Win2008 Terminal Server Remote Program Configuration

Terminal Services is a service first introduced in Windows NT. Terminal Services uses the RDP protocol (Remote Desktop Protocol) client connection. Clients using Terminal Services can access the server remotely in a graphical interface, and can invoke applications, components, services, etc. in the server, just like operating a local system. . This type of access not only greatly facilitates a wide variety of users, but also greatly improves work efficiency and can effectively save the cost of the enterprise.

Terminal Services allows organizations to access standard Windows programs from anywhere on a variety of Windows devices, whether on the intranet or on the Internet. In Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services, a seamlessly integrated remote program is included. Let's first introduce the four Ws about remote computing, and then introduce the specific installation configuration.

What is a remote program? (what)

A remote program is a program that implements remote access through Terminal Services. It looks like it is running. Same on the user's terminal computer. Users can run their local programs as well as remote programs in parallel. If a user runs multiple remote programs on the same terminal server, the remote program will share the same terminal service session.

In Windows Server 2008, users can run remote programs in three ways:

1. Double-click the .rdp file created and assigned by an administrator

2. Double-click a program icon on the desktop or click the .msi file created and assigned by the administrator in the Start menu.

3. Double-click a file with the suffix associated with the remote program, which will be configured by the administrator through the .msi installation file.

The .rdp and .msi files include the settings needed to run a remote program. After running the remote program on the local computer, the user can interact with the remote program running on the terminal server just like a local program.

Why do you need remote computing? (Why)

On the surface, we really don't need to use PCs to satisfy most computing needs, the utilization of computer resources is extremely low —— During the day, many people's computers are only a few percent of the time they are busy, and they don't even use computers at night. Even in the case of data centers, for different data centers, the utilization rate is usually only 5%-15% before server consolidation through virtualization.

In addition, we often have to do a lot of work to upgrade the operating system and application software to ensure that the computer is protected from viruses, malicious programs and other security threats, and the data is regularly backed up. Although these aspects have already achieved some automation, there are still many people who will remind you to upgrade, update, and re-purchase the latest versions of various hardware and software products all day long. This is really annoying! Think about it, if the TV is also How can we live in this way?

Another problem is that if the files are stored on different machines, this will also bring some inconvenience, because these machines may Can't easily access each other. Suppose I am working on the same document at home, at work, or on vacation, which usually requires a variety of software to support. And if the Internet can provide a simple, online, distributed computing environment, what will happen to our work and life? It is estimated that the trouble will be much less.

Who, what scenarios require remote procedures (when, where)

For IT planners and analysts who evaluate products, corporate IT planners, and advanced test users, Remote programs are very useful. The application scenarios of remote programs are mainly concentrated in the following aspects:

· Commercial application deployment line

· roaming users

· application deployment

1) Business Unit Applications

As a merger, intercompany mergers and acquisitions is a very typical case where companies need to specify consistent business unit applications for different Windows versions and configurations. . Instead of spending a lot of money and resources on deploying business unit applications on all computers, choosing to use a remote program to install business applications on a single terminal server is a smart choice.

2) Roaming users

In many companies, they will configure their own flexible desktop strategies. Users can work on different computers very conveniently. In this environment, many softwares actually It does not need to be installed on a local computer, using a remote program, as long as the terminal server installed in the program is always available to the user to meet the needs of the user.

3) Application Deployment

With remote programs, administrators do not need to deploy and maintain different versions of the same program on each computer. If users need to use different versions of a program, These different versions can then be installed on one or more terminal servers through which users can use remote programs.

Prerequisites for deploying remote programs

To deploy remote programs, we need to pay attention to the following:

First, we must initialize the configuration task through the Windows server ( OOBE.exe) installs Terminal Services and uses the Add Roles Wizard to install and configure Terminal Services. If you are using the version of Windows Server 2008 Beta 2, then you must restart the computer twice after installing Terminal Services, and then confirm the installation of Terminal Services by checking the role summary page of the server management tool.

Remote Desktop Connection for Windows Vista must be used when running remote programs on the user's local computer, and the number of licenses is equivalent to the number of licenses for Terminal Services.

Recommended Terminal Server Configuration When Using Remote Programs

According to the following overview, we can complete the configuration of the terminal server. First, let's configure the remote program. Log in to the settings, click Start, select Administrative Tools, then click on Terminal Services Configuration right-click RDP-Tcp and select Properties. Click on the Logon Settings tab, check Use client-provided logon information to select if it has been selected, and then verify Always use the following The logon information option and the checkbox for Always prompt for password are not selected.

When using a remote program, the user may encounter some problems, such as when the user opens a snap-in tool, if a Windows security warning dialog box pops up, "Windows needs your permission to use this program" ;, click Permit, and the .rdp file created for the remote program is configured to require SSL/TLS authorization. If the user's terminal server is not configured to support SSL/TLS authorization, the user needs a text compiler. For example, the simplest Notepad tool to edit .rdp files cancels the need for authorization for SSL/TLS. If you attempt to create an .msi file via Takeover Client Extensions without any associated suffix, you will receive an error message and the .msi file page will not be created. The error message will prompt the user "available disk space and write access to the specified directory".

Steps to Deploy Remote Programs

To complete the deployment of remote programs, we need to complete the following tasks:

· Publish an application

· Create an RDP package

· Create an MSI package

· Adjust remote package settings (optional)

· Distribute .rdp or .msi files

Let's take a look at each step of the specific operation, the first is to release an application, run the Microsoft Management Console (mmc.exe) to add Terminal Services Application Publishing (Terminal Services Application Publishing) tool, in action Click on Publish an Application to open the Remote Application Publishing Wizard. In the Select Application to Publish page of the wizard, select the application you want to publish installed on the terminal server. When the wizard is complete, the list of published applications will appear in the publishing pane of the Terminal Services Application Publishing tool. If you want to publish other applications, run the Remote Application Publishing Wizard again. Applications that have already been published will no longer appear in the optional application publishing window. To delete an application in the publish list, simply click on the application name in the Publish pane and click Remove in the action bar.

Let's create the RDP package. First select the application name just released. Click Create RDP Package in the action window to open the remote application publishing wizard. On the Detailed Package Settings page of the wizard, select a location to save the .rdp file created by the wizard. Users need to create a centralized folder to hold all the .rdp files created by the wizard. When the wizard is completed, the folder where the .rdp file is saved will be opened automatically, so that the user can confirm that the file is successfully saved. Repeat the above operation, the user can create multiple RDP packages for the different settings of the same program, and create the file. The name will be automatically followed by parentheses and encodings, such as Remote WordPad (1).rdp.

The process of creating an MSI package is similar to creating an RDP package, except that you can select Create MSI Package when you choose. Note that on the Configure Bundle page of the wizard, the user can select where the application icon appears on the end user's computer. It is also possible to modify the suffix name of the terminal computer associated with the remote program.

Let's adjust the settings of the remote package (optional)

Use the Notepad tool to open the .rdp file you just created, add or modify the settings as needed.

Authentication Level:i:value

· If i =0: SSL/TLS authentication not attempted.

· If i =1: SSL/TLS authentication required. ( Default)

· If i =2: SSL/TLS authentication attempted but not required.

remoteapplicationname:s:Program_name

· Provide a user to view the program Name to

remoteapplicationicon:s:Path_to_icon

? Provide a full path to the icon displayed to the user

If you create a .msi file, then the user Settings cannot be adjusted through tools such as Notepad, but users can modify the .rdp file contained in the .msi file after the .rdp file is installed on the end user's computer.

Finally, we distribute .rdp or .msi files. If it is an .rdp file, we can distribute it to end users through a common software distribution program, such as Microsoft's Microsoft Systems Management Server.

If it's a .msi file, we can't use Microsoft Systems Management Server to distribute it, and we can do it with Active Directory Group Policy.

The next version of each terminal server will be closer to a perfect solution, although the new Terminal Services Remote feature still has some drawbacks that need to be compensated by third-party products, but many features have been added to make the configuration A lot of servers have become easier. By using a terminal server remote program, organizations can significantly reduce the cost of remotely accessing mission-critical client/server applications for their user base. In addition to the significant savings in hardware, third-party add-ons, and support costs, the new remote access solution saves on administrative overhead and provides a more seamless end-user experience while increasing system availability.