Please Note: This entry is an archived entry from my previous weblog. No new comments may be posted. Also, as of May 2005, I have left Microsoft. I am still happy to respond to any questions or comments about this article, but as I am no longer on the Visual Studio team, I may not be able to provide any helpful answers.

May 20, 2003

[permalink] RDP, Console Sessions, Windows 2003 Server, And You

Ever wanted to connect to the console session of a Win2k3 box via RDP? With XP, this is the default behavior, because only one interactive user can be logged in at a time. But 2k3 allows multiple ineractive users (and even the same user multiple times), so connecting via RDP and logging in as the console user just creates a new session and leaves the console alone.

Here's a trick to let you remotely connect to the console session:

  1. Start mstsc.exe and enter the settings for the computer you want to connect to
  2. Save this connection to a file like "foo.rdp"
  3. Open this file in Notepad (it's just a text file anyhow)
  4. Add a line to the file that says "connect to console:i:1" (no quotes)
  5. Save the changes

Presto! When you launch the foo.rdp file and login to the remote system, you'll connect to the console session. Have fun.

[Update] John provides this information in the comments: "'mstsc /v:machine-name /console' I think it picks up the other settings from Default.rdp."

< Geekness > Posted at May 20, 2003 01:46 PM
Comments

  1. Thanks for sharing. This rocks! I don't know how many times I was - unsuccessfully - looking for behavior like this.

    -Ingo

    Comment by: Ingo Rammer at May 21, 2003 01:53 PM

  2. mstsc /v:machine-name /console

    I think it picks up the other settings from Default.rdp.

    Comment by: John Lambert at May 21, 2003 10:01 PM

  3. Very cool. I just found the "connect to console" option by running Strings over mstsc.exe. Command line switches are also convenient.

    Comment by: Joe Bork at May 21, 2003 10:49 PM

  4. I reccomend just modifying the shortcut in "Accessories->Communications" to point to mstsc /console. Unless of course you want terminal server functionality. This is what I do, and dont even have to think about connecting to console anymore as thats all I connect to.

    Comment by: J.P. at May 23, 2003 10:09 PM

  5. If you're running rdp client 5.2 [including with w2k3] you can just click on a Connect to Console button from the GUI. Alternatively, in the host area just append /console ot the hostname or IP address.

    Unfortunately, this feature only works against w2k3 terminal servers - so trying to connect to console on w2k won't work, even with the newer client.

    It's semi-neat, but compared to the new TS licensing with w2k3 I can't say I'm super happy. One other -nice- thing is that Terminal Servers no longer need to be DC's in w2k3 - but again, they're just pulling their standard M$ bullshit of putting in features which should have been there to begin with, but now charging folks more - how nice of them.

    Comment by: grey at May 26, 2003 09:39 AM

  6. anyone know how to do a /console connection from rdesktop?

    Comment by: carmen at October 9, 2003 11:56 PM

  7. You can also connect from a client running W2K. I've tested both the mstsc /v:... method as well as adding the 'connect to console' in a .rdp file. Just make sure you have the latest RDP client from the Downloads section of www.microsoft.com/windowsxp

    Comment by: Joe Newell at December 1, 2003 07:58 PM

  8. From Rdesktop, where you would have specified the
    server name, like:

    myserver

    make the name of the server be:

    myserver /console

    (right there in the box for Computer: )

    Comment by: Foo at December 10, 2003 01:32 PM

  9. You can look at my little app: Royal TS http://code4ward.net/c4w/posts/234.aspx

    It's free and supports connection to the console (XP and W2K3). And, of course, written in C#.

    Comment by: Stefan Koell at March 22, 2004 12:09 AM
  10. win2k3 RDP console connection
    Excerpt: Ever wanted to connect to the console session of a Win2k3 box via RDP? With XP, this is the default behavior, because only one interactive user can be logged in at a time. But 2k3 allows multiple ineractive users...
     Trackback from: Savage Nomads at May 21, 2004 05:11 PM

  11. Neither adding the "connect to console" line to the .rdp file or adding /console to the server name in the GUI works for me (XP Pro sp1) but the /console command-line option works fine. I only have the stock version of the client; I suppose it would work if I updated it.

    In any case, thanks a lot for the tip. I've been looking for this information for weeks... Now I don't have to remember closing Outlook and Visual Studio when I leave work if I want to do a bit of work from home that day :).

    Comment by: Stéphane Lajoie at August 17, 2004 04:43 PM

  12. If you want to connect to multiple terminal servers and move between them freely, you can use the MMC snap-in which can be downloaded in the Windows 2003 Admin Pak

    However, once you open the MMC snap-in and connect to a session, you do not have keyboard controls and I can't see any options for that either. Can anybody help me solve this problem or knows any 3rd party utilities which make connecting to multiple sessions more convenient?

    Comment by: Bill at September 7, 2004 12:34 PM

  13. There exists a KB article about this, ID 278845

    How to Connect to and Shadow the Console Session with Windows Server 2003 Terminal Services

    http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;278845

    Comment by: Jonas at October 14, 2004 02:40 AM

  14. You can create a shortcut to mstsc.exe and /console to the target field. That way you get the settings you want, the GUI for Remote Desktop Client, and you never have to type anything. The /console switch will always load up with the client.

    Example:
    DRIVE:\PATH\TO\FILE\mstsc.exe /console

    Comment by: DaRKToXiN at October 18, 2004 11:42 AM

  15. Below is a small vbs script that I use to Console to some of my servers. It prompts for a server name or IP. Type in the server name or IP and it connects to the console session @ 800x600. I got sick of dicking around with command lines.

    Chad

    dim srvrname
    srvname=inputbox("Enter A Terminal Server Name to Console To.")
    if srvname="" then
    msgbox("You did not enter a name")
    else
    set wshshell = wscript.createobject("wscript.shell")
    wshShell.run "mstsc /v " & srvname & " /w:800 /h:600 /console"
    end if

    Comment by: Chad at October 25, 2004 06:24 PM

  16. Grey, I don't see connecto to console anywhere in my gui. I am running RDP 5.2.3790. Where do you see this gui option? email me at jcook@ccs5000.com

    Comment by: Jeremiah Cook at November 4, 2004 07:02 AM

  17. Thanks for all tips!
    Anyone who knows how to see which (in the event viewer) user who logs on to the specific server.
    We have a bunch of users who uses the same username when logging on but i want to see the username behind the Terminal Server User.
    They are all in the same Windows Domain.

    Comment by: Janne at December 8, 2004 05:04 AM

  18. Is the rdp file format published somewhere? I'd like to be able to write them myself but, for instance, I don't know what format the password entry is stored in.

    Thanks,
    tj

    Comment by: tom jones at December 15, 2004 04:45 PM