How to Connect With a Windows Server Via Terminal Access

Despite a disagreement on the way to handle code rights, Linux and Windows have a lot of options when working together. You can use the “rdesktop” program in Linux to connect to any Window PC with the Remote Desktop Protocol enabled. These steps will help you to connect to a Windows server via terminal access.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Computer with Linux
• Computer with Windows

1. Ensure that rdesktop is installed on the Linux machine. Most later variants of Linux and Unix include a build of rdesktop.
2. On the Windows PC, browse to the System Properties. This can be done by going to the Start button, selecting Settings, clicking on Control Panel and double-clicking on the System icon.
3. Make sure that “Allow users to connect remotely to this computer” is checked under the Remote tab in the window that appears. This will ensure that the remote desktop protocol will respond to request on the machine you want to connect to.
4. Set up authorized users on the Windows XP PC by pressing the Select Remote Users button. This will give you a prompt where you can add local users the list of authorized users. Remember that users in the administrators group on the local PC are automatically authorized on the PC.
5. Return to the Linux PC.
6. Open up the BASH terminal. This can be found at the bar on the bottom of the desktop in the Gnome and KDE interfaces. If you’re operating a non-Gnome or non-KDE variant, search the home menu for "xterm."
7. Type the command “rdesktop [IP]”, where [IP] is the IP address of the Windows machine you want to connect to. If you do not know the IP address, go back to the Windows PC, open a command prompt (Start, Run, type "CMD" and press Enter), and type “ipconfig” to find out.
8. Enter the credentials of the local machine in the log-in screen that appears.

Tips & Warnings

• The remote desktop protocol is enabled by default on Windows Server 2003. It is now referred to as “terminal services.”
• Graphical extensions of the rdesktop command are available for download for the Gnome and KDE interfaces.
• Remember that once you enable remote desktop, anyone who knows the log-on credentials can connect to that PC. While Windows requires that every allowed remote user have a password, it is up to you to ensure that the password is secure.

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