ETH Homepage

Linux: Connect RDSNX

  1. To connect to the RDS from a managed Linux Client, you can search for the application “Connect to RDS” and execute it.
    Then, it will automatically connect to the ETH Remote Desktop Service. Use your Windows Login and Password.
  2. Here is an example command to connect to a generic Windows Server:

xfreerdp /v:"serverhostname".d.ethz.ch /d:d.ethz.ch /u:"username" /dynamic-resolution /cert-ignore

Replace “serverhostname” with the hostname of the server you wish to connect too, and replace “username” with your eth username.

To see a complete list of possible parameters you can type xfreerdp -help into a terminal.

  • /v: is the parameter to determine to what target you want to establish a connection. You can use IP-Adresses or a FQDN(Fully Qualified Domain Name).
  • /d:is to define the domain of your username in our case d.ethz.ch.
  • /u:is the parameter that supllies the username that is used for the user-context in which to establish the remote session.
  • /dynamic-resolution is used to automatically send display resolution updates when the window is resized.
  • /cert-ignore ignores the server computer certificate, only use this option for known servers from eth.
  • Optional and additional parameters that might be interesting/required for certain Terminal Services:
  • /g: if your connection needs to go through a gateway specify it with this parameter.
  • /load-balance-info: exists to supply desired information to go through a load balancer
  • /smart-sizing Scales the remote desktop to fit your window size.
  • /proxy: if you need to connect through a proxy because of firewall restrictions.
  • /port: if the server requires to connect on a specific port.
  • /log-level: helpful to debug if a connection doesn't work.