Remote Desktop WebSocket firewall
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Loading... Welcome to the eHorus blog, that extensive encyclopedia of computer concepts. Today we are going to deal with the popular question “what is websocket?”. You probably won’t get it in the Saturday night Summer Trivia game with your camping buddies or on a tv show. What is Websocket?Many of you will have heard about this new component in HTML5, but, even so, you don’t understand how to work with websockets. Websocket is an API that allows us to carry out bidirectional and open communication between two devices; in this precise case, between a client and a server. Let’s give an example: Pepín is a very nice middle-aged man who organizes meetings of “Friends of 600”. Well, let’s imagine that Pepín accesses a website. When Pepín accesses a website, what really happens is that two computers are talking, they have a chat. One of the computers is Pepín’s and the other is the server. “The client computer”, Pepín’s computer, makes a communication request on a “server computer”. In this case the communication request begins with a greeting. Pepin’s computer says something like “Hello” to the server computer. The server computer responds, “Hello, you too.” For the record, it’s a figurative conversation, don’t get involved, nobody here says “Hello” literally. Pepín’s pc continues: “Can I send you a file?” For example, if Pepin wanted to send a file. The server will say, “What kind of file?” “A jpg file” will tell you Pepin’s computer. “How much does this jpg file weigh?”, and so on… then Pepín’s computer will answer him, etc… The server computer will always answer you depending on what has been predetermined in it before for an exchange of this type of files. This is what usually happens when we work with or interact with a static page, those of all life, a simple page. The conversation is closed and simplified. The bad thing is that every time Pepin comes to your page to get new information he will have to start again with this conversation. Why? Because there is no open communication between the two or at least it is not kept open. Both the client and the server forget that this conversation has ever occurred at the time the connection is closed. Therefore, every time you go back in you have to start with the “hello” to the server, show them your intentions, what you want, how you want it, and then say goodbye. And I’m sorry, no matter how much you esteem your servant, when it’s all over he won’t remember you, nor when you come back to him for new material. “Oblivion is the only revenge and the only forgiveness.” -J.L. Borges- Don’t take it too personally, Pepin, it’s all programmed that way. Yours is a single-petition, momentary and perishable connection, and the protocol is designed to serve a vast number of people. You can’t just maintain deep connections for free. What is websocket, then? Well, with websocket, this communication we’ve been talking about is kept open. A websocket is created and at the moment it is opened an open biderectional communication can be made. This means that the server can talk to the client and the client can talk to the server. The ultimate goal of websockets is to send information (or communication between client and server) in real time. A socket is a two-way communication protocol and a websocket is the same, only it works within another directional protocol called HTTP. As I say, the purpose of websocket is to create bidirectional and lasting connections between a client and a server. We create the connection, client and server, we consider how to communicate using the same scheme as HTTP, only keeping the port open and deciding to send messages in real time. In this way, the server will be able to send Pepín, or any of his esteemed clients, any message at any time and they will receive it immediately. The same thing would happen to the opposite. We will be able to create a message from our computer and we will be able to send it without having to start from scratch with a new connection or with the happy conversation. It’ll be open and it’ll recognize us. And now you are more or less ready to answer the fearsome question. I don’t mean “do you still love me?”, but “what is Websocket?” But… do you already know eHorus? Ehorus is a remote computer management system (remote desktop software) that can help you with many tasks. Do you want to know what eHorus can do for you? You can see much more by going to: https://ehorus.com/ Or you can send us any question you may have about eHorus. You can do so using the contact form found right here: https://ehorus.com/contact-us-remote-management-software/ Our eHorus team will be happy to assist you!
I have just started getting an "internal error" when trying to Remote Desktop connect from my PC to a server on the LAN. It's been working fine for several years. I cannot reach our external network support group to find out what is going on, so I'm trying to troubleshoot my own firewall settings. Remote Desktop is listed twice. Why is that? Do I have the ability to override Group Policy settings? I do have some admin privileges.
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The Remote Desktop web client lets users access your organization's Remote Desktop infrastructure through a compatible web browser. They'll be able to interact with remote apps or desktops like they would with a local PC no matter where they are. Once you set up your Remote Desktop web client, all your users need to get started is the URL where they can access the client, their credentials, and a supported web browser. What you'll need to set up the web clientBefore getting started, keep the following things in mind:
Your users will see better performance connecting to Windows Server 2016 (or later) and Windows 10 (version 1611 or later).
Important If you used the web client during the preview period and installed a version prior to 1.0.0, you must first uninstall the old client before moving to the new version. If you receive an error that says "The web client was installed using an older version of RDWebClientManagement and must first be removed before deploying the new version," follow these steps:
How to publish the Remote Desktop web clientTo install the web client for the first time, follow these steps:
Note To see a list of all supported cmdlets for the RDWebClientManagement module, run the following cmdlet in PowerShell: Get-Command -Module RDWebClientManagementWhen a new version of the Remote Desktop web client is available, follow these steps to update the deployment with the new client:
How to uninstall the Remote Desktop web clientTo remove all traces of the web client, follow these steps:
How to install the Remote Desktop web client without an internet connectionFollow these steps to deploy the web client to an RD Web Access server that doesn't have an internet connection.
Note Installing without an internet connection is available in version 1.0.1 and above of the RDWebClientManagement PowerShell module.
Note You still need an admin PC with internet access to download the necessary files before transferring them to the offline server.
Note The end-user PC needs an internet connection for now. This will be addressed in a future release of the client to provide a complete offline scenario. From a device with internet access
From the RD Web Access serverFollow the instructions under How to publish the Remote Desktop web client, replacing steps 4 and 5 with the following.
Connecting to RD Broker without RD Gateway in Windows Server 2019This section describes how to enable a web client connection to an RD Broker without an RD Gateway in Windows Server 2019. Setting up the RD Broker serverFollow these steps if there is no certificate bound to the RD Broker server
Follow these steps if there is a certificate previously bound to the RD Broker server
Setting up the RD Session HostFollow these steps if the RD Session Host server is different from the RD Broker server:
General Observations
How to pre-configure settings for Remote Desktop web client usersThis section will tell you how to use PowerShell to configure settings for your Remote Desktop web client deployment. These PowerShell cmdlets control a user's ability to change settings based on your organization's security concerns or intended workflow. The following settings are all located in the Settings side panel of the web client. Suppress telemetryBy default, users may choose to enable or disable collection of telemetry data that is sent to Microsoft. For information about the telemetry data Microsoft collects, please refer to our Privacy Statement via the link in the About side panel. As an administrator, you can choose to suppress telemetry collection for your deployment using the following PowerShell cmdlet: Set-RDWebClientDeploymentSetting -Name "SuppressTelemetry" $trueBy default, the user may select to enable or disable telemetry. A boolean value $false will match the default client behavior. A boolean value $true disables telemetry and restricts the user from enabling telemetry. Remote resource launch method
Note This setting currently only works with the RDS web client, not the Azure Virtual Desktop web client. By default, users may choose to launch remote resources (1) in the browser or (2) by downloading an .rdp file to handle with another client installed on their machine. As an administrator, you can choose to restrict the remote resource launch method for your deployment with the following PowerShell command: Set-RDWebClientDeploymentSetting -Name "LaunchResourceInBrowser" ($true|$false)By default, the user may select either launch method. A boolean value $true will force the user to launch resources in the browser. A boolean value $false will force the user to launch resources by downloading an .rdp file to handle with a locally installed RDP client. Reset RDWebClientDeploymentSetting configurations to defaultTo reset a deployment-level web client setting to the default configuration, run the following PowerShell cmdlet and use the -name parameter to specify the setting you want to reset: Reset-RDWebClientDeploymentSetting -Name "LaunchResourceInBrowser" Reset-RDWebClientDeploymentSetting -Name "SuppressTelemetry"TroubleshootingIf a user reports any of the following issues when opening the web client for the first time, the following sections will tell you what to do to fix them. What to do if the user's browser shows a security warning when they try to access the web clientThe RD Web Access role might not be using a trusted certificate. Make sure the RD Web Access role is configured with a publicly trusted certificate. If that doesn't work, your server name in the web client URL might not match the name provided by the RD Web certificate. Make sure your URL uses the FQDN of the server hosting the RD Web role. What to do if the user can't connect to a resource with the web client even though they can see the items under All ResourcesIf the user reports that they can't connect with the web client even though they can see the resources listed, check the following things:
If the user gets an "unexpected server authentication certificate was received" error message when they try to connect, then the message will show the certificate's thumbprint. Search the RD Broker server's certificate manager using that thumbprint to find the right certificate. Verify that the certificate is configured to be used for the RD Broker role in the Remote Desktop deployment properties page. After making sure the certificate hasn't expired, copy the certificate in .cer file format to the RD Web Access server and run the following command on the RD Web Access server with the bracketed value replaced by the certificate's file path: Import-RDWebClientBrokerCertDiagnose issues with the console logIf you can't solve the issue based on the troubleshooting instructions in this article, you can try to diagnose the source of the problem yourself by watching the console log in the browser. The web client provides a method for recording the browser console log activity while using the web client to help diagnose issues.
The console may also be accessed directly through your browser. The console is generally located under the developer tools. For example, you can access the log in Microsoft Edge by pressing the F12 key, or by selecting the ellipsis, then navigating to More tools > Developer Tools. Get help with the web clientIf you've encountered an issue that can't be solved by the information in this article, you can report it on the Azure Virtual Desktop forum of Microsoft Tech Community. |