Chapter 3. Using Remote Desktop Connection

It is very easy to use Remote Desktop Connection - it has a simple interface, as shown in the screenshot below.

Remote Desktop Connection main window

Connecting Remote Desktop Connection to compatible servers

Remote Desktop Connection is a client, and it needs to be used with compatible servers. There are different ways to connect to those servers:

  • Directly typing the server name (or IP address) into the Connect to: input.

  • By using an invitation that you received. Desktop Sharing uses invitations, and can send them by email.

Let's look at each of these in turn.

Server name entry

If you know the host name (or IP address) of the server you want to connect to, you can enter it directly into the Connect to: input.

If you want to connect to a machine named megan, which is running a VNC server on screen 1 (5901), you can enter megan:1 or megan:5901 and choose vnc as the protocol in the drop down box.

Entering a hostname into Remote Desktop Connection

Similary, if you are using a RDP server on that machine, you can enter megan. Choose rdp as the protocol. RDP does not need the screen number to be specified. If the server runs the RDP server not on the default port, you may specify it in the following way: megan:3910

You need to enter an URL in percent encoded syntax, i.e. @ as %40, for e.g. username%40ad.domain.example

Using an invitation

Within the Desktop Sharing server application, it is possible to send invitations over email (and in other ways, although email is the most useful). If you receive this type of email invitation, you can just click on the link provided in the mail. This will start Remote Desktop Connection if it is not already running, and connect to the server specified in the invitation.