SCS Computing Services Terminal Service

Windows Terminal Services Usage Policy and Administration

SCS Computing facilities is offering Linux users casual access to a Microsoft Windows based computing platform using Windows 2003 Terminal Services on the server side and the open source Rdesktop client for Linux.

Casual access is defined as occasional use of a Windows environment, when required to run a particular Microsoft productivity application or other application that is native to the Windows platform

Session timeout will be set to one hour for disconnected sessions. However, if a client reconnects to Terminal Services using the same user name from the same computer, they will be reconnected to the disconnected session.

Terminal Services can be used for the following:

View / author content authored with Microsoft Office (PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Publisher, and Access).
View Visio drawings via Microsoft Visio Viewer
View / Edit PowerPoint presentations with Microsoft PowerPoint
View / author content using Microsoft Project or Microsoft Visio (add-on products to the office environment, separate license required).
Additional applications that do not require administrative access to be installed (single user exe, for example)
Additional applications can be requested for addition to the Terminal Services environment. These will be evaluated on an as needed basis.
Display one of two user modes: Application shell or Shortcut Menu

Terminal Services is not intended to be used for:

Developing applications
Viewing graphics animations or movies
Adding applications or system services
Reading E-mail
Running Windows with the full desktop environment

Terminal Services User Modes

Shortcut Menu Mode (default)

The user will be presented an application shortcut window that is a list of published applications (applications that have been configured to run in the Terminal Services environment). There are two classifications of applications: Standard and Licensed. By default all users will receive a list of Standard applications.

If the user has requested and provided proof of license for an individually licensed application (such as Microsoft Project), then a shortcut icon for these applications will also appear.

Application Shell Mode

The user can run any of the published applications directly in a window using the Linux client. For example, rather than having to start the program after logging in from the Windows Start menu or Shortcut Menu, the executable name can be supplied via the command line or shell script to launch a specified application. This functionality will be provided per request only.

If the user attempts to run the rdesktop client without specifying an application to use as the shell or "std" (for shortcut menu), the system will display the following error at login:

"You are connected to the Remote Computer. However, an error occurred while an initial user program was starting,so you are being logged off."

User Setup

In order to gain access to Terminal Services, clients must request access via the SCS Help Center and show proof of license for any application which requires it. Access to the baseline published applications is covered by our Campus License.

Additional group memberships will be necessary to access individually licensed applications such as Visio and Project (SCS Windesk Visio and SCS Windesk Project, for example).

The Help center will also modify the user Terminal Services profile settings to point the user profile path.

Using Rdesktop on Linux systems

The Rdesktop client is distributed along with the other standard Linux applications. In addition to the core client, a shell script (/usr/local/bin/ts) is provided.

The syntax for this script is:

/usr/local/bin/ts (EXE name) (path of file to open)

Or:

/usr/local/bin/ts std

for the shortcut mode environment, which will export the user home directory. The first login will look similar to this:

Picture of Select an Application to run

After logging in the first time (when using the std option), change the shortcut view to Icon by right clicking the shortcut menu, select view -> Icon.

picture of 2nd Application Icon

The file from the user home directory will be passed to the client session. If the script is run using iexplore as the shell program, the URL specified will be opened within Internet Explorer after login.

Possible values for EXE name include:

Winword.exe  (Microsoft Word)
Excel.exe    (Microsoft Excel)
MSAccess.exe (Microsoft Access)
MSPub.exe    (Microsoft Publisher)
Powerpnt.exe (Microsoft PowerPoint)
Iexplore.exe (Microsoft Internet Explorer)

Proof of License Required:

WinProj.exe  (Microsoft Project)
Visio.exe    (Microsoft Visio)

.TSRC Configuration File

By placing a .tsrc configuration file in the user home directory, it is possible to specify default programs to shell, color depth, terminal server to connect to and screen resolution.

The format of the file is:

TSREMOTEHOST= [Terminal Server to connect to]
SESSIONMGR=[Alternate shell program to run at startup]
TSCOLORS=[color depth. Values can be 8, 16, or 32]
TSGEOMETRY=[screen resolution, 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x1024]
TSPRINTER=[Override Default Printer]

Viewing Visio Drawings with Visio Viewer

The Visio Viewer runs as an ActiveX control with Internet Explorer.

To view a Visio drawing:

Launch Internet Explorer
Select Open from the file menu
Change view to all files
Browse to the location where the document is located
Right click the file and select Open With
Choose Internet Explorer and click ok.

Printing

The default printer from the workstation will be present within the client session. A different printer can be specified within the .tsrc file.

Software Restriction Policy

The full windows environment is not being offered. Programs such as explorer (default Windows manager), regedit and cmd (Command Prompt) are prohibited from running. If a user attempts to start one of these programs by editing the .tsrc file or from command line, a message will be displayed with the following text:

"You are connected to the remote computer. However, an error has occurred while an initial user program was starting, so you are being logged off. Contact the System Administrator for assistance."

Questions

Please contact the SCS Help Desk at x8-4231 or send mail to help+@cs.cmu.edu with any questions or concerns.