Windows OS Hub
  • Windows Server
    • Windows Server 2022
    • Windows Server 2019
    • Windows Server 2016
    • Windows Server 2012 R2
    • Windows Server 2008 R2
    • SCCM
  • Active Directory
    • Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS)
    • Group Policies
  • Windows Clients
    • Windows 11
    • Windows 10
    • Windows 8
    • Windows 7
    • Windows XP
    • MS Office
    • Outlook
  • Virtualization
    • VMWare
    • Hyper-V
    • KVM
  • PowerShell
  • Exchange
  • Cloud
    • Azure
    • Microsoft 365
    • Office 365
  • Linux
    • CentOS
    • RHEL
    • Ubuntu
  • Home
  • About

Windows OS Hub

  • Windows Server
    • Windows Server 2022
    • Windows Server 2019
    • Windows Server 2016
    • Windows Server 2012 R2
    • Windows Server 2008 R2
    • SCCM
  • Active Directory
    • Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS)
    • Group Policies
  • Windows Clients
    • Windows 11
    • Windows 10
    • Windows 8
    • Windows 7
    • Windows XP
    • MS Office
    • Outlook
  • Virtualization
    • VMWare
    • Hyper-V
    • KVM
  • PowerShell
  • Exchange
  • Cloud
    • Azure
    • Microsoft 365
    • Office 365
  • Linux
    • CentOS
    • RHEL
    • Ubuntu

 Windows OS Hub / Windows 10 / Using RDCMan (Remote Desktop Connection Manager) on Windows

July 19, 2021 Windows 10Windows Server 2019

Using RDCMan (Remote Desktop Connection Manager) on Windows

RDCMan (Remote Desktop Connection Manager) is a convenient RDP connection manager for Windows system administrators. It allows to manage multiple RDP sessions in a single window, create tree-like structures with the remote Windows hosts you are constantly using or managing, use different RDP connection settings for servers or groups, and save administrator (or user) credentials to automatically authenticate on RDP/RDS servers.

The last available version of RDCMan 2.7 was released in 2014 and development has stopped since then. In addition, a critical vulnerability was found in this version and Microsoft decided to completely remove the RDCMan download page in 2020. However, in June 2021, Mark Russinovich announced that the RDCMan tool is moving to the Sysinternals tools and will develop further. On June 24, 2021, a new version of Remote Desktop Connection Manager 2.81 was released with fixed vulnerabilities.

Contents:
  • Installing RDCMan (Remote Desktop Connection Manager) on Windows
  • Configuring RDCMan, Creating RDP Host Groups
  • Configuring RDP Connection Settings in RDCMan
  • How to Import Servers into RDCMan?
  • Accessing Hyper-V Virtual Machine Console via RDCMan

Installing RDCMan (Remote Desktop Connection Manager) on Windows

The RDCMan is a free tool and you can download it from the Microsoft website. The current version 2.81 is available here https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/rdcman  (0.4 MB).

download rdcman (Remote Desktop Connection Manager) tool

The new version of RDCMan 2.81 comes as a portable application RDCMan.exe and doesn’t require installation (unlike RDCMan 2.71, which is an MSI installation file). Just download the RDCMan.zip archive and extract it to any folder.

extracting rdcman.exe

Remote Desktop Connection Manager supports all Windows versions, up to Windows 10 (Windows 11) and Windows Server 2019. Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 are also supported, but ou must first install the RDP client version 6 or newer on these operating systems.

Configuring RDCMan, Creating RDP Host Groups

When you start RDCMan.exe, you will see an empty console. First of all, you must create a configuration file to store your settings by pressing Ctrl+N or in the menu: File –> New. Enter the file name *.rdg (actually, it is a text XML file that you can edit manually). In a single configuration file, you can save any number of RDP connections for your remote servers. The tool allows you to structure RDP connections by any criteria you choose: use this feature to create groups.

For example, you can create a group of Hyper-V servers or a group with AD domain controllers. You can group your remote servers by their location, role, or customer.

remote rdp\rds hosts in rdcman console

You can save your RDP credentials to connect to the servers in this group. In the Group Properties, go to the Logon Credentials tab and specify your credentials. All servers in this group inherit the group settings. To change any server option different from the specified group settings, uncheck the “Inherit from parent” and set the personal settings.

RDCMan - save RDP access credentials

Don’t forget to click the Save button.

Warning! RDP connection credentials are stored encrypted in the RDG configuration file instead of Windows Credential Manager (it does not depend on Domain Group Policy settings that prevent the saving of RDP credentials). The security context of the current user is used (logged on user’s credentials) or you can use the X509 certificate for encription.

rdpman credentials encription

It is recommended to encrypt the RDCMan configuration file using third-party tools (for example, using BitLocker or TrueCrypt).

Configuring RDP Connection Settings in RDCMan

Go to RDP connection properties in the “Connection Settings” tab. By default, the standard port 3389 is used for RDP connection. You can change the port number if your RDP server listens on a non-standard port. Uncheck the option “Inherit from parent” and change the RDP port number.

If you check the “Connect to console” option, you will be connected to your server’s console. The console mode simulates a direct connection to the local monitor of your server and is used to connect to the RDS server without using client CAL license, or if the licensing server is not available, or the RDSH licensing mode is not configured.

rdcman - change RDP connection port

Configure the screen resolution to be used in the RDP session in the “Remote Desktop Settings” tab (I recommend to set it to “Full screen”) and local resources in the corresponding tab to be redirected to the RDP session (for example, you can redirect your clipboard to the RDP session, local printers, use a local drives sharing, etc.).

If you don’t need to scroll and the RDP window fits your screen, do check the option “Scale docked remote desktop to fit window”.

RDCMan change display settings

The main drawback of RDCMan 2.81 is that it doesn’t support automatic resizing of the RDP session window. If you want to resize the RDCMan window, you will have to reconnect to all remote servers. In this case, by automatically changing the RDP window (RDP size auto-fit), your connections will be displayed correctly.

Hosts (servers and workstations) can be added to RDCMan groups. Right-click the group and add a server:

  • Server Name – specify hostname or its IP address;
  • Display Name – server name displayed in the RDCMan console.

add RDP server to the rdcman

Finally, you will get this kind of console with remote server tiles updated in real-time.

rdcman - managing multiple RDP server connections

When you double-click a server, you will access a server using RDP with the saved credentials.

You can use the “Connect Group” option. Thus, RDP consoles will be opened for all hosts in a group.

You can do standard things with your server, they are intuitive.

rds server - send keys

  • Reconnect server – reconnect if a remote session is disconnected;
  • Send keys – send standard keyboard shortcuts to a server;
  • Disconnect server – disconnects from a server;
  • Log off server – logs off a server;
  • List sessions – view server active sessions;
  • Undock – brings a server to a separate RDP window;
  • Dock – returns a server to the console.

If you need to connect to a remote RDSH host through a published server with the RD Gateway role, you can set its parameters on the Gateway Settings tab.

rdpman connecting via remote desktop gateway

The main thing: don’t forget to save the configuration file (File -> Save *.rdg). Otherwise, all your settings will be lost when you exit.

save rdp connection rdg file

New RDG file format RDCMan 2.81 is not compatible with previous versions of the tool.

The next time you start RDCMan, you will see a window where you will need to select servers or groups you would like to reconnect.

How to Import Servers into RDCMan?

Unfortunately, you cannot import your server or workstations directly from Active Directory. It looks quite strange since RDCMan is a tool developed by Microsoft.

However, you can import servers from a text or a CSV file. For example, you can export the lists of computers or servers from AD using the Get-ADComputer cmdlet:

(Get-ADComputer -Filter {enabled -eq "true" -and OperatingSystem -Like '*Windows Server*' } | select name).name | Out-File -FilePath c:\PS\ad_servers.txt

To import the server list into the RDCMan console, select “Import Servers” in the Edit menu. In the next window, specify the path to the text file containing the list of servers and click Import.

import rdp server list to the rdcman

To split the imported list of servers into groups, use Edit -> Add smart group. Type the group name and set the rules, according to which the servers will get into it (e. g., the common part of the name or IP addresses).

rdcman - smart server groups

When adding servers to RDCman, you can use patterns:

  • {ber,mch,ham} – substitute the specified values in turn
  • [1-5] – substitute all numbers from the range

For example, specify the following string as the server name: {ber,mch,ham}-dc0[1-3] and 9 servers will be added to the RDCman console.

rdcman adding hosts via patterns

Accessing Hyper-V Virtual Machine Console via RDCMan

In RDCMan 2.81 you can configure a direct connection to the console of virtual machines running on the Hyper-V host (the Enhanced Session Mode is used). To do it, you have to get the virtual machine ID on your Hyper-V host. Use this PowerShell command:

Get-VM -Name WS2016 | select ID

get-vm id - hyper-v

After you have got the VM ID, you can use it to configure a connection in RDCMan. When adding a new server in the RDCMan, specify the name of the remote Hyper-V host, check the option “VM console connect”, and paste the VMID into the ID field. You will be connected under an account with Hyper-V administrator privileges over VMBus (it means that you don’t need the network access to the FQDN or IP address of a guest OS – the access is provided through the Hyper-V host bus over TCP Port 2701).

rdcman connect hyper-v vm console via vmbus

RDCMan has a simple user interface and is very easy to use. If you just need an RDP connection manager, this is an excellent and easy-to-use everyday tool for a Windows administrator.

8 comments
5
Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
previous post
Import, Export and Clone Virtual Machines in Hyper-V
next post
Checking Active TCP/IP Connections on Windows with PowerShell

Related Reading

Configuring Event Viewer Log Size on Windows

May 24, 2023

How to Detect Who Changed the File/Folder NTFS...

May 24, 2023

Enable Single Sign-On (SSO) Authentication on RDS Windows...

May 23, 2023

Allow Non-admin Users RDP Access to Windows Server

May 22, 2023

How to Create, Change, and Remove Local Users...

May 17, 2023

Categories

  • Active Directory
  • Group Policies
  • Exchange Server
  • Microsoft 365
  • Azure
  • Windows 11
  • Windows 10
  • Windows Server 2022
  • Windows Server 2019
  • Windows Server 2016
  • PowerShell
  • VMWare
  • Hyper-V
  • Linux
  • MS Office

Recent Posts

  • Configuring Event Viewer Log Size on Windows

    May 24, 2023
  • How to Detect Who Changed the File/Folder NTFS Permissions on Windows?

    May 24, 2023
  • Enable Single Sign-On (SSO) Authentication on RDS Windows Server

    May 23, 2023
  • Allow Non-admin Users RDP Access to Windows Server

    May 22, 2023
  • How to Create, Change, and Remove Local Users or Groups with PowerShell?

    May 17, 2023
  • Fix: BSOD Error 0x0000007B (INACCESSABLE_BOOT_DEVICE) on Windows

    May 16, 2023
  • View Success and Failed Local Logon Attempts on Windows

    May 2, 2023
  • Fix: “Something Went Wrong” Error When Installing Teams

    May 2, 2023
  • Querying Windows Event Logs with PowerShell

    May 2, 2023
  • Configure Windows LAPS (Local Administrator Passwords Solution) in AD

    April 25, 2023

Follow us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • RSS
Popular Posts
  • How to Allow Multiple RDP Sessions in Windows 10 and 11?
  • How to Repair EFI/GPT Bootloader on Windows 10 or 11?
  • How to Restore Deleted EFI System Partition in Windows?
  • Network Computers are not Showing Up in Windows 10/11
  • How to Create a Wi-Fi Hotspot on your Windows PC?
  • Updating List of Trusted Root Certificates in Windows
  • How to Download APPX File from Microsoft Store for Offline Installation?
Footer Logo

@2014 - 2023 - Windows OS Hub. All about operating systems for sysadmins


Back To Top