Really doing my head in - RDweb remote desktop install.

[edutech4schools]

Hi, I have been trying to get a remote desktop to work via remote desktop services (RDweb) for weeks. Each time I follow a different set of instructions I get to the same point and it errors.

 

Internally everything works fine, I can browse to https:vpn.school.area.sch.uk/rdweb, log in, click the 'remote desktop' tab, enter 'Windows7' which is the name of the virtual pc I need remote access to click 'connect' and bingo all works.

 

Externally I get all the way through the above steps but instead of connecting to the Windows 7 client I get the following error,

 

remote desktop can't find the computer name 'Windows7' this might mean that 'Windows7' does not belong to the specified network

 

I am really stuck, so any advice before I go mad.

[Michael]

Do you have a firewall managed by your LA? You may/may not need them to make exceptions for it to work properly.

[edutech4schools]

Do you have a firewall managed by your LA? You may/may not need them to make exceptions for it to work properly.

 

I thought the point of rdweb apps / desktop was it uses ssl port 443 from external to internal and any other ports like rdp are handled internally by IIS and mapped out to 443.

 

Yes firewall is managed by LA but I do have port 443 forwarded.

Edited January 29, 2013 by edutech4schools

[strawberry]

I think you need rds gateway to be able to tunnel to an internal pc.

[ChrisMiles]

I think you need rds gateway to be able to tunnel to an internal pc.

 

You need an RDS Gateway to use Remote Desktop Services externally period. Remote Apps and Remote Desktop sessions accessed through the RDS Web Access service connect through SSL on 443 to the gateway server. The web access server does absolutely nothing except display the web page interface.

 

You can use a gateway server to access remote desktop sessions externally just by entering the correct details into the RDP client, you dont even need the web access interface, although its user friendly.

[synaesthesia]

Hijacking the thread a little, on this note is it possible to set this up so you can't connect via a normal RDP client without the RDP port? Not entirely happy with having RDP open.

[edutech4schools]

ou can use a gateway server to access remote desktop sessions externally just by entering the correct details into the RDP client, you dont even need the web access interface, although its user friendly.

 

I did manage to connect using the above method, So why the error when doing it through the web page.

[edutech4schools]

Decided to remove web access interface and just use rdp session to connect to the rds gateway.

 

How would I go about removing the ssl cert error when connecting to the windows7 machine via rdp. It says the windows7.domain.lan cert is not trusted. I recently got a new cert for the school using vpn.school.area.sch.uk, can I use this?

[ChrisMiles]

Hijacking the thread a little, on this note is it possible to set this up so you can't connect via a normal RDP client without the RDP port? Not entirely happy with having RDP open.

 

Yes, you use the Remote Desktop Services Gateway role to wrap the RDP traffic in an ssl tunnel.

[ChrisMiles]

Decided to remove web access interface and just use rdp session to connect to the rds gateway.

 

How would I go about removing the ssl cert error when connecting to the windows7 machine via rdp. It says the windows7.domain.lan cert is not trusted. I recently got a new cert for the school using vpn.school.area.sch.uk, can I use this?

 

Well you can only use it if that is the external DNS name of your gateway or the certificate has additional SANs which cover the gateway's dns name.

[edutech4schools]

Well you can only use it if that is the external DNS name of your gateway or the certificate has additional SANs which cover the gateway's dns name.

 

No SANs

 

If I do a whois the domain = school.area.sch.uk

 

To access server from web = vpn.school.area.sch.uk (I assume this is the external DNS)

 

vpn.school.area.sch.uk is the SSL cert I got.

 

How do I use this cert in my windows7 rdp connection?

[MYK-IT]

i found alot of information out regarding RemoteApps etc, and I posted it here:

http://www.edugeek.net/forums/windows-server-2008-r2/98248-windows-2008-r2-remote-apps-access.html (See Post #5)

 

As mentioned, a Remote Gateway is required, and we are going to be using a Domain Wildcard SSL Certificate (got a good Educational price for a 5 year certificate from GoDaddy).

Edited January 29, 2013 by MYK-IT

[cscott]

Yep - you need RDP Gateway install to do it, clients connect via 443 to teh gateway which then proxies there request to the host server on port 3389.