Running Windows Applications over the Network
You can now run Windows software applications over the network. This is done using Terminal Server that Microsoft provide as part of their Server product, it allows remote connection to Window sessions. You will have access to your DAMTP home directory (drive N:\)
The list of applications available includes:
- Microsoft Office 2010
- Internet Explorer
- OpenOffice 3.x
- Firefox
- SeaMonkey
- Adobe Creative Suite
- Corel Draw
- Corel Paint Shop Pro
- WinSCP
- Putty etc
You will need a Maths Windows password to use this service. Please contact help@maths if you need a new Maths Windows password, or password reset.
This service is run by two computers called rdsone.maths.cam.ac.uk and rdstwo.maths.cam.ac.uk. We suggest connecting to the service using rds.maths.cam.ac.uk which will direct the connection to one of the two computers (a round-robin). If one of these computers is out of action then please do try again with rds.maths or try connecting to each computer by name (rdsone or rdstwo).
- DAMTP Windows system documentation
- From a Linux Computer
- From an OSX Computer
- From a Windows Computer
- Other information
The Windows sessions on this service run on Windows 2008 Server which is not Windows XP, and is more similar to Vista.
From a Linux Computer
In DAMTP (on the main network)
If you are using gnome desktop then Applications -> DAMTP Apps -> Windows Applications
From the command line:
windows_applications OR rdesktop -d mathsdom -g 90% -T 'Terminal Service' -a 32 -x l rds & # 90% = screen resolution by % of your screen # rds = rds.damtp.cam.ac.uk OR rdesktop -d mathsdom -g 1280x1024 -T 'Terminal Service' -a 32 -x l rds & # 1280x1024 = screen resolution in pixels # rds = rds.damtp.cam.ac.uk
Internet (including home, College and wireless lapnet)
Using ssh to tunnel a remote desktop session. rdesktop 1.6.0+ required, earlier versions give certificate errors.
ssh -L 3386:rds.maths.cam.ac.uk:3389 ssh.damtp.cam.ac.uk # in a NEW terminal window on your local computer: rdesktop -d mathsdom -u CRSID -g 90% localhost:3386 & OR rdesktop -d mathsdom -u CRSID -g 1280x1024 localhost:3386 &
From an OSX Computer
NOTE: If you have asked for your password to be reset, you will need to log in to either a public Windows pc or to the Terminal Server via Windows or Unix first before trying to connect from your Mac. The reason for this is because of the way the Mac 'Remote Desktop Connection Client' works. It prompts you for your username and password required to log into the Windows server and passes this information to the server. The problem happens when the server asks you to change your password, 'Remote Desktop Connection Client' is unable to pass this request back to the user and eventually times out with an error. When connecting to the server via Windows or Unix, users type in their username and password on the Windows server and also see the request to first change your password, no problems.
This issue only occurs if you have asked for your password to be reset. If you know your password, you can ignore this warning.
Download and install Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac from Microsoft.
In DAMTP (on the main network)
Connect to rds.maths.cam.ac.uk
Domain: MATHSDOM
Internet (including home, College and wireless lapnet)
Using a terminal (Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal) establish an ssh tunnel:
ssh -L 3386:rds.maths.cam.ac.uk:3389 ssh.damtp.cam.ac.uk # or specify your DAMTP userID if it is different to the one on the computer you are using: ssh -L 3386:rds.maths.cam.ac.uk:3389 userID@ssh.damtp.cam.ac.uk
Then connect to localhost:3386
Domain: MATHSDOM
From a Windows Computer
For Windows XP, Vista and Windows7 users, a graphical program has been written to make connecting from in and outside of the department easy. This program is called WineX, it also provides a means to connect to DAMTP UNIX computers using X. As an example of how to use the interface, below shows the tab used to connect to terminal server.
To make a connection:
- Type in your UNIX CRSid and UNIX password at the top of the window. This is used to make the SSH connection to the inside of DAMTP and also provides terminal server with a Windows username you may wish to use.
- Select the colour depth (the higher the 'bit', the better the quality but the slower it displays - not generally an issue on broadband+ networks).
- Choose the screen size you'd like your Windows session to display in. Note that if it runs in full screen mode then the ALT + TAB type shortcuts work in the remote session. Window sizes less than fullscreen result in the ALT + TAB type shortcuts working on your local pc not on the remote session.
- Choose if you wish to use any local printers, drives or USB plugged in devices in the remote session. This is useful if you for example want to run Microsoft Word on the remote session but you want to print the document on your printer connected to your laptop you're working on. Similarly with the drives option, you can view your local drives on the remote session, open file stored locally in the remote application and save the work back on to your local drive.
- The advanced section allows you to specify the name and port number of a remote terminal server in the form name:port, e.g. rdsone:3389. Currently there are two terminal servers, rdsone and rdstwo. You can type in rds and the DAMTP network will choose either rdsone or rdstwo for you. You can also specify the path the exe file used to show the remote connection, mstsc.exe, leave this path alone unless you know what you are doing.
- Pressing the OK button will now make the SSH connection into DAMTP and set up the required communication link between your computer and the remote server. The first time you use this service (and periodically afterwards), you will be asked if you trust the connection and the self signed certificate of the server, accept/press Yes to these prompts. The next screen will be something like below (from XP running computers). This screen is now asking you to log in with your MATHS Windows password for the username you used in the initial WineX window.
Other Information
Click on 'Other User' to log in as a different Windows user. You will then be prompted for your Maths Windows password after which the login will then proceed. This will take about 30 seconds to complete.
Once logged in, your profile will be created/loaded from the Maths servers. A default profile is used for all new users and includes mapping of the N:\ drive to your UNIX files just like the normal networked Maths Windows pcs. Note that the settings and configuration options users of the normal networked Maths Windows pc may have are not used when connecting to these remote servers. However the setting and config options are the same if you log in to either rdsone or rdstwo as roaming profiles are employed. These profiles are also backed up onto the main DAMTP network. At the moment there are session time limits imposed on this service. A small timer program loads at logon showing you how much time you have left before you will get logged off. You do get warnings when this time is close to running out. Another type of time-out is when you close the remote session window. This is different from explicitly logging out via the Start Menu. When you log out, you've logged out whereas closing the session window hasn't logged you out, your session is still open but only for a short time. After this time (30 minutes), your session will be terminated for you. This means that if you close the session window but re-login again in 20 minutes time, any programs you had running when you closed the window will still be open. Time limits are used to give everyone the chance of running a session with reasonable speed, not slowed down by someone logging themselves in and never logging out.
NOTE: Further work may be done to provide a form of load balancing so that when you connect to 'RDS' - which can be either of the two terminal servers, rdsone or rdstwo, a check will be made to see which server has the lowest use and if you are starting a new session, will connect you to that server. It will also check to see if you have an existing session running, if you do, it will reconnect you to that session.