Connect to Remote Desktop Web Access

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2008 R2

By default, you can access the RD Web Access Web site at the following location, where server_name is the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the Web server where you installed RD Web Access:

https://server_name/rdweb

If you connect to the RD Web Access Web site from a public computer, such as a kiosk computer in a public establishment, or from a computer that you share with other users, click This is a public or shared computer. You must provide both your user name and password each time you sign in to the RD Web Access Web site.

If you are using a work computer assigned to you, that you do not share with others, click This is a private computer. Your user name is remembered, so you only have to provide your password each time you sign in to the RD Web Access Web site.

Note

To protect against unauthorized access, RD Web Access sessions automatically time out after a period of inactivity. If the RD Web Access session times out, you need to sign in again. There are different timeout values, depending on whether you select This is a public or shared computer or you select This is a private computer when you sign in to the RD Web Access Web site. The administrator can configure the default timeout values by using the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager tool.

To access the configuration settings for the RD Web Access Web site, you must log on to the RD Web Access Web site by using either the local Administrator account on the RD Web Access server or an account that is a member of the TS Web Access Administrators group on the RD Web Access server. To access the Web site, use either of the following methods:

  • Type the URL of the RD Web Access Web site into a Web browser.

  • On the RD Web Access server, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, point to Remote Desktop Services, and then click Remote Desktop Web Access Configuration.

Note

All authenticated users can access RemoteApp and Desktop Connection provided by an RD Web Access server. To change this, use Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager to edit the permissions on the RDWeb virtual directory.

For more information about RD Web Access security, see Remote Desktop Web Access Security.

Client computer requirements

To use RD Web Access, client computers must be running at least Internet Explorer 6.0 and a version of Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) that supports at least Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) 6.1.

To determine the RDP version that RDC supports, start Remote Desktop Connection, click the icon in the upper-left corner of the Remote Desktop Connection dialog box, and then click About. The RDP version that RDC supports is listed in the About Remote Desktop Connection dialog box.

RDC 6.1 supports Remote Desktop Protocol 6.1. RDC 6.1 is included with the following operating systems:

  • Windows Server 2008

  • Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 (SP1)

  • Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (SP3)

The version of RDC in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 supports RDP 7.0. The version of RDC that you are using determines which features of RD Web Access are available to you.

Additionally, the Remote Desktop Services ActiveX Client control must be enabled. The ActiveX control is included with RDC 6.1 and the version of RDC in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

For more information about client computer requirements for using RD Web Access, see https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=142240.

Additional references