Using Remote Desktop Connection
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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

If you click on the Browse << button, you will get an even simpler interface, as shown below.


Remote Desktop Connection main window, without browse functionality

If you click on the Browse >> button, you will get the normal interface back.

Connecting Remote Desktop Connection to compatible servers

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

  • Directly typing the server name (or IP address) into the Remote desktop: combo box.

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

  • By using Service Location Protocol browsing.

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 Remote desktop: combo box.

If you want to connect to a machine named megan, which is running a VNC server on screen 1, you can enter megan:1 or alternatively as vnc:/megan:1 into the Remote desktop: combo box.


Entering a hostname into Remote Desktop Connection

Similary, if you are using a RFB server on that machine, you can enter rfb:/megan. RFB does not need the screen number to be specified.

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.

Using Service Location Protocol

The third way to use Remote Desktop Connection is to browse using Service Location Protocol. A list of compatible servers that are registered with the Service Location Protocol system is shown in a list in the center of the main window:


Remote Desktop Connection showing service browsing

Note

If your main window doesn't contain the table, remember that you can use the Browse >> to get back to the full Remote Desktop Connection window. Also, not all compatible servers support automatic registration - one that does is the Desktop Sharing server which is part of KDE.

If you click once on an entry in the table, it will be selected, and you can use the Connect to establish a connection to the server. As a short-cut, you can just double-click on an entry, which will also establish a connection.

While Service Location Protocol will usually detect new servers becoming available, you can also force the Remote Desktop Connection to scan for new servers. This is done using the Rescan. When you ask for a scan, the button is disabled (greyed out) while the scan is being performed - this typically takes a few seconds.

When using Service Location Protocol, the concept of Scopes is important. If there are a lot of services being advertised, it can become unwieldy to scan through a list. A re-scan can also produce a lot of network traffic. To avoid this problem, administrator's can configure Service Location Protocol with a set of Scopes, and only register services in certain scopes. For example, a host may be registered in the "third_floor" scope and the "logistics" scope, but not in the "engineering" scope or "maintenance" scope. In smaller setups, everything is only registered in the "DEFAULT" scope. Remote Desktop Connection supports selection of a scope other than "DEFAULT", using the Scope: drop-down box in the top right hand corner of the main window.

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