How to connect to your Windows server over RDP

From Windows: Remote Desktop Connection (mstsc)

Windows ships its own RDP client, so there is nothing to install and nothing to buy. Have the three details sent when the server was delivered at hand: the dedicated IPv4 address, the username Administrator and its password. As long as you have not changed the listening port, there is no need to specify it: the client uses 3389 by default.

The procedure is identical on Windows 10, Windows 11 and Windows Server.

1. Press Windows + R, type mstsc and confirm. The Remote Desktop Connection window opens.
2. In the Computer field, enter your server's IP address. If you changed the listening port, write address, colon, port: 192.0.2.10:3390.
3. Click Show Options to expand the Display, Local Resources and Experience tabs: resolution, drive redirection and display quality all live there (details below).
4. Click Connect, then enter Administrator and the password. If Windows offers another account automatically, click More choices then Use a different account.
5. A certificate warning appears on the first connection: the RDP certificate is self-signed by the server, which is normal behaviour on a fresh machine. Check that the IP address shown is yours, tick Don't ask me again and carry on.
6. The remote desktop appears. To send Ctrl + Alt + Del inside the session rather than to your own machine, use Ctrl + Alt + End.
7. Save the connection for next time: Show Options → Save As creates an .rdp file that reopens the session in one double-click, settings included.
8. To close cleanly, open the remote Start menu and choose Sign out. Closing the window with the cross leaves the session open on the server and keeps one of the two available slots busy.

From macOS: the Windows App application

Microsoft renamed Microsoft Remote Desktop to Windows App. It is the same client, free on the Mac App Store, and existing installations keep working under the old name. A Mac connects to exactly the same server as a PC: same session, same open windows, same Windows software — including the programs that do not exist on macOS, which is usually the whole point of the exercise.

1. Install Windows App (formerly Microsoft Remote Desktop) from the Mac App Store, then open it.
2. Click + then Add PC.
3. In PC name, enter the server's IPv4 address, followed by :port only if you changed the listening port.
4. Under User account, choose Add user account and store Administrator and its password: no more retyping at every session.
5. Open the Devices & Audio tab to enable the clipboard, printers or sound redirection, and the Folders tab to mount a folder from your Mac inside the session. Click Save.
6. Double-click the server thumbnail and accept the self-signed certificate warning on the first connection: the session opens.
7. In the connection display settings, enable updating the session resolution on resize: the session then follows the window size instead of staying fixed, which avoids black bars on a Retina display.

From Linux: Remmina or FreeRDP

Microsoft does not publish an RDP client for Linux, but two pieces of free software do the job without compromise: Remmina, a graphical front end shipped with most desktop distributions, and FreeRDP, the command-line engine Remmina actually runs underneath. Both handle the clipboard, sound, folder sharing and dynamic resolution.

1. Install the packages: sudo apt install remmina remmina-plugin-rdp freerdp2-x11 on Debian and Ubuntu, sudo dnf install remmina freerdp on Fedora.
2. Launch Remmina, click + and select the RDP protocol from the drop-down list.
3. Fill in Server (the IP address, optionally followed by :port), User name Administrator and the password. Leave the domain field empty: this is a local account.
4. On the Basic tab, pick the resolution or the option that follows the window size; on Advanced, set the colour depth and enable clipboard sharing. Save, then connect.
5. From the command line, a single instruction is enough: xfreerdp /v:192.0.2.10 /u:Administrator /dynamic-resolution /clipboard. On FreeRDP 3, the command is called xfreerdp3.
6. Add /drive:share,/home/me/share to mount a local folder inside the session, /sound to bring the audio back and /multimon to spread the session across several monitors.
7. On the first connection FreeRDP asks you to validate the self-signed certificate fingerprint: answer Y and it is stored in ~/.config/freerdp/known_hosts2.

From iOS and Android

Microsoft publishes the same application on iPhone, iPad and Android. It is the troubleshooting tool par excellence: restarting a service, approving an accounting entry or checking that a batch job finished, straight from a phone, without opening a laptop. Let us be honest about the limit: a six-inch screen suits a short intervention, not a full day of data entry. For serious mobile work, a tablet with a keyboard is the minimum.

1. Install Windows App (formerly Microsoft Remote Desktop) from the App Store on iOS and iPadOS, or from the Google Play Store on Android.
2. Tap + then Add PC and enter the server's IPv4 address.
3. Store the Administrator account and its password in the app: typing a complex password on a touch keyboard at every connection gets old fast.
4. Accept the self-signed certificate warning, then tap the server thumbnail to open the session.
5. Pick the input mode in the toolbar: pointer mode (your finger moves a cursor, a tap is a left click) stays the most reliable with business software, while touch mode suits applications designed for a screen.
6. A Bluetooth keyboard transforms the experience on a tablet: Windows shortcuts are passed through to the session, including Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V to the shared clipboard.

The settings that genuinely improve comfort

A badly configured RDP session feels slow in a way that has nothing to do with the server's power. The settings below live in mstsc → Show Options on Windows, and in the connection properties on the other clients. Configure them once, then save them with the connection profile.

• Resolution (Display tab): the slider goes all the way to full screen. On a comfortable link, leave it at maximum; RDP access on By-Hoster Windows VPS is optimised up to 60 FPS, so you may as well use it.
• Multiple monitors: tick Use all my monitors for the remote session on the Display tab, or launch mstsc /multimon. The remote session then spreads across your two or three physical screens.
• Shared clipboard (Local Resources tab): copy and paste text, but also files, between your machine and the server through Explorer. It is often the simplest way to move a document without FTP or cloud storage.
• Shared drives: Local Resources → More → Drives. Your local disks appear in the server's Explorer as C on YOUR-PC. Handy for dropping off a backup or picking up an export.
• Printers and sound: printer redirection lets you print a document from the server on the printer standing next to you. Audio can be brought back to your machine, left on the server, or muted.
• Experience profile (Experience tab): the LAN (10 Mbps or higher) setting enables every visual effect. On a flaky mobile connection, dropping one notch and unticking the desktop background makes the session noticeably more responsive.
• Automatic reconnection: leave the box ticked. A short glitch on your side will not lose the session, the client re-establishes it on its own.

Securing RDP access from the very first session

A port 3389 open to the internet is scanned non-stop by bots trying passwords in a loop. This is not a theoretical threat, it is the background noise of the network. The good news: a few minutes of configuration make those attempts harmless. Take a snapshot before touching the firewall, it will bring you back if you lock yourself out.

1. Change the Administrator password during the first session. Inside the session press Ctrl + Alt + End then Change a password, or open an elevated command prompt and type net user Administrator *. Aim for at least 14 characters, never reused anywhere else.
2. Never leave a weak password on an exposed server. This is the number one cause of compromised Windows servers: neither the firewall, nor the Anti-DDoS, nor a changed port makes up for a guessable password.
3. Restrict port 3389 with the firewall. Open Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security → Inbound Rules → Remote Desktop (TCP-In) → Properties → Scope, and limit the remote IP addresses to your office or your VPN. Everything else is refused before the login screen even appears.
4. First check that your public address is static. With a dynamic IP, the rule will lock you out at the next change. In that case keep the rule open and rely on a long password, or go through a VPN.
5. Create an administrator account under a name of your own and keep the built-in Administrator account aside: half of all dictionary attacks only ever test that name.
6. Changing the listening port cuts the noise, it does not replace the rest. The port lives in the key HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp, value PortNumber. Open the new port in the firewall before restarting the service, otherwise the current session will be the last one.
7. Leave Network Level Authentication (NLA) enabled. It demands valid credentials before a graphical session is even created, which cuts short a large share of automated attempts.

Troubleshooting: the most common RDP errors

Almost every RDP failure comes down to seven messages. Here is how to read them and what they actually ask for, from the most common to the most specific.

• "The connection timed out" / cannot establish a connection: the machine is off, the firewall blocks 3389, or your own network filters that port outbound — plenty of hotels, schools and companies do. Test from a mobile hotspot: if it works, the block is on your local network, not on the server.
• "Your credentials did not work": on a French system the account is called Administrateur, not Administrator. Try .\Administrator to force the local account. Also check the keyboard layout: the password is typed with yours, and AZERTY and QWERTY do not produce the same characters.
• "The identity of the remote computer cannot be verified": the RDP certificate is self-signed by the server, which is normal on a fresh machine and does not make the connection any less encrypted. Confirm the IP address shown is yours, then tick Don't ask me again.
• "No Remote Desktop licence available" / no licence server reachable: the Remote Desktop Services role was installed and its grace period has expired. It now demands Microsoft RDS CALs, which By-Hoster does not supply. For plain two-person administration that role is unnecessary: mstsc /admin opens an administrative session without it.
• "The maximum number of connections has been reached": both administrative sessions are busy, often by a ghost session left open. From the remaining session, type query user then logoff <ID> to free a slot. Get into the habit of signing out instead of closing the window.
• Authentication error related to CredSSP or encryption: client and server are not on the same patch level. Install the Windows updates on both sides — that is the only clean fix, and working around the check means disabling a protection.
• Slow, stuttering session or black screen: drop the resolution one notch, untick the desktop background on the Experience tab, disable audio redirection if you do not need it. On a persistent black screen, Ctrl + Alt + End opens the remote Task Manager: restart explorer.exe from File → Run new task.

When RDP stops answering: the backup VNC console

Sometimes none of those fixes applies, simply because RDP itself is out of service: a firewall rule that is too strict, a stopped Remote Desktop service, a reboot stuck on an update. In that case the VNC console in the client area remains available: it shows the machine's screen without going through the RDP network layer, exactly as if you were sitting in front of a monitor plugged into the server.

That is where you reopen port 3389, restart the service, close a ghost session or answer a dialog box that stayed stuck. If the situation is worse, snapshots let you roll back to an earlier state and reinstallation can be triggered on your own from the client area. And if none of that is enough, 24/7 human support answers by ticket, Discord and phone — the association's technical team runs the DC-FR_NA(01) datacenter in Nouvelle-Aquitaine itself.