Remote Administration – RDP
As an IT department of one, I frequently find myself without sufficient time to complete maintenance tasks as other ‘right now’ jobs often take priority. When I do get a moment to take a look at warnings or errors that appear that show up in Nagios, I want to be able to do it as quickly and easily as possible.
I’ve always found the RDP client interface in Windows a little clunky. I really prefer to simply double-click a shortcut and be presented with the remote server/workstation desktop–this is where .rdp files come in. These files are associated with the Microsoft Terminal Services Client and they store information about a remote desktop connection. They can be crafted ahead of time and placed conveniently on your desktop for quick access. The .rdp file is a simple plain-text file that, like a Linux .conf file, stores one setting per line. The syntax is varname:datatype:data.
Here is my template for an .rdp file:
full address:s:<serverNameOrIP>:3389
desktopwidth:i:1280
desktopheight:i:720
username:s:<username>
password 51:b:<encryptedPassword>
winposstr:s:0,1,50,50,1380,810
audiomode:i:2
auto connect:i:1
bitmapcachepersistenable:i:1
compression:i:1
disable cursor setting:i:0
disable full window drag:i:1
disable menu anims:i:1
disable themes:i:1
disable wallpaper:i:1
displayconnectionbar:i:1
keyboardhook:i:1
maximizeshell:i:0
port:i:3389
redirectcomports:i:0
redirectdrives:i:0
redirectprinters:i:0
redirectsmartcards:i:0
screen mode id:i:1
server port:i:3389
session bpp:i:16
smart sizing:i:0
If you choose to save your passwords in an .rdp file, they are encrypted. You’ll need a way to encrypt your password for storage in the .rdp file. The small application at this blog will help. For help with each of the settings in the .rdp file, check out this Microsoft article.
