows Server 2012 – Connecting to your Windows Server using Remote Desktop

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Connecting to your Windows Server 2012 Virtual Server using Remote Desktop

Overview

In order to manage your Windows Server 2012 Virtual Server, you will need to connect to it using Remote Desktop Protocol, also called Remote Desktop or RDP. To use RDP, you must have a Remote Desktop Connection client. This is an application you will run on the desktop of your local computer, and connect to the desktop of your Windows Server 2012 VS.

There are Remote Desktop Connection clients available for most modern operating systems, including Windows XP Pro and above, Mac OS X, and Linux/UNIX. There is also a Remote Desktop Console available in the Customer Portal. There are even clients available for iOS, Android, Windows Mobile and Blackberry OS.

To connect to your Windows VS using an RDP client, you will need to have Administrator access. You may also need to install an RDP client on your local computer, or to configure an existing RDP client if one is already installed.

Your Windows VS allows two concurrent Remote Desktop connections by default, one as Administrator and one as Guest. If you need more than two concurrent RDP connections to your Windows VS, you will need to purchase a license for EACH user connecting to the VS. Please contact eApps Sales for more information if needed.

Using the Virtual Server Console in the Customer Portal

Using the Windows Remote Desktop Connection client

Windows 8
Windows 7/Windows Vista
Windows XP Professional

Using the Mac OS X Remote Desktop Connection client

Using a Linux/UNIX Remote Desktop Connection client

Using the Virtual Server Console in the Customer Portal

The name and location of the Virtual Server Console in the Portal will differ depending on whether you have a Virtual Cloud Server or a Virtual Machine in the Cloud. The actual functionality of the Console is identical on each platform.

NOTE – the Virtual Server Console is a Java applet. If you get a “Missing Plug-in” error when trying to use the Console the issue is with your browser and the version of Java installed on your computer. If you cannot resolve this issue by upgrading your browser, version of Java, or by installing the correct plugin, then you will have to use an actual Remote Desktop client to connect to the Windows Virtual Server instead of the Console applet.

Access to the Windows Server 2012 Virtual Server is available from the Customer Portal. Log in to the Portal at https://portal.eapps.com/, and click on the Virtual Servers tab at the top. This takes you to the screen that lists all your Virtual Servers.

Find the Windows Virtual Server that you want to connect to in the list, and then click on the magnifying glass icon to the right of the name.

Virtual Cloud Server – for a Virtual Cloud Server, look for the Open Console button under the Manage Your Server section on the left of the screen. Click on Open Console to open the Virtual Server Console.

Virtual Machine in the Cloud – for a Virtual Machine in the Cloud, look in the Actions section for the Virtual Machine Console. Click on this link to open the Virtual Server Console.

This will open the Console, which will allow you access to your Windows Virtual Server. Note that the Console is a Java applet, so you may have to allow permission for your browser to open it.

To connect, click on the Send Ctrl-Alt-Del button. This will take you to a screen where you can select your user.
Select Administrator (the other user shown is a non-user created by the Control Panel software). This takes you to a screen where you can log in as the Administrator user.

Enter the Administrator password. This logs you in to the Windows VS, and takes you to the desktop, where you can now manage your VS.

Using the Windows Remote Desktop Connection client

The Windows Remote Desktop Client is available for all versions of Windows starting with Windows XP Professional SP3. The software is installed by default.

The location of the Remote Desktop Connection client varies depending on which version of Windows you have installed. The options are also slightly different. Also be aware that you may see slightly different screens depending on other applications you have installed, such as AV software or firewall applications.

Windows 8

For Windows 8, go to Search, and in the Search box type in Remote Desktop Connection. In the Search results, click on Remote Desktop Connection to launch the application.

Once the application opens, enter the IP address or the hostname of the Windows Virtual Server in the Computer: text box. Then click on Connect.
You will be asked to enter your credentials. Generally you connect as the administrator user, or as a user with administrator privileges.
You will also need to accept the Security Certificate from the Windows VS, which uses a self-signed SSL certificate.
Once you do this, you will be taken to the desktop of the Windows VS, where you can manage the VS.

Windows 7 / Windows Vista

For Windows 7 and Windows Vista, go to Start, and in the Search box type in Remote Desktop Connection. In the Search results, click on Remote Desktop Connection. This will launch the application.

Enter the IP address or the hostname of the Windows Virtual Server in the Computer: text box. Then click on Connect.

This takes you to the screen where you can enter in your credentials to log in to the Windows VS.
This logs you in to the Windows VS, and takes you to the desktop, where you can now manage your VS.

Windows XP Professional

For Windows XP Pro, go to Start > Programs > Accessories > Remote Desktop Connection. This will open the Remote Desktop Connection application.

Enter the IP address or the hostname of the Windows Virtual Server in the Computer: text box. Then click on Connect.

This takes you to the login screen for the Windows Virtual Server.

Click on Administrator to log in, and enter the Administrator password.

This logs you in to the Windows VS, and takes you to the desktop, where you can now manage your VS.

Using the Mac OS X Remote Desktop Connection client

To connect from your Windows VS from Mac OS X, you will need to install a Remote Desktop Connection client. eApps recommends the official Remote Desktop Connection client from Microsoft, but other clients exist and can easily be found online.

Installing the Remote Desktop Connection client

To connect to your Windows VS from Mac OS X, you will need to install a Remote Desktop Connection client. Microsoft makes one available for download, located here – http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=18140. This is a free download from Microsoft.

Using the Remote Desktop Connection client

Once the application is installed, go to the Applications folder and open the Remote Desktop Connection application.

To connect, enter the IP address or hostname of the Windows VS in the Computer: text box. Then click on Connect.

This takes you to the screen where you can Enter your credentials.

User name – enter administrator

Password – this is the password you set up when you created the Windows Virtual Server

Once you have entered the correct log in information, click OK.

You may get a warning about the server name on the (SSL) certificate. This is because the Virtual Server uses a self-signed SSL certificate to encrypt the log in.

Click on Connect to continue.

This logs you in to the Windows VS, and takes you to the desktop, where you can now manage your VS.

Using a Linux/UNIX Remote Desktop Connection client

To connect to your Windows VS from Linux or UNIX, you will need to install a Remote Desktop Connection client. Depending on your specific Linux distro or UNIX flavor, there may already be one installed.

If one is not installed, eApps recommends rdesktop, which runs on most Linux/UNIX based operating systems that have the X Windows system installed. Information on rdesktop can be found here – http://www.rdesktop.org/

If you have a Linux disto such as Fedora, CentOS, or RHEL, you can use yum to install rdesktop with the yum install rdesktop command. You may need to be the root user or have sudo privileges.

[root@eapps-example ~]# yum install rdesktop

If you have a Linux distro such as Debian, Ubuntu, you can use apt-get to install rdesktop with the apt-get install rdesktop command. You may need to be the root user or have sudo privileges.

[root@eapps-example ~]# apt-get install rdesktop

See the documentation that came with your specific distro if you have any questions on which package manager to use or how to install applications.

Using rdesktop

rdesktop is launched from the command line of your Linux/UNIX computer. However, please note that rdesktop is not a command line application. You cannot run it from the console, you have to be logged into the graphical desktop of your Linux or UNIX computer, and launch rdesktop from an xterm or other terminal client.

This example shows the default desktop and xterm on Fedora, your desktop may not look exactly the same.

The command to connect to your Windows VS is rdesktop -u administrator IP_ADDRESS, where IP_ADDRESS can be either the IP address or the hostname of the Windows Virtual Server.

[root@localhost ~]# rdesktop -u administrator IP_ADDRESS

This takes you to the login screen for the Windows VS.

Click on administrator, and enter the password when prompted.

This logs you in to the Windows VS, and takes you to the desktop, where you can now manage your VS.

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