Can i use RDS Broker without RDWeb & Gateway?

[Joko]

Hi guys,

 

A bit of a weird question so please forgive me if it comes across as confusing.

 

I have two schools. Both with smoothwalls in.

 

School A has an RDS Farm which i will be making public but awaiting DMZ creation etc. I would like 10 users from School B to be able to access the RDP Farm.

 

I have used smoothwall to setup a port forward so i can RDP to the server of my choice based on IP etc. Although i would like it to load balance between 2 host session servers like it does if i use RDWeb. I have tried to RDP direct to the broker, but this just logs them in on the Broker server itself.

 

Thanks!

 

Joe

[localzuk]

You can, but for the life of me I can't remember how I generated the rdp file I use that does this. Basically, when you're connecting to the Broker, you need to be specifying the loadbalance info. In an RDP file this is a line such as "loadbalanceinfo:s:tsv://MS Terminal Services Plugin.1.MMS_Pupils".

 

So, somehow you need to create a RDP file with this info included. I say somehow, because if you make it my hand it won't be signed so you'll get complaints about security.

[Joko]

You can, but for the life of me I can't remember how I generated the rdp file I use that does this. Basically, when you're connecting to the Broker, you need to be specifying the loadbalance info. In an RDP file this is a line such as "loadbalanceinfo:s:tsv://MS Terminal Services Plugin.1.MMS_Pupils".

 

So, somehow you need to create a RDP file with this info included. I say somehow, because if you make it my hand it won't be signed so you'll get complaints about security.

 

Hi thanks for the reply.

 

So i have added created the RDP file and added that line but with my connection issue but i am getting the error:

 

Your computer can't connect to the remote computer because the connection broker couldn't validate the settings specified in the RDP File

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks!

[localzuk]

Not sure if any of the other lines are key. We also have lines for:

 

full address:s:Brokeraddress

workspace id:s:Brokeraddress

use redirection server name:i:1

alternate full address:s:Brokeraddress

 

Other than that I don't know, sorry!

[Joko]

Cheers,

 

I think i am recieving certificate errors. I have set all my broker addresses to the IP address on my smoothwall boxes (which port forwards via RDP) and after adding my password i get:

 

The connection has been terminated because an unexpected server authenication certificate was recieved from the remote computer

[localzuk]

Yeah, your RDP file would need to be signed by the server IIRC, and then you need a certificate installing on your Broker.

 

However, all that said, port forwarding to a RDS Farm without a gateway in place is highly inadvisable. You're exposing port 3389 which you should never do.

[Joko]

This is port forwarding between schools only. The firewall is only allowing school IPs. I have a gateway and broker, although i was hoping to get this up and running internally before i get the DMZ created and tested properly for external use.

 

Would you advice against running direct to a session host via RDP over the internet? If this is bad practice i will of course disable that puppy.

 

Thanks.

[KenZ]

Hi

 

have you tried building two standalone RD Session Hosts, installing Microsoft NLBS and configuring a load-balanced IP address? All you need to do is connect to the LB address (or name if you add it to DNS). You can use something like Remote Desktop Commander (RDPSoft) free edition to monitor and control users.

 

Regards

 

Ken